Naf li se nerġa’ nitqies ta’ Kassandra. Xorta għadu jidhirli li qed issir ħaġa importanti li nirriflettu fuq jekk l-ekonomija tagħna tinsabx fil-periklu li tispiċċa tiddependi wisq minn firxa dejqa żżejjed ta’ attivitajiet. L-aħjar żmien biex tqajjem mistoqsijiet bħal din hu meta l-ekonomija tkun sejra tajjeb, kif inhi tagħna llum. Fi żmien hekk, ir-rankatura u l-fiduċja biex tħejji għal affarijiet ġodda jkunu aktar effettivi.
Veru li s-settur tas-servizzi joffri varjetà kbira ta’ ħidmiet. Qed nagħmlu tajjeb li naraw kif inwessgħu dawk li diġà għandna b’ħidmiet fl-oqsma tas-saħħa u tat-tagħlim.
Madankollu, jeħtiġilna naqdfu ‘l quddiem aktar fi snajja’ tekniċi, tal-inġinerija elettrika u elettronika, inkluża d-diġitali. Tal-anqas l-istatistika mhix turi żieda reali tal-produzzjoni fihom.
Ħabib tiegħi qalli li qed inqajjem dan il-punt għax marsus b’nostalġija għaż-żminijiet tat-tarznari u tal-industriji ġodda għal żmienhom tas-snin sebgħin. Jista’ jkun.
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Cardenal
Ftit li xejn issemmiet fostna l-mewt ftit ilu ta’ Fernando Cardenal tan-Nikaragwa. Ġiżwita dedikat, protagonist tat-teoloġija tal-liberazzjoni, Cardenal ingħaqad mal-gvern Sandinista biex imexxi l-ministeru tal-edukazzjoni.
Warrab il-pressjoni li saret fuqu minn Ruma biex jabbanduna dan ix-xogħol li skont il-Vatikan kien qed jikkompromettih. It-tweġiba tiegħu kienet: il-Knisja ilha s-sekli tikkomprometti ruħha favur l-għonja; x’se jiġri billi jien nikkomprometti ruħi għal ftit taż-żmien favur il-foqra?
Kellu jitlaq minn Ġiżwita, għalkemm baqa’ jżomm id-dixxiplina reliġjuża. Immobilizza eluf ta’ żgħażagħ u bagħathom jgħallmu l-qari u l-kitba lill-bdiewa l-fqar. L-analfabetiżmu fin-Nikaragwa tbaxxa minn 50 għal 13 fil-mija.
Żmien wara, ħalla l-gvern Sandinista għax qies li kien sar korrott.
Terġa’ wara, ħallewh jerġa’ jingħaqad mal-Ġiżwiti fejn beda n-novizzjat mill-ġdid.
Nies bħal Cardenal jixiriqilhom kull ġieħ.
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Strada Stretta
Tassew interessanti l-ktieb ta’ George Cini, “Strada Stretta – Aktar dawl fuq it-triq li darba xegħlet il-Belt”. B’mod li tħossu qisu qed idaħħlek f’dinja bejn familjari, bejn stramba, ilaqqgħek ma’ nies vivaċi bil-ħajja li jgħixu f’komunità magħquda.
Cini għandu maestrija ta’ ġurnalist veteran f’kif iħares lejn id-dettalji li fi triq, f’ħanut tax-xorb, f’binja ta’ appartamenti jagħtu xhieda tal-ħajja li qed tingħex. Imma jmur lil hinn minn hekk u jifrex panorama wiesgħa ta’ kif kien jiġu provduti d-divertimenti diversi fl-istabbilimenti ta’ dik it-triq dejqa.
Personalment ftit niftakar kif kienet, u pjuttost “minn barra”, fiż-żmien tal-aħħar fawriet tagħha – lejn tmiem is-sittinijiet tas-seklu l-ieħor. B’dat-tieni ktieb tiegħu dwarha, Cini żgura li t-tifkira kollettiva tagħna ta’ Strada Stretta ma tkunx biss “minn barra”. Se tidhrilna bħala element integrali mill-istorja tagħna.
English Version – Could it unbalance?
I know I risk sounding again like Cassandra. However it still seems to me important for us to reflect about whether our economy is in danger of becoming over-dependent on a too narrow range of activities. The best time to raise such questions is when, like now, the economy is doing well. At such a time, the momentum and confidence needed to launch new initiatives can be more effective.
True, services sectors offer a wide variety of options to follow. We are doing well in trying to extend our range of existing activities by introducing new ones in health and education.
Even so, we need greater progress in the technical skills of electric and electronic engineering, including digital. At least, available statistics do not show a real increase in production under their headings.
A friend opines that making this point actually implies a nostalgia for the seventies, with their shipyards and the new industries being set up that were suitable for those days. Perhaps.
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Cardenal
The recent death of Fernando Cardenal in Nicaragua went almost unnoticed here. A dedicated Jesuit and a protagonist of liberation theology, Cardenal joined the Sandinist government to lead the education ministry.
He brushed aside the pressure placed on him by Rome to abandon this assignment since according to the Vatican it was compromising his position. His reply was: the Church has been compromising its position in favour of the rich for centuries; why should I not compromise my position for a short while, in favour of the poor?
He had to leave the Jesuit order though he stood by its religious discipline. Meanwhile he mobilised thousands of young people and sent them to teach poor farmers to read and write. Nicaragua’s illiteracy rate fell from 50 to 13 per cent.
Years later, he left the Sandinist government, claiming it had become corrupt.
Later still, he was allowed to rejoin the Jesuit order, for which he had to start his noviciate all over again.
Cardenal and people of his stamp deserve our full respect and esteem.
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Strait Street
George Cini’s extremely interesting book “Strait Street” is meant to provide more information by which to recall a street that in the author’s words “used to illuminate the City”. His method is to allow you into a world half familiar, half bizarre, there to introduce you to vivacious people and the life they lead in a close-knit community.
Cini has the masterful skills of a veteran journalist in the way by which he focuses on those details in a street, a wineshop or an apartment block that give direct evidence as to how life is being lived. But he goes beyond such effects to provide a panoramic view of the diverse entertainments available in the establishments of the narrow street in caption.
Personally I have faded memories of it, and how it used to be, mostly as experienced “from outside”, in the days of its last revival, towards the end of the sixties of the previous century. In this his second book about it, Cini ensures that our collective memory of Strait Street doesn’t stay one from “the outside”. It should become registered as an integral element of our history.
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