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In 2010 I returned to Malta with my family, having lived in both London and Scotland over a period of 21 years. I was 22 years old when I left Malta; 43 years old on my return. The move to Malta was quite possibly the longest period of upheaval in my life as I was confronted with one shock to the system after another. People everywhere went about their lives as if everything was hunky dory normal whilst I had a series of jaw dropping encounters with Maltese bureaucracy gone mad and glaring injustices galore.
From being overcharged on our utility bill by 103%, to having our bank account and my salary subject to precautionary garnishee orders by our landlord, when we refused to continue overpaying, to having my petition on the Arms/tenant scam discussed twice in the European Parliament, to having my complaint re the underpayment of my salary upheld by the European Commission, to having to pay €762 every year in Annual Circulation Licence Fees on a car worth less than €3 000, to setting up a tenant support group and now a Teacher Mobility support group... So much more. Somewhere along the way, Malta has lost its way. Too much letter of the law and not enough spirit, in my opinion. In this blog I will attempt to make sense of it all. And maybe, just maybe, I will play a small part in fixing some bureaucratic injustice or other while I'm at it. |
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‘Everyone strives to attain the Law,' answers the man, 'how does it come about, then, that in all these years - Franz Kafka
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anonymous (the author never disclosed his identity); as much is indicated by omission of reference in 1958's Archiv Frans Wagenbach., Kafka, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons
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Tarry a little. There is something else. Portia, in Shakespeare's The Tempest
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