Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/598356
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2015 12 News Tribute to Boissevain, perceptive and sensitive to Malta and the Maltese THE Jeremy Boissevain memo- rial talk, held on 5 November at the Phoenicia Hotel and hosted by MediaToday, brought friends, family and academics of the late Dutch anthropologist together to celebrate his life, work and legacy. The well-attended event, held in the Phoenicia Hotel's Green Room, also saw the launch of 'A Maltese Marriage', a novel writ- ten by Boissevain's wife Inga. MaltaToday managing edi- tor Saviour Balzan, a friend of the Boissevain family, welcomed guests. "Read the book, and you will understand about the life of the Boissevains in Malta and their opinions. Jeremy was a great friend and many looked up to him for inspiration. He said that the day after he confirmed with Inga that he would publish her long awaited book, Jeremy passed away." Legal anthropologist David Zammit recalled a long shared history with Boissevain, who he first met climbing out of the sea, laden with scuba gear, sometime in the 1970s, and who sparked Zammit's curiosity about the man and his occupation. Eventually, Zammit's own ca- reer in anthropology began and so their friendship continued into the hallways of academia. Throughout, Zammit recalls an unquenchable curiosity about the minutiae of Maltese life, which are often overlooked by the peo- ple living it. His unwavering de- fence of the role of the Maltese festa in social life kept the topic front and centre within the disci- pline. Boissevain's insuppressible sense of humour was a hallmark of his mischievous personality. Environmentalist and sociolo- gist Michael Briguglio too de- scribed a long relationship with Boissevain, which began through the broad academic networks of Briguglio's parents. Social scientists of all stripes, environmentalists and politicians all owe a debt of gratitude for the meticulous study of Maltese so- cial structure, and environmental activists in particular continue to build on his desire to protect what is left of the Maltese coun- tryside. To politician Toni Abela, Bois- sevain was both friend and con- fidant, an opportunity for secular confession. The vicious circle Boissevain described – the way the two political parties are dead- locked into inertia, narrowing the electorate's options at the polling booth – remains in force today, as does the near-religious status of local politics. On some level everyone is aware of these realities, but it took a stranger from another land to really bring them into the light, through a perceptive and sensi- tive examination of our social re- lationships. Boissevain's wife Inga also spoke, describing how her hus- band chose to pursue the study of anthropology in 1956. The Bois- sevains had visited Malta with American aid organization CARE and went to the Mnarja feast in Rabat. Both found themselves spellbound by a man singing gha- na and the spell never broke. She recalls the kindness and tol- erance the Maltese showed them throughout the years and that the both of them had witnessed Malta's transformation over the years. The novel 'A Maltese Marriage' is published by Choppy books, the publishing arm of MediaToday and is available at all leading sta- tioners for €8.99. Inga Boissevain (second from left) and her children: Anna, Maria, Licia, and Ieneke 'Hospitals' waiver unacceptable' – Church THE Church's Environment Commission (KA) has called on the government to revoke two le- gal notices that exempt hospital developments from environmen- tal impact assessments. "Transparency, scrutiny and proper public participation in the planning process is crucial, and his applies both to private as well as Government-related projects," the KA said in a statement. "In this context, we are of the opin- ion that it is unacceptable that projects in hospital-designated areas be exempt from Environ- mental Impact Assessment pro- cedures or from the development permit application process." The KA also said that the le- gal term "educational purposes" should not be abusively stretched out to include and justify profit- driven developments, such as mo- torsports tracks, in outside devel- opment zones. "Educating and training drivers does not necessitate the building of a racing track as was implied in a recently-issued request for pro- posals," the KA said. "Earmarking large tracts of land for 'educa- tional or health related purposes' seems to be the latest fad adopted to silence objectors of the project and attempt to justify the irre- sponsible and unnecessary use of land. "Any Planning Authority truly deserving of such a title should safeguard our densely populated island's limited space by estab- lishing a truly responsible and rigorous planning process and framework that genuinely serves the common good."