Come on, Alan, get on with your job

Camilleri should start taking his job seriously instead of worrying over the type of wedding ring on one’s finger

You have got to be a nerd or a control freak to waste your precious time looking for a dress code doc from over the internet. And next time you write a memo, please use cm not inches please.

But then those who do not know Alan Camilleri should not be too surprised.  The last time he was the Prime Minister’s PRO he said he would block journalists who came underdressed to press conferences.  I remember reminding him of the dress code of journalists in press conferences in Brussels. I simply replied that we would not cover the PM.  The monthly briefings carried out by the Prime Minister disappeared soon after.

Another ‘new way of doing politics’ that evaporated into thin air thanks to the uncomfortable sight of such badly dressed journalists.

Here is a man, a former religious study graduate, once married who held to heart the idea of the traditional family, the former PRO to Lawrence Gonzi and now after so many well remunerated appointments the chief at Malta Enterprise.

I have no intention of dwelling on Alan Camilleri, discussing his personal life is a taboo, so we will give it a miss for now.

But understanding it could go some way into explaining why someone in such a high post would be worrying about the length of a skirt and the extent of colouring of the roots of your hair or the nail polish.

There is something effeminate and obsessive about all his behaviour.

But what we are missing is not the fact that Alan Camilleri earns 70,000 euros a year apart from perks and drives fast cars with his friend. That he is paid by our taxes is of course of no one’s concern.

What is truly relevant is that Alan Camilleri should be using his precious time on getting foreign investment to Malta.

And if you do not mind me asking, what has he done to increase foreign investment to Malta?  And when I mean foreign investment, investment that he got. I am sure that all the friends that he has working for him at Malta Enterprise will help him out on this one.

And by friends I mean Vince Farrugia and Jesmond Bonello.

Having said this, I have never been really impressed with the people who have headed Malta Enterprise, but let us face it Alan Camilleri is the real fruity on the cake.

To understand who Alan Camilleri is all about, I believe one has to go back to the days when Lawrence Gonzi was positioning himself to become leader.  Or rather being pushed by Joe Saliba for the post.

Alan was the brains behind the spin against Gonzi’s competitors.  And he did this through the good services of his brother Ivan Camilleri, a Times journalist. The latter was renowned for his carefully scripted articles against Gonzi's adversaries in the PN.

Alan’s actions were noted by one of the runners-up in the leadership campaign. John Dalli mentioned him by name several times as one of the key people responsible for stabbing him in the back.

Well back to Mr Camilleri. I am sure that his mediocre list of how to dress and look should also include other considerations. Since Alan is so obsessed with appearances and behaviour he should perhaps take a good look at himself. I for one have no reason to be shocked with his behaviour or habits or preferences, though I have to say I have not quite got there myself. I accept his new way of life and find that it has absolutely no reflection on the way it impacts on the chances of bringing business in Malta.

Because as all those who do business know, it is not the suits, or gender preferences that count at the end of the day... rather the advantages of making a deal turn into profitable product and a concept or an idea, a long term dream. Most real businessmen with big money are not impressed with bullshit. They want viable solutions.

If anyone wants to take Mr Camilleri seriously he should start by taking his job seriously and get on with it instead of worrying over the type of wedding ring on one’s finger or the length of one's skirt or the use or misuse of undergarments.

No point telling Minister Tonio Fenech to intervene. The guy who likes to fly off whenever Arsenal is playing continues to believe that Alan Camilleri is best thing that happened to Malta after the biblical episode we now  know as Sodom and Gomorrah.

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Really if you want to laugh, just read what one of our commentators is scribbling about conflict of interest. Some people never quite (conveniently) get it. There are cases of people who lie so much, they start believing their own lies. Well just in case you get confused, just remind yourself about the one basic argument here.

If you work for State TV and are funded by taxpayer's money you have to abide by certain rules. If you are funded by private money you can do what the hoot you like. Fortunately for many, those rules have been set aside, for the simple reason that it suits the establishment. Here at maltatoday.com.mt we do not get funded by public funds collected from your taxes. And yes we try to believe that no one is sacred. Oh, yes we do have angles to stories, but we then we are not paid to be the national broadcaster or to serve as a spokesperson for a political party. And yes we do not get paid to put a lid on stories. On the contrary.

But then I guess we have to leave it to all those visitors at maltatoday.com.mt to decide who is offering real journalism... on everything!

