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What happens if you bring together an asphalt lab controller and an author? The result is Svetislav Stojanovic, author of the recently published first ever Maltese-Serbian dictionary. He tells Gilbert Calleja about his discovery of Malta, the Maltese and how he relates these experiences in his writings.
 ‘Svet’ is an immigrant construction worker from the ex-Yugoslavia who after more than twenty years of ‘silence’ has come back to the literary world with the publishing of ‘Muk Opsidijana’ (Silent Obsidian, a dark opaque volcanic glass), ‘Pe?albade’ (the stranger’s ballads) and the Maltese-Serbian dictionary. He is also adding the final touches together with Professor Lydia Sciriha to ‘Nau?imo Malteški’ (Learning Maltese) which will be released later this year. The latter is divided in 12 chapters and comes complete with grammar exercises for beginners. This book together with the dictionary is intended to help Serbs in learning the basics of the Maltese language.
‘Silent Obsidian’ is the title of his poetry book, the third after his earlier anthologies published in 1971 and 1974. He returned to writing while in recovery after he was hit by a car some eight years ago.
“My story is very ‘interessant’,” he tells me with a heavy eastern European accent.
Like many of his compatriots he left Yugoslavia when things started to fall apart after the end of president Tito’s long period in office and the war that ensued after 1992. He remembers how back in 1964-5 he was with the cheering crowd waving in the streets of Belgrade at “Mr Dom Mintoff” who was in Yugoslavia on an official visit after an invitation by Tito. He talks nostalgically of socialist Yugoslavia describing them as “perfect” and “a heaven”.
“I was born in Novi Sad the capital city of Vojvodina, a nice quiet area 70km north of Belgrade. There were no bombings in my area but the industries suffered from the situation in the rest of Yugoslavia and I had to look for employment elsewhere.
“For thirty two years I had worked as a road construction engineer and all of a sudden I found myself unemployed because no one was interested in building roads anymore and so, at 53 years of age, I came to Malta.
Svet was one of three engineers responsible for the drawing up of the Hilton Portomaso Hotel ‘sketch’ after the demolishing of the old building.
“Mr Bencini Demicoli needed someone who could work on Auto Cad and together with two other friends I was given a one year contract to work on this exciting project. At the end of the year my friends returned home but I stayed because I wanted to help my family.
“My daughter was finishing studies which I think is very important. My wife used to work in a chemistry laboratory but the wages there were not very good so I stayed. For seven months I worked in ‘konkos’ with Polidano.
“During this time I had a meeting with Mr Victor Camilleri, director of Bitmac Ltd and he said that he needed someone with my experience and that the doors are open if I ever wanted to join his company. I joined Bitmac in October 1997 and am still happily working there,” he says laughing, “I am happy and I think the boss is also happy… he hasn’t told me ciao bye … he he he… I make nice contact with everybody.”
We discuss his relationship with fellow Maltese co-workers and he says he found a lot of support from everyone especially when it came to communicating and language barriers. As a young man he had studied German in school and did not know a word of English until he landed here.
“I’m ‘xi?’… the only words I knew in English ten years ago were ‘the end’… I then started intensive language courses in Maltese and English at the Maria Regina School.
“In the meantime the situation in Yugoslavia went from bad to worse and I prayed my daughter to come to Malta… I mean, why take risks?... but she wouldn’t come live here… she had friends and commitments back home so she accepted to come just for a long visit.
“One evening we go to Gzira for a stroll and one driver made a u-turn with his car and hit me totally destroying my pelvic area … and I had a lot of problems … one month waiting for doctor to come over from England to operate me … very bad…
“Bitmac very correctly gave me salary and I say I am grateful because I don’t think that in Yougoslavia an employer would have treated me that well.
“That (the dictionary) is the result from that period while I was in hospital. I started word by word until tried to learn how to talk in Maltese… Maltese is very difficult for foreigners because of its Semitic basis… I don’t know anything about Mr Vassalli (Mikiel Anton vassalli) … I collected a lot of books and slowly slowly I started to read and gather information … that’s how I gained in knowledge of Maltese history and the language but I think I’ll never learn English properly, not in this life … perhaps in the life to come… “
Svet says that due to work commitments he couldn’t continue his language classes but the passion for writing grew to the extent that in three years he has submitted over 4,000 short stories to internet conference groups particularly for Serb expatriates.
“I am an amateur writer – a maniac writer – and I use the internet to get in contact with Serbs living in Canada, Australia and all around the world. In these groups writers submit stories about the countries they live in …
“My editor in Novi Sad chose 160 stories from the 4,000 I had written and this week there was the launching in Novi Sad of my short-stories book ‘Pe?albade’. The style is very autobiographical and there are many references to the people I work with, the history of Malta and my other experiences in this country.”
We talk about his interest in Malta’s cultural heritage, about Religion and about his interests in the language. His life is a sequence of uncanny coincidences. He tells me how he was born in ‘Vuk Stefanovic Karazdic Road’. Karazdic was the father of the Serb language. In his first eight years in Malta Svet lived in ‘Vassalli Street’ in Valletta – a coincidence which not only entertains him but he also says proved to be somewhat inspirational for his literary works and his interest in Maltese.
Any particular experiences which you remember about your first days on the island?
“Maltese people are very similar to Serbs … They are very friendly and welcoming.
I have a very nice experience of the Maltese and perhaps this is because during my convalescence I had a lot of help from many people.
“I never asked for help, I never had to. People came to my aid. Everybody gave me help and that made me feel at home … I never – never - forgot this” he emphasises, “The proper word escapes me… the Maltese are very similar to the people from my country even though there are obvious differences in our cultural background.”
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