Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/734031
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2016 28 Letters British High Commissioner Nick Archer has refused to divulge the names of the successful applicants for the prestigious Chevening scholarship, a week after the ambassador admitted the British Council was not getting scholars from "a wide enough range of backgrounds". Pressed into revealing the names of all candidates after columnist Anna Mallia expressed concern at the crop of scholars hailing from inf luential families, Archer said he would neither "undermine able young people whom we have sought to benefit" nor would he do "your journalists' research for them or to correct the inaccuracies you are apparently being fed by some third party… I have other things I am paid to do, including run a scheme this year which you are welcome to criticise." This year's recipients for the Cheven- ing scholarship included the offspring of some of the most inf luential people on the island, including Lawrence Gonzi's son Paul, who follows in his brother David's footsteps; David Grech, son of Middlesea chairman Mario Grech; Clara Borg, daughter of EU Commissioner Joe Borg; Kurt Hyzler, a nephew of former MP George Hyzler; Nick Trapani Galea Feriol, son of the Baron of San Marciano and Sylvia Gasan; David Zahra, son of Euro Changeover chairman Joseph FX Zahra; and Anjelica Camilleri de Marco, granddaughter of President of the Republic Guido de Marco. In a letter to MaltaToday, unsuccess- ful candidate Elaine Bonello writes how she was denied a Chevening scholarship in 1997 despite having a first-class de- gree in psychology, and again this year after returning from the University of Sheffield with a postgraduate degree. "I opened a replica regret letter weeks after I submitted my application. Why wasn't I being considered for an inter- view? Why were people summoned for interviews without having submitted their application? This time, ten years wiser, I needed an explanation," Bonello writes. In her letter, Bonello says Third Secretary Andrew Hamilton "struggled hard to give me a plausible reason" and said that Hamilton later admitted that "in the past the Chevening was politi- cally driven". Back in the 90s, Green Party news- paper Alternattiva had also revealed how British High Commissioner Brian Hitch had asked one such applicant for the Chevening about his voting prefer- ences. The Chevening is in fact one of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's instruments at maintaining British inf luence among future policy-makers and government officials. The target for 2006 is to have 3,000 Chevening schol- ars. In 2005, the number of was 2,211. There is also considerable effort poured in to maintain contact with Chevening graduates through alumni associations, organising conferences and workshops for former graduates, and inviting them to special receptions and events surrounding royal or minis- terial visits. In March 2004, the FCO reported the number of Chevening scholars in a position of inf luence after 10 years, and in contact with the FCO had increased to 30 per cent. Last week, Archer said he would ap- point an independent outsider to sit on the selection panel and publicise the scholarships' principle that they are available to everybody. "I'm doing two things to change that: First by getting an independent outsider to sit on the selection panel and second, letting people know that where they come from doesn't matter. Parents and teachers reading this should never tell students 'oh, you won't have a Cheven- ing, they're not for people like you'. Encourage your bright young people to apply." Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. News – 1 October, 2006 High Commissioner keeps Chevening alumni under wraps The Muslims and our church I refer to the report in MaltaTo- day.com.mt, entitled "St Paul 's Bay councillors unanimously object to Muslim Prayer Room". I am certainly not a Muslim but seeing those photographs I couldn't help admire them for their devotion to their religion. I will not go into the merit of the council 's decision, but as a churchgoing Catholic I must admit that I am impressed by the devotion of Muslins who go in such large numbers to church (considering the limited number of Muslims that would live in that area). Their hall is not big enough to accommo- date them all. What about our churches? I have not seen a crowded church for the last 50 years, except for the days when there is a village feast. I cannot help notice, when on Sundays I go to mass, that the congregation fills only one-fifth of the seats avail- able and the majority of those attending for mass are over 50 years old. I wonder sometimes as to what is going to happen to our church when the present generation passes away? What are the leaders of our church doing to attract our youth to the church? Anthony Chircop Qormi Unmistakable setback What a setback it was for Simon Busuttil, seeing his aim to vilify Malta, and blame Joseph Muscat for it, go to nought, after his machinations at the European Parliament (EP). That was the strongest showing possible for Leo Brincat's nomina- tion to the European Court of Auditors! And it was the EU Council of Ministers which, by approving the nomination with- out even discussing it, obviously thought a lot about Leo Brincat's suitability for the job, though MEPs had voted against him. That decision by the EP in- cluded the Maltese Nationalist MEPs' votes. Many MEPs of other countries voted for Brincat, but his Nationalist fellow Maltese voted against. That was very nationalist, that was! It reminded me of when the Nationalist leadership – Eddie Fenech Adami, Guido de Marco, Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, Louis Galea and I can't remember who else – went to the late Italian Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, to tell him to stop helping the Mintoff gov- ernment with financial aid. That, too, was a setback for them – Moro quickly showed them the door. Stephen Borg, Mosta If only Trump were European As the election for the next US president draws to a loud and un- predictable close, I grow increas- ingly envious of the American people, for the first time in my life. I have come to wish that Donald Trump was European, and that he could bring his energy and vision to this old continent of ours. Europe is becoming more and more irrelevant as we all let politi- cal correctness dictate our actions to the detriment of our safety, our economies and our future. And as the inflated egos of Angela Merkel and Francois Hol- lande try to mould the EU into a federal super-state it was never intended to be, the frustration manifested across Europe is easy to understand. Never was this more evident as when – after the French and Dutch public voted against the ratification of the European Constitution – the EU shelved plans for a similar referendum in Ireland and instead had the European Council agree upon the foundation of a new treaty to replace the rejected Constitu- tion. So much for listening to the people! Today, Angela Merkel's open- door policy allowed millions of undocumented migrants into the country. Much to the grow- ing concern of more and more citizens. The Brexit vote in June was – or should have been – a wake-up call for the EU. It should not have come a surprise to anyone that the Brits, with their proud and long history of empire-building and spreading its influence around the world, would never bow their head to having a technocrat in Brussels, or Strasbourg or Luxembourg, dictate the direction the country should follow. But Merkel and Hollande, with their bosom buddies Juncker and Tusk, did not count on any country daring to stand up to this pseudo-dictatorship they have managed to create. As 32 million people in the UK were voting in the referendum to decide whether to leave the EU, do you think the EU was trying to allay the concerns of so many Brits? Do you think they were trying to of- fer some concessions to show that this remained after all a union of the people, that the EU could – and does – listen to what the people want? Instead of focusing on the single market, the EU's best and biggest attraction, Brussels continues to ignore the feeling of malcontent and the growing anger spreading across the continent. Maybe someone will emerge that can counter the growing conceit of Merkel, Hollande and their puppet Renzi. Maybe the rapid growth of support for the Movimento Cinque Stelle in Italy and Marine Le Pen's National Front in France will put a stop to this madness, once and for all, and help guide Europe back to being the great continent it once was and can yet become again. I hope we can all rediscover what it means to be European before it is too late, before Merkel – or god forbid, outer influences – change the fabric of Europe beyond repair. I have never been a fan of the American dream, of the bull they spread and their belief in having a God-given right to police the world, but at least, in Donald Trump, they have someone who has decided to stand up to the establishment and take back control. What Europe needs is someone to stop the downhill, out-of- control scramble that the EU currently finds itself in. What it needs is a European Donald Trump. If only he were. Paul Caruana Birkirkara