Letters: 6th July 2014

Eroding our credibility

Anyone who may have believed that the leader of the Opposition was going to change his and his party`s bombastic negativism when criticising the PL government after the PN had suffered its second humiliating defeat at the polls, must have had a very rude awakening on 2 July when following the parliamentary debate.

When speaking about the PN motion on the problem existing between the Ombudsman and the government, Busuttil once again allowed his political immaturity to take hold of his senses when he accused the government of bringing Malta to a similar state as “A Banana Republic run by dictators!"

Little did Busuttil realise that when saying these words he could have been undermining his own country`s credibility with foreign entrepreneurs and governments.

I have always doubted that Busuttil and the PN will ever change when they find themselves in Opposition instead of in power. What Simon Busuttil certainly did is to keep undermining his slim chances of ever being trusted at the political helm of this country.

Eddy Privitera, Mosta

Welcome support

I wish to thank the Mission Fund V.O./0015 for their kind donation towards our mission in Pakistan. The donation will be used to finance programmes for Christian formation of youths and adults in poor parishes so that the faithful can have an opportunity to grow in faith and in their Christian life.

To continue providing such help they rely on the generosity of your readers. I therefore encourage the public in general to send the Mission Fund used stamps and donations with which they can help Maltese missionaries in Third World countries.

Donations may be made online or by direct bank transfer to one of the following accounts:  HSBC (Account No: 061 197 448 050); BOV (Account No: 163 007 980 19); APS (Account No: 200 008 207 62) or BANIF (Account No: 000 879 631 01).  More information may be accessed from the website: www.missionfund.org.mt.

Fr. John Farrugia, Karachi, Pakistan

Teaching children to report abuse

I was most upset to learn of TV personality Rolf Harris’ many charges of sexual abuse. Of course it must have been a horrible ordeal for his victims but even as just a fan of his work – I fondly remember his shows on television and his charming accent – I cannot but help feel betrayed that such a seemingly pleasant personality could do such things.

Although I never followed his work, the Jimmy Saville scandal that rocked the BBC after his death and continues to make headlines was another such case. It makes you wonder if these personalities, who work closely with children, are monitored at all.

Another thing to consider is how easy or difficult it is for children to speak up about this sort of thing. One must consider of course that times have changed and cases like these have brought much awareness of these dangers. But today, how easy is it for a child to approach even a trusted adult and tell them that they have received unwanted attention?

The authorities would do well to consider some kind of education campaign aimed at helping children realise what is and is not appropriate conduct and to make them feel they can tell someone when these boundaries are crossed. Hopefully it would not take years for the truth to come out, as has happened with these celebrity cases.

Mark Sammut, Zabbar