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IrinaC wrote:

10 days vacation in US seems like a luxury. At my last job, I was offered 7 days, after a full year of work, and they were encouraged to be broken down into days, to be enjoyed throughout the year. Like an addition to the weekend. Just to mention, this was a nice office job, which I otherwise liked, but doesn't it seem a little unhumane? Well, a little off track with the Malta topic...

hey Irina.. thanks for sharing....and NOOOO it's definately not off track at all on the Malta topic, as we are just sharing our experiences and just comparing them to the treatment we sometimes get in this country. LOL.. no Maltese would accept JUST 7 days VACATION LEAVE IN A YEAR..that's for sure, no matter what the salary is like! And besides.. it is criminal for an employer to be able to do that, and in that respect, Malta is definately more human and safeguards the workers' rights.

Definitely Malta's not a heaven on Earth, far from it, but lower salaries apart, there are some good positive points that puts it way in front of other supposedly industrialized  and rich countries. As with any other place.. you find some good people..and some really rotten ones. Just have to be careful like any other place, and do your research - as starters,  people on here are very helpful.

Nicky777 wrote:

I cannot stand the way we 'foreigners' are discriminated against here in Malta, particuarly since it is part of the EU.

How can it be right to charge us (I am English) more to use buses, for medical care, for fruit and veg, taxis, rent, etc etc???!!!  This is simply not acceptable.

you aren't charged more for buses (or electricity) because you are foreign, but because you are not resident - Maltese without ID card also pay the higher bus fare

as for rent, if anything, I've found foreigners pay less as landlords find them better tenants

not sure what you mean by medical care

taxis - never had an issue

georgeingozo wrote:

Nicky777 wrote:

I cannot stand the way we 'foreigners' are discriminated against here in Malta, particuarly since it is part of the EU.

How can it be right to charge us (I am English) more to use buses, for medical care, for fruit and veg, taxis, rent, etc etc???!!!  This is simply not acceptable.

you aren't charged more for buses (or electricity) because you are foreign, but because you are not resident - Maltese without ID card also pay the higher bus fare

as for rent, if anything, I've found foreigners pay less as landlords find them better tenants

not sure what you mean by medical care

taxis - never had an issue

George no matter what slant you put on bus fares (i agree with the statement of the current rules) but it is still discriminatory. The same thing applies to utility bills....as for the malti paying the same as a non res persons - thats rubbish we see them converse fluently every day and never see them show a card of any sort - malti for malti am afraid...wrong oin so many levels and they still want EU status but they really want the best of both. 

and one more point i hate being referred to as the foreigner  - we are all EUropeans but when i remind them of that fact and despite being a guest in their country they do not like being reminded and then resort to the old saying !" if you dont like it then leave" but thats juts a red rag to an old bull like me.

sorry george but these things have to be said and resolved to all EUropeans satisfaction not just to the Maltis own set of rules - they have to accept that they ARE part of the EU...and stop bending the rules to suit themselves and the political coffers making rakes of money out of the foreigner infidel.

georgeingozo wrote:

Discrimination per se is not illegal - differentiating between people based on residency (or, indeed age) is generally legal discrimination - whether its moral is another issue.

"one more point i hate being referred to as the foreigner " -  of course legally we are foreigners, and will be unless we take Maltese citizenship - of course, some Maltese still would call you a foreigner as they see Maltese as not just being about citizenship, but appearance (and religion) as well. I understand what you mean though, and its really nice when occasionally my neighbours say I'm now half Gozitan (Gozitan, not Maltese....).

good to hear George  - music to my ears

scubaboy wrote:

I was just talking to a "Local" here in work and as I thought this is really a tourist area thing and its not known to happen in the DEEP South etc..

It is a shame but it seem to happen, I have been protected from this by living in Birzebbuga and not th tourist areas...

We are classed as local around our area..... (Not Gozitan though )

One thing I do manage to get is 25% off drinks and food at a bar in St Julians, but thats because when I work at the Dive centre at weekends we send all the Divers there... See I am almost Maltese

J.

am sure there a good and bad - just got to weed them out...and live a great life with their help....and participation in enjoying the malta experience...good and bad...did any readers watch that tv prog called the ethical hedonist on the travel channel..interesting first port of call Malta and GOZO.

toonarmy9752 wrote:

they are to me - they are foreign to me - whats good for the goose George.

and if they dont like what i call them then thats just touche.

good luck with that one

georgeingozo wrote:

toonarmy9752 wrote:

they are to me - they are foreign to me - whats good for the goose George.

and if they dont like what i call them then thats just touche.

good luck with that one

No i dont actually use it all the time - only to those who use the term foreigner to me.....

georgeingozo wrote:

...did any readers watch that tv prog called the ethical hedonist on the travel channel..interesting first port of call Malta and GOZO.
missed it - writeup sounds interesting

1 Malta

On arrival, Bob Kelly checks out all that Malta has to offer: historical recreation shows, ancient sites, beautiful beaches and sunset cocktails, before deciding to dig a little deeper. He meets a Maltese marquis before enjoying a gourmet lunch with a fellow ethical hedonist at his organic farm. Heading over to the island of Gozo, Bob lends a slightly disastrous hand at the goat farm of local slow food champion Rikkardo. Back on Malta, Bob meets a local journalist and activist who enlightens him to the issue of bird hunting and wildlife on Malta, and decides to volunteer as a labourer for a day with Birdlife Malta, before rewarding himself for all his hard labour by booking a private sailing trip to the third island in the Maltese trio.
Duration: 60'

its repeated on the travel channel at 9pm i think
next ones are on 30 31 jan and then again 0n 4 5 6 7 of feb - def worth a viewing - plus its on sky 28e encrypted and also FTA on 13e

IrinaC wrote:

Talking about psychotic episodes, today a 20 minute bus trip took 45 minutes, because the driver felt like stopping on the way and talking with the oncoming truck and bus drivers, for a minute or so with each one, blocking the traffic, and really didn't seem to care.

You should have taken his number and reported him. Problem in the country is that everyone moans and nothing is done about it. That is how things change

Problem in the country is that everyone moans and nothing is done about it. That is how things change

I agree, but the number one rule of this island is better the devil you know.

Things I dislike about Malta:

1. Never getting a straight answer.
2. Incredibly bad manners.
3. Being called a foreigner.
4. Terrible food in restaurants.

Things I like about Malta:

1. Never having to answer a direct question.
2. Being ultra-polite and receiving excellent service because of it.
3. Being a foreigner; I can leave or stay as I choose.
4. Very hospitable friends.

There are positives and negatives to everywhere, and in the  'moments of Malta madness' it's best to have your sense of the totally and utterly ridiculous close at hand, because that's what a lot of it is, a Monty Python sketch on grand scale.

Nicky777 wrote:

I think this article from the Times:



goes some way to explaining the overall mentality of the indigenous population.

I am, in fact, resident here and hold a Maltese ID card.  However, for the first year that I was here, I was unaware of the duality in terms of a whole range of prices for utilities and services that exists. 

It was only when a friend enlightenend me that I became aware of the fact that I had been systematically ripped off since my arrival on the island.  She informed me that for a lot of fruit and veg stall-holders and taxi drivers there is a three-tier system, ie, one charge for Maltese, another for 'foreign' residents and another for tourists/non-residents.

I therefore now make a point of saying that I am a resident and flashing my ID card ...

Eh. Am I being naive then ?

Or are you saying that it's the additional "income" from foreigners that's failing to be recorded ?