hi sliema...i thought that guy had gone to that other great political arena in the sky years ago,.he been so quiet...........regards...john-doe

Hi John, no I am happy to confirm that the great man is still going strong, I have friends in Malta who would love to see him still Prime Minister to this day, so happy birthday Sinjur Mintoff

hi again..sliema2.. ...he was certainly good for malta,. but i do not think he was overly fond of the british government at any time............regards again to you...............john-doe

Hi John, I can't say as I blame him the man obviously has very good taste . I'm not very keen on them myself these days

Regards
Sliema2

You have to be kidding! I'm sorry but I can't see why a socialist dictator like Mintoff should be so admired.

Even talking to my Maltese friends it's easy to see that he did some radical things which totally ruined Malta's chance for economic success!

How about his alliances with Gadaffi and communism? His policy of nationalisation? His opposition to the Church? None of his policies worked to the benefit of Malta or the Maltese.

You just have to look at the differences between Singapore - another small island state with very different leadership and no natural resources - and Malta. If it was a choice between Lee Kwan Yew and Dom Mintoff I know who I'd rather choose! Singapore is now a very successful, modern, safe and wealthy little country. Why isn't Malta the European version of Singapore? It could so easily have been.



Susan

Hi Susan, I think it best not to become to political on the forums , at the end of the day what has been has been and nothing can change that and it's not our place to cast opinion over other countries politics, lets face it the uk isn't exactly paradise, people in glass house's etc.

Regards
Sliema2

Hi all

of all the things in Malta/Gozo likely to start an argument, its whether Mintoff is the saviour of Malta, or the devil - most views seem to be at one extreme or the other. I'm not a natural Mintoff supporter by some way, but the book "The power and the cross"
http://www.maltabook.com/warbooks.htm - see about 2'3rds of the way down, is a fascinating , if very one sided story of how powerful the Church was in Malta, and how the church told people that if they voted for Mintoff they would be excommunicated ! For all those people who say "Ah, Malta, its not how it used to be" - read this, and happily its not !

I think its difficult to judge him now - he was a product of the circumstance and of the time - many of his views seem downright wierd and old fashioned now, but think how the UK (and the Labour Party in the UK) and the rest of the world has changed from the 1970's

this article from wikipedia is worth a read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_Mintoff

Far from it Sliema2, I'm certainly not saying that the UK has got the perfect system.

What I find interesting is how people always view the past through rose coloured glasses! It seems to me that we're all hankering after a 'perfect' time/place and so often it seems to be in people's memories.



Susan

Hi Susan, I have no recollection of Sinjur Mintoff being in power as during that time I was to young and certainly would not of been interested to know about him so therefore I'm not looking at it with rose tinted glasses, my inteest in him is based on retrospective research since we first became interested in Malta in 1998, I find him a very interesting personality never a dull moment with Sinjur Mintoff I bet.

Regards
Sliems2

'Very interesting' is probably the right phrase. I'll say no more. But the topic was Malta's greatest ever statesman and that invites debate.

Susan

Hi again Susan, Sinjur Mintoff is a great statesman for Malta, don't forget that under him not only did Malta achieve full and true independance but he also siccessfully rid Malta of it's colonial occupiers once and for all, anyone in my book who stands up to and subsequently succeeds in getting rid of there colonial occupiers earns the right to be called great, he also strongly opposes Malta's EU membership which so far has been less than successfull, Messers Fenech-Adami and Gonzi can only ever aspire to ben classed as great statesmen.

Best wishes
Sliema2

Hello Susan

At the risk of being blasted 'Off Topic' I totally agree with you.

All great men, and lesser ones, do many good deeds and a few bad ones, others do few good but many bad and everyone else falls somewhere in between. Which ever category Mintoff falls in is between himself and his conscience but I for one would not raise a glass to him nor wish him birthday greetings.

Respect to you Susan. Say it as it is.

Fallan

I for one would not raise a glass to him nor wish him birthday greetings.

Hi fallan I bet he would be absolutely gutted if he knew that :lol:, the amazing thing is that after all these years people like us are still talking about him which he would love as he thrives on publicity and always has done, just goes to show what an amazing impact he has had on the political stage.

Inselli ghaliek
Sliema2

People are still talking about Benito Mussolini, but that doesn't mean he is remembered for his superlative governing style, merely for his historical impact.

And I'm sorry, I guess that is waaaaaay off topic

Best wishes

Susan

I bet he would be absolutely gutted if he knew that

Whatever. Who cares?? Not him. Not Me.

History is full of heroes and despots. We talk about them just about every day. It is human nature to talk about them. It is human nature for people to inflict their opinions on others whether they are right or wrong. It is human nature to have the last word. I do not need to have the last word so will leave it for someone else.
Here endeth my postings on this topic

I think that it is up to the individual as to how they view Mintoff. Sliema2 holds him in high esteem but that is his opinion not everyones!

I personally believe that things could have been handled a lot better during Malta's negotiating of independence. Anyway this lead is getting political and as such will only go on and on and on...............

I only wanted to wish the old chap a happy 90th birthday, but yes M&N you are right some people are making a simple point much too political, bearing that in mind I too am bailing out of the discussion.

Regards
Sliema2

Perhaps this thread would be better re-named -

'The controversial Dom Mintoff's 90th birthday' thread

Ciao

Susan