Let’s Move Malta Winter Programme 2026/27 Returns with More Sports and More Opportunities for All
Camille Franke’s Blog
Camille Franke's Blog
Fresher troubles
The University Students’ Council (KSU), which organises the Freshers’ Week, has got the balance totally wrong. The sorry state of education in Malta was evident again this week when the Freshers’ Week at the University sparked several controversies. Whether we will learn anything from them is doubtful, since in this country the emphasis invariably is on the fun to be had from...
Camille Franke's Blog
Fighting to live
One person dies as a direct consequence of an eating disorder every 52 minutes. A 22-year-old Miss Malta hopeful, Edera Fenech, opened up to the Times of Malta recently about how she was diagnosed with anorexia just over a year ago and told that it would kill her within a year. But the Mosta beauty decided to fight the disorder and...
Camille Franke's Blog
Curse the keyboard
By incorporating handwriting into daily life, especially in schools, we can nurture cognitive, emotional, and social growth in children. Cursive writing ̶ a style of handwriting where the letters are joined together in a continuous flow ̶ used to be standard practice in schools but has fallen out of use and is no longer mandatory in Maltese schools. ...
Camille Franke's Blog
Homeless and forgotten
There may be anything between 200 and 400 homeless people in Malta. It is a stain on our society. I have never been a habitué of Paceville. Actually, I avoid it like the plague, except when I have to attend some seminar in a hotel there. So even its restaurants are taboo to me. It seems, however, that next to the gleaming skyscrapers, is a...
Camille Franke's Blog
#JeSuisHaïtien
Many of the racists in Malta believe the unhistorical garbage that they are part of a pure race uncontaminated by foreign heathen blood. End Racism MT ̶ a campaign by the Human Rights Directorate aimed at raising awareness on the effects of racism ̶ was flooded by thousands of racist comments on social media after it uploaded posts which discuss a wide range of issues related to racism and...
Camille Franke's Blog
Do I want to be stinking rich?
While the size of the pie has effectively more than doubled since 2010, inequality has continued to increase. Data released by the Central Bank of Malta recently shows that the richest 10% of Malta’s households, with their €47 billion, own practically 90% of Malta’s business wealth and 44.8% of total household wealth. This concentration of wealth is nearly four times that of...
Camille Franke's Blog
The inept thief
He wore a pair of flipflops, one of which he lost during the theft. I couldn’t stop laughing when I read that a 63-year-old man from Birkirkara was reported to have broken into a grocery holding a burning candle to see his way around. The Police said that the man had a number of previous theft convictions, none of which...
Camille Franke's Blog
Stop the abuse
This over-emphasis on freedom of speech is just an excuse to let all sorts of odious and dangerous people threaten others and cause them ill-harm. Malta Today recently drew attention to the fact that a government promise to present legislation in Parliament that would have criminalised cyber abuse has remained shelved for over two years, with no indication of whether this could be enacted into law. Proposed for...
Camille Franke's Blog
“Let me die” or “I want to die”
The issues of euthanasia and assisted death were raised during the last electoral campaign, when it was said that there should be a healthy discussion about them. Typically, there has been none. Three years ago, Spain became the fourth nation in the European Union to legalise assisted suicide for people with incurable or debilitating diseases (now there are five: Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal). The issue has been documented in a...
Camille Franke's Blog
Vaccine hesitancy
The rise of the anti-vaccine movement has made it difficult for scientists to candidly address potential side effects, some experts say. I was surprised when, after the first case of mpox in Malta was announced by the health authorities, there was a visceral negative reaction to the possibility that people might be vaccinated against it. This was not only from those who had vowed not to take the...
Camille Franke's Blog
Protecting your identity
A greater effort all round by businesses, banks, Government, and the Police is required, not to mention much better consumer education. A couple of weeks ago, a 47-year-old Siġġiewi resident was condemned to a two-year jail term suspended for four years after he was found guilty of fixing letterboxes to various residences so that letters linked to illicit residency permits to third-country nationals...
Camille Franke's Blog
I absolutely must know
The list of Freedom of Information requests refused by Government and its entities is disquieting. Freedom of information is recognised by the United Nations as a fundamental right which obligates the state to share with citizens information that is of public interest. In the process, transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement are improved. The right of...