I remember waiting eagerly for the latest installment of “Aħna aħna jew m’aħniex” on TVM. Ivan Fenech’s Cukaj was one of the more memorable characters that satirised the state of Maltese society through the virtual world of Cukaj which, we are told, was originally meant to be Tibet. The TV program was a breakthrough Maltese first (at least for quite a while) – laughing about ourselves and our ways of doing things. Like Peppi and others Ivan had a part in this that cannot but be acknowledged and for which we are grateful. Fast forward to today when Ivan made a return to the media with what has become an exercise of (often justified) labour bashing in the Times.
Certainly the many miles of opinion columns that grace today’s media are salutary to the well-being of our democracy and Ivan Fenech’s contribution should be no less appreciated than any other. Having said that Fenech has sometimes betrayed a rather crass aptitude to the use of sweeping statements and categorisations. Other columnists too have fallen into the trap – sometimes disguising it as some sort of supernatural innate instinct – sniffing “hamalli”, “underworlds” or “chavs” in much the same way a dog might sniff cocaine being clandestinely imported.
Fenech’s latest column (Is Labour burning?) included the following phrases:
“Corleone-born Mafia boss Totò Riina, on the run from the law for decades, is rumoured to have loved visiting Gozo and drinking wine at It-Tokk. It is just a rumour, of course, because in Gozo you cannot pin anything down. Riina needed a holiday now and again and what better place to go to but an island where omertà is something that comes natural. Try asking a Gozitan for directions to someone’s house and you’d see where you’d end up. Even worse, ask them for a VAT receipt.”
Really Ivan? For one second just replace “Gozitan” with “black person” or “Jew” or “woman”. What kind of crap is Ivan peddling here? This denigration of “gozitans” crops up time and again and it is downright ridiculous. First of all it is offensive. Second of all it is an ill-founded assumption. Ivan Fenech should take a look around Malta (you know, the OTHER island where omertà is something that comes natural). He might find that the traits that he attributes to the persons who happen to live on the smaller island are just as rampantly observable on the bigger island. Hell, he just has to take a look at the main protagonists in most of the scandals raging (and burning) on the island to notice that the criminal and anti-social element that he is so keen to attribute to Gozitans is really all-pervasive.
As for Riina. Unless he landed directly on Gozo when flying in from Sicily I am sure he passed through quite a few omertà-inclined individuals in Malta on his way to the ferry. Just a rumour Ivan?
I heard a rumour that you are a dick. There’s quite a few people spreading it, particularly those who you irk with your (often spot on) assessments of Labour’s haplessness in government. It’s only a rumour and you know, on the net it’s hard to pin anything down. probably the best thing to do with this kind of rumour is to treat it for what it is – and unless facts get checked and points proven it would be better to not include them in opinion columns and publications.
The nasty habit of bandying around rumours, hearsay and half-truths will just not do. It makes total dicks out of whoever chooses to do so.
Here’s one from the 80’s Ivan. Dedicated to the good old times of Ahna… and please… no offence… it’s just a rumour.