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Is this the same Alan Camilleri who when PRO for the PM said that the government’s view was that the Employment and Industrial Relations Act 2002 covered all forms of discrimination including discrimination on the ground of a person’s sexual orientation? Is he also the one who denied that the government had had a "change of heart" when publishing Legal Notice 297 because the Notice was not part of the primary legislation? See Queer Mediterranean Memories. What a funny world we live in! Perhaps he should have stood alongside Casa and Zammit Dimech when the PM addressed a meeting at (I think it was) H'Attard which photo was recently published by the newspaper. Enough material for a comedy act! Onward Christian heterosexual soldiers!
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Richard Branson, Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, the great Einstein himself, and many thousands more were classical inforalists, useless at formal education.
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The Camilleri memo is but an example of what screws up the world economy. Simply put, humanity does not only come in males and females but also in formalists and informalists. Our education system caters exclusively for formalists, producing a critical mass of knowledge with no corresponding understanding of said knowledge. These guys go on to dominate each vein and capillary of society. They are generally incompetent and need rules for anything little thing they do. They are the creators of pseudo science models that sent the world into a veritable spin. On the other hand the informalists are not too bothered with the bungling formalists because their understanding leads them to apply values that can enjoy so much with so little. Formalists can not even enjoy a meeting without rules. They continue to unravel one Russian doll after the other always hoping that fulfillment will be found in the next doll when all they need is to ‘get a life’.
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Anton Portelli
If you have problems with your employees about their dress code, should you issue a long list of dos and don'ts? or just simply adopt a uniform for everyone?. Same with bus drivers and geniouses dress code is not the issue. Without taking the example to extremes , i would prefer substance from a shabby person than nonsense from well dressed guy! Suicide.... yes, again, because society locks them out and they would be unable to fit in the society made of well dressed and groomed citizens. And thats the concept of my comment. Let the mind flow, let the thinking reign and get the results. Who cares when u been last to the hairdresser?
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Alfred Galea
Benji, don't bus drivers have uniforms? They still look like slobs, at least most of them do.
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Alfred Galea
Benji, don't bus drivers have uniforms? They still look like slobs, at least most of them do.
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Albert Zammit
Benji, sorry, can't agree with your line of reasoning. Shabbiness is shabbiness and we, Maltese, are renowned for that. If some geniouses are well known for their shabbiness as you said, that's no excuse for everyone to be the same. By the same token, many painters and artists were prone to depression and even suicide ... but you can't expect all painters and artists to follow the same path, do you? Bad logic.
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Anton Portelli
If someone was really serious most of the comments in the memo could be easily replaced by standardising a uniform to the employees. It will practically resolve half of the issue. What worries me is that such a memo would put employees and staff into straight jackets. Leading staff into a psychological straight jacketness whihc would exlcude anyone to think outside the box. After all, if you recall a couple of geniousness you would rarley find them groomed. Evenmore so, i find them shabby and disgusting to look at but their contributions have changed the world.
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Albert Zammit
Saviour, you have shut me up, good and proper. You're right.
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Well if everyone is happy with the likes of Alan Camilleri then so be it. In the US you cannot enter a lift and face someone, just in case you are considering harassing someone. I'd like to think that we are slightly different here. But then everyone to himself. How about we all have a break from the Alan Camilleri's of this world and watch some soccer. For those who cannot get themselves to a telly ... iraqgoals.net gets all all the live World Cup games...for free. Pity I did not know this before PBS decided to abdicate on their national broadcaster role.
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Alfred Galea
Do as I say, not as I do. He might have gone a bit too far but based on the appearance of a few "public servants" I'd say he's right.
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I guess it is the hypocrisy which attracts the attention. All this insistence on dress code and odour and brushing of teeth and then no word about getting your boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, partners or friends to Malta Enterprise or Malta Industrial parks offices is worth a mention. I guess comparisons are odious. I never professed to be a virgin. I write to point out the things that others choose to hide. Neither am i writing to deflect attention from problems that could have a bearing on my actions. I am simply saying it as it is. And yes I am not dragging third parties into the arena. But then it is good to know that when I had personally asked the PM on gender issues, I was brushed aside by the one and only Alan Camilleri. You should have heard his tone. It was like the Vatican talking. I just think that Alan Camilleri has a cultural problem. That is what happens to people who have had so good for such a long time. Little did I know that most of the people who subscribe to this 'conservative' creed have another side. No problem, and it has never been a problem, then if that is the case, why hide it? And finally, the ideal example of double hypocrisy was David Casa's decision to vote in favour of Buttiglione who was massively rebuked by those who described Signor Buttilgione's homophobia as 'unacceptable.' Well, now if no one has a problem with these double standards, then apologies. Once again, when I had written this, I was personally called by the PM to stop being personal. What is personal for him, is indeed not personal for me. As long as these are public figures who state things which are diametrically opposite to their life styles, I feel I have every reason to ride on with this style.
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Albert Zammit
Maaaaaaaaa... how evil you can be! You don't need to be intelligent in order to understand what you are getting at! So, what? Does his lifestyle impede the man from fulfilling his duties? So, why bring that in? Kif jghidu, Saviour, biex tiskongra.....! Int, li tant int kontra dak li tikteb certa Bidwija fuq il-blog taghha ... u qed taqa' - ilek li waqajt imma insomma! - fl-istess livell baxx taghha? U leee, leeee!