Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1473504
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 JULY 2022 OPINION 11 Faculty of Social Wellbeing: origins an astonishing degree of contempt, towards the same political model he is officially trying to 'save'. Leaving aside that his entire reac- tion was itself rooted in a singularly anti-democratic belief: i.e., that 'vot- ing for third parties' – not just Zaren Tal-Ajkla, mind you: but also ADPD – is an indication that: 'Erm… you must be joking, right…?' No, Azzopardi even spelt it out to us, with the words: "Kont diġa bdejt nara siegħa homevisit tiswa' suf…" [Loose translation: 'Already I felt that an hour's worth of home-visits had been worthless']. Once again: what does that reveal about how Jason Azzopardi really re- gards the democratic process? Why, the same as Winston Churchill, as it happens: I.e., that democracy is in- deed every inch worth fighting (and even dying) for… but only as long as it actually gets you elected to power. The moment it ceases to do that – in Churchill's case, by losing against La- bour in 1945; in Azzopardi's, by fail- ing to even get elected in 2022 – well, that's it, really. Suddenly, the entire system of 'proportional representa- tion through free-and-fair democrat- ic elections' becomes, in a nutshell… WORTHLESS. But guess what? We haven't even got to the part about 'free boob-jobs' yet. (And you didn't seriously think I'd forget about the 'free boob-jobs' part, did you now?) So let's go back, for a moment, to what that woman actually told Jason Azzopardi, to his face, last February (and boy, oh boy: what I would have given to be a fly-on-the-wall, at that precise moment…) "'Listen up, you." [And how's THAT for an attention-grabbing opener?] "I'm not giving my vote to either the PN or the PL. […] No, I'm giving my vote to Zaren Ta' L-Ajkla: because he promised to give me money [€4,000, to be precise] for a boob-job…" Now: from this point on, there are only two ways we can realistically ap- proach this. Either that woman was 'trolling' Jason Azzopardi (in which case, what can I say? She must have a PhD in 'Advanced Trolling', from the Trolling University of Troll Kingdom, Ana-Troll-ia…) Or else, we can share Jason Azzo- pardi's own assessment that… no, ac- tually. She really WAS one of the 376 voters who gave their first preference to Nazzareno Bonnici, in the last elec- tion. And yes: she was also swayed by his (entirely farcical) offer of a 'free boob-job'… But the beautiful part is that: it doesn't really matter which interpre- tation we choose. Whether she was joking, or dead-serious, the underly- ing implications remain exactly the same: 'Żaren Tal-Ajkla is offering me a free boob-job, worth €4,000. What the heck are YOU offering, that can possibly top that?' And guess what? She's quite right, you know. Because while the con- cept of 'being swayed by a free boob- job' may seem entirely ludicrous, to many… it still remains a free boob- job MORE, than either of Malta's two mainstream political parties are actu- ally offering the electorate, right now. And besides: while a boob-job is hardly going to entice a voter like myself (I happen to think my own boobs are entirely reasonably-sized, all things considered)… well, to some women out there, it might actually make a genuine, meaningful differ- ence in their own lives. It might 'boost their self-esteem', for instance. It might make them feel 'sexier', or 'more attractive'… or even (paradoxical though it may sound) more 'empowered'. Which brings us right back to that woman's question. What WAS Jason Azzopardi offering in the last elec- tions, anyway, that could possibly hit all those same boobs (I mean, but- tons)? 'Good governance'? 'The rule of law'? 'Social justice'? 'Transparen- cy', 'accountability'… and a host of other intangible, abstract concepts, that would appear literally 'worthless' ('tiswa suf', remember?) to someone who actually just wants to enlarge the cup-size of her bra… but doesn't have the €4,000 to pay for a boob-job? But the best part of all is that – judg- ing by his own reaction – Jason Az- zopardi still doesn't understand that this is precisely WHY both he, and his party, lost the last election so calam- itously. Yet even Żaren Tal-Ajkla understands it only too well. If you want those vot- ers to actually vote for you: you do have to at least offer them something that is meaningful… TO THEM. (Get it now, Jason? 'TO THEM': not just 'TO YOU'…) Maureen Cole Prof. Maureen Cole is former Dean, Faculty for Social Wellbeing University of Malta THE Faculty for Social Wellbeing of the University of Malta is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Despite its young age, the faculty is now ever-present in the public sphere. On the occasion of this important anniversary, I would like to look back at the origins of the faculty. The Faculty for Social Wellbeing start- ed functioning as a faculty on the 1st August 2012. This was also the date of my appointment as the Dean of the Fac- ulty. It is perhaps symbolic that a faculty that was set up to focus on the wellbeing of society was established at the height of summer when most people are wind- ing down for a well-deserved summer break. The establishment of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing had come about through the initi- ative of the then Rector, Professor Juanito Camill- eri. In the spring of 2012, Profes- sor Camilleri approached a number of de- partments, insti- tutes and centres which had a 'so- cial wellbeing' focus to explore the possibility for these academic entities to come together as a fac- ulty. This suggestion was received well and after a num- ber of meetings with all the rele- vant stakeholders, the Rector's propos- al for the setting up of the Faculty was approved by the governing bodies of the university in the early summer of 2012. It was clear from its name and raison d'être that the Faculty's gaze was go- ing to be outwardlooking, that it would be fully engaged with the community it serves; researching and responding promptly to societal developments. And this is what we set out to do from those early days. The heads and mem- bers of the departments of Counselling, Criminology, Family Studies, Psychol- ogy, Social Policy and Social Work, Youth and Community Studies, and the Disability Studies Unit, which formed the faculty at the time began to lay the foundations which would ensure that the faculty could be true to its mission. Although we spoke the same language we still needed to learn to function as a team. This process was doubly challenging as we did not have a shared faculty build- ing. Creating a cohesive identity for the academics, administrators and stu- dents of the Faculty had to rely on the strengths of our common aims and val- ues. This being no mean feat, we really needed to pull together. During these early days and through- out we were well supported by the ad- ministrative staff of the faculty who helped us to establish the internal struc- tures to make it possible for the faculty to fulfil its functions. Looking back, I think that what truly served us during the early days of the faculty was this commitment to a common ethos, to shared values that we ex- plored and artic- ulated together. Many of the aca- demics who be- came part of the Faculty for Social Wellbeing had already collabo- rated on teach- ing and research projects before the setting up of the faculty. These collaboration ex- periences were used as the base to create more opportunities for partnerships and syn- ergies. We laid down common aims which we set about to attain: to work collegially; to offer a learning environment to students that would help them to grow both ac- ademically and as human beings; to ex- plore collaborations with other faculties, institutes and centres at the university; to increase and improve our interna- tional collaborations; to offer more op- portunities for doctoral studies; and to strengthen society through our research and partnerships in the social sector. These aims are still pertinent today and can still serve as an important basis for our work as we move into the second decade of our life as the Faculty for So- cial Wellbeing! It was clear from its name and raison d'être that the Faculty's gaze was going to be outward- looking, that it would be fully engaged with the community it serves