Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/664438
25 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 APRIL 2016 Opinion darn relaxed at the moment to respond to any of that… now, if you don't mind, I'm just going to carry on 'serenely' pretending that absolutely nothing has happened at all. Like a dope-smoking hippie from the 1960s might have put it while making the peace sign: "Serenity, man… chill out!" And of course, it works every time. But let us leave Mizzi to enjoy his newfound tranquillity, and marvel at a second example of endlessly repeated catchphrases… "to get our message across". Unlike 'serenity', this one tends to be used by organisations rather than individuals… and it is by no means limited to politics, either. There was a time when it was a staple part of any interview with any local artist, musician, writer or whatnot. None of these, it seems, ever did what artists, musicians, writers or whatnots normally do anywhere else in the world… which is to produce art, music, writing and whatnot. No, they always 'tried to get their message across'. Interestingly, the same turn of phrase was – and still is – invariably used to describe public protests during news broadcasts. "The demonstrators bore placards to get their message across". Really? And there I was thinking that placards were taken to public meetings in order to swat pigeons … or maybe to bludgeon rival protestors, at a politicised 'spontaneous demonstration' in front of the law courts… In any case: unsurprisingly, the most frequent (and pointless) usage occurs among political parties. Take the 'Cedoli' scheme, for instance: whereby the Nationalist Party is calling on the general public to lend it the entirely reasonable sum of €10,000 a pop, on the promise of 4% interest over 10 years. It might look like a desperate plea for financial help to you or I; but not to the PN, naturally. To the PN, it is simply a means of 'helping us get our message across'. Presumably, then, none of the money collected will go towards paying back a debt rumoured to be in the region of eight million (though I guess we'll know soon enough, when the PN publishes its accounts on the self-imposed target date of 30 April). No, indeed. The PN only needs this money to 'help get its message across'. Funny, though, because last I looked the PN already had a TV station, a radio station, two newspapers and numerous websites… all of which constantly churn out this 'message' (whatever it is supposed to be) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not to mention permanent representation on the Broadcasting Authority board: through which both parties get to also indirectly control TVM. That's an awful lot of media to 'help get your message across', don't you think? It's certainly a lot more than an ordinary NGO would possess. Yet you don't often see ordinary NGOs borrowing millions from the general public 'to get their message across'. They somehow manage (or don't) to do that with the limited means already at their disposal. Yet the PN evidently has difficulties broadcasting its message, despite the overwhelming media advantages it has over everyone else. And obviously, it never occurred to them that maybe the problem lies with the message itself… which can scarcely even be heard through all the howling and barking. But in a competition for the most vacuous, inane and ultimately meaningless catchphrase ever repeated, the first prize has to go to… 'I will take the necessary action'. Not only is this one the single most overused one of the lot – even if limited for the most part to Prime Ministers – but it is also the most utterly pointless combination of words ever put together for a single purpose, anywhere in the world. Maltese Prime Ministers invariably resort to this sentence sooner or later in their careers… though the specific words may have varied occasionally. In Eddie Fenech Adami's time, it was 'I will shoulder political responsibility'. Gonzi's version was 'I will take the necessary decisions'. What they all had in common, however, was that it was only ever said to camouf lage the fact that no 'action' or 'decision' had been actually taken. In all cases, everything always just carried on precisely as it was before. Serenely… Joseph Muscat, for instance, has been calmly harping the same tune ever since Panamagate first erupted… four whole weeks ago. Four weeks is surely ample time for any 'necessary action' to be taken in any circumstance… even if there was a multiplicity of choices concerning the individual actions available. In this case, there is only one action to be taken: the one that some senior members of Muscat's own Cabinet now expect him to take. Even Mizzi himself momentarily stepped out of his blissful meditative state to encourage Joseph Muscat to 'take a decision'. Yet Muscat has been expressing his intention to take this decision for nearly four whole weeks now… without ever taking it. What's stopping him, exactly? Perhaps it is the same state of blissful calm and serenity that earlier descended on Konrad Mizzi. Action? Decision? Political responsibility? Nah, sorry… I'm too darn serene to pay any attention to all the inconvenient realities that keep interrupting my meditation. So I'll just serenely carry on pretending nothing's happening… now: did I get my message across?' Four weeks is surely ample time for any 'necessary action' to be taken in any circumstance… MALTA'S PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU 2017 CALL FOR TENDERS CONFERENCE INTERPRETATION SERVICES The Parliamentary Secretariat for EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds, within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, notifies that a call for tenders for conference interpretation services held in relation to Malta's Presidency of the Council of the EU 2017 has been issued. The tender documents are available to download online from www.etenders.gov.mt MALTA'S PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EU 2017 CALL FOR TENDERS CONFERENCE INTERPRETATION SERVICES The Parliamentary Secretariat for EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds, within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, notifies that a call for tenders for conference interpretation services held in relation to Malta's Presidency of the Council of the EU 2017 has been issued. The tender documents are available to download online from www.etenders.gov.mt