Mark Anthony Sammut

This article was first published in the Times of Malta on Saturday 24th December 2011. An article entitled Women want quotas (December 6), reported gender equality organisations asking Parliament to introduce quotas. I totally disagree with this and I'll explain why. Quotas go against the very concept of meritocracy. Meritocracy means that whoever is the best suited for an appointment or responsibility, gets it, regardless of his gender, political beliefs, race or sexual orientation, but solely on his merits and competencies. Quotas, on the other hand, eliminate the "regardless of his gender" part. If for example, it happens that the best four candidates for a post are all men, why should they be balanced out by short-listing two men and two women? Likewise, if the best four candidates are women, why should two men replace two more capable women? This happened for example in Malta's nominations for ECHR judge. The Council of Europe ironically called thi

Since it's Christmas, today's blog will not be about my running. On Christmas, a special feeling of wanting to do something for others fills the air. Now running the Marathon is mostly pursued for personal reasons, which differ according to the individual. But running it for a charitable cause spices up your motivation to see it through. The feeling of doing it for others, rather than only for yourself, makes it much more beautiful. This year's official charity is the Maltese NGO  Inspire . Quoting directly from their website: "Inspire helps over 1,000 children and adults with learning and physical disabilities across five centres in Malta and Gozo. Its clients are treated with the utmost care and professionalism through speech therapy, therapeutic horseback riding, occupational therapy and sports therapy, to name very few. There is even a support system for parents. Inspire relies heavily on people's donations to be able to offer its services for free fo

It's 10 weeks to go. This week's training included a very enjoyable Trail Run from the Salomon Trail Running League in the San Tumas/Delimara area, and another trial run in the Mistra/Selmun Area, courtesy of Ruben Degiorgio and his group. They were my first experiences in trail running and I must say they were fun. The alternating terrain, magnificent views, and buzzing atmosphere make it impossible for boredom to show its head. I also took part in the 10km Garmin Run organized by Mellieha AC, and obtained a personal best of 41:56. Not much to be surprised about; my last 10km run was 18 months ago, so I was expecting some sign of improvement in a year and a half. Apart from that, I had my usual recovery swim, speed session and tempo run. This morning's 23km long run closed the week off. During this week's runs, I kept wondering at what has caused the sudden surge in recent years of people taking up running, triathlon and other outdoor sports. Is it only due to h

It's how every project or endeavour starts. With a dream. I can't say that running a Marathon has been a life-long dream, for the simple reason that up to two years ago it was beyond my dreams. I had never thought about it because it was something completely unreachable. But I have always enjoyed watching two particular events during the Olympic Games: the 100m sprint and the Marathon. One showcasing the fastest, and the other the most enduring, man on earth. Slightly more than two years ago I went for my first jog. Had started doing the President's Award programme at the time, and part of the requirements were to do a physical activity at least one hour per week. Jogging seemed to be the easiest and least expensive thing to do. Together with my friend Warren, we went for  first run. It was just 4km along the runway strip, and took us almost 30 minutes. That day, under drizzling rain, was our baptism into running. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we started enjoyin

This is my article published in the Times of Malta on Monday 5th December 2011, the 25th Anniversary of Raymond Caruana's murder: My generation has grown up in the age of the internet, free market, media pluralism and a multitude of education and work opportunities. Free to air our views, discuss issues civilly and protest without fear of intimidation, it is sometimes difficult for us to appreciate what these liberties have cost us. It is only after witnessing the fight for liberation experienced in our neighbouring Arab countries that we might realise how fortunate we are to live in a free country, where respect to the democratic process is paramount. But it was not always so and, like every country in the world, our freedom too came at a high price. Let’s go back to December 5, 1986 at 11.15 p.m. A group of men are enjoying a last round of drinks at the Nationalist Party club in the usually tranquil village of Gudja following a party celebrating the opening of their ne

A speech I gave during the event "Towards the Culture of Freedom", held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the tal-Barrani incidents, the murder of Raymond Caruana, and the frame-up of Peter Paul Busuttil. The event was held at the Nationalist Party's Headquarters on Sunday 4th December 2011. Apologies for reproducing it here only in its original Maltese language. Diskors li għamilt fis-serata "Lejn il-Kultura tal-Liberta'", kommemorazzjoni fil-25 anniversarju mill-inċidenti tal-Barrani, il-qtil ta' Raymond Caruana, u l-frame-up ta' Pietru Pawl Busuttil. L-attivita' saret fid-Dar Ċentrali tal-Partit Nazzjonalista nhar il-Ħadd 4 ta' Diċembru 2011. Segwi s-serata kollha: Segwi d-diskors tiegħi: Onorevoli Prim Ministru, Segretarju Ġenerali, President Emeritus, sinjuri, Il-liberta’ u d-demokrazija. Valuri li għalihom popli sħaħ issieltu u bnedmin xerrdu demmhom. Forsi għall-ġenerazzjoni tiegħi, ġenerazzjon