Thoughts and happenings from a life on Malta

The State first moved against Mark Camilleri, the editor of the student newspaper Ir-Realta’, for publishing a piece of fiction - Li Tkisser Sewwi - deemed injurious to an adult readership.

The State has now gone for the author of the story, Alex Vella Gera, because the explicit language used is apparently considered alien to the Maltese public and corrupts our morals.

The State must now prosecute all those who have read this controversial piece of literature, if only to maintain its credibility as the persecutor of free thought and expression.

In this respect, I confess that I, Sandro Bugeja, holder of ID 0272264M, have voluntarily read the complete story. Furthermore, in connection with the charge of “injuring public morals or decency”, I am ready to take an affidavit confirming that as a member of the public, I did not feel injured in any way after having read it.

(This letter was published in The Times of 22 March 2010)

“An American school has banned a dictionary from classrooms. Now the Menifee Union School District is forming a committee to decide if the dictionaries should be allowed back, or permanently banned. Sounds crazy?”

 Click  http://timesonline.typepad.com/schoolgate/2010/01/dictionary-banned-from-school-classroom.html for the full story.

 So as a teacher, will I be prosecuted if I recommend Practical English Usage by Michael Swan to an under-18 student? It contains a lengthy section on taboo words, such as:

• crap
• balls
• cock
• screw
• wank
• cunt
• fuck me
• piss off

 Now that I'm thinking, should this post have come with a warning that it contains sexually explicit vocabulary?