Diskors tal-Ftuħ tar-Rettur
ĦABREK, ŻBALJA, TGĦALLEM... IRNEXXI, IKBER... GĦIX!
STRIVE, ERR, LEARN... SUCCEED, GROW... LIVE!
Kanċillier, Membri tal-Kunsill, membri tal-korp akkademiku, ħaddiema tal-Università,
għeżież studenti tal-Università u tal-Junior College...
BONĠU “UNIVERSITY OF MALTA”!
F’dan il-mument daqstant solenni u ta’ ferħ... fil-ftuħ ta’ sena akkademika ġdida...
jiena, bħala r-Rettur tal-Università, inkun mistenni nagħmel dan id-diskors, ta’ spiss
pompuż... u għal dnubietkom, intom mistennija tattendu bi ħġarkom biex tisimgħuni...
jew ... għax fid-dinja qatt ma tista’ tassumi xejn... forsi ġejtu hawn biss biex
tisimgħu lill-President tal-KSU u lill-banda tas-surmast!
[Ħeqq issa hawn aħna... u biex tkunu tafu għal xiex dħaltu...]
F’din l-okkażjoni, ir-Rettur ikun mistenni jgħid kliem ta’ inkoraġġiment lil dawk listudenti li ngħaqdu magħna hawn illum għall-ewwel darba; ikun mistenni wkoll jgħid
kliem profond fuq il-ħajja u fuq l-importanza tal-edukazzjoni terzjarja, fuq ir-riċerka u
l-innovazzjoni, u fuq il-ħtieġa li din l-Università tittieħed aktar bis-serjetà... u dan
mhux għax m’għandniex min jieħu lilu nnifsu bis-serjetà wisq!
Ir-Rettur ikun mistenni jgħid ukoll, li dan il-pajjiż għandu bżonn jinvesti ħafna aktar flUniversità, kif ukoll jistmaha kemxejn aħjar... u li jfakkar li hawn qiegħed isir xogħol
tant siewi u ta’ fejda; kemm dak li qed nagħmlu hu kruċjali għall-pajjiż; u kemm aħna
lkoll bravi, ħabrieka, u tal-“life”... u li fil-fatt fid-dinja m’hawnx bħalna!
Mhux hekk?!
Iva, verament m’hawnx bħalna... iżda dan għax l-istorja ta’ din l-Alma Mater hi
tassew partikolari. Meta tqis il-profil estensiv ta’ programmi ta’ studju u ta’ riċerka li
tħaddan, partikolarment fil-kuntest soċjali u ekonomiku tal-pajjiż ċkejken tagħna, u
fl-isfond tar-riżorsi limitati li bihom irridu naħdmu... dan kollu jagħtina karattru, ejja
ngħidu, verament uniku!
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Din hija waħda mill-universitajiet qodma tal-Ewropa, iżda qatt ma ġiet mogħtija dik
id-dota, l-“endowment”, ta’ proprjetà u beni oħra, li jistgħu jipprovdu s-sies li fuqu
setgħet tibni awtonomija vera... f’dan is-sens, wara dawk il-mijiet ta’ snin kollha, din
l-Università għadha qiegħda tfittex lil ommha!
Xi kultant naħseb li l-Mulej għadu jagħmel il-miraklu tal-ħobż u tal-ħut fostna ta’ kull
sena – nispera li din is-sena ma jinsiniex ukoll! Fl-istess ħin irrid noqgħod attent hawn,
għax il-Ministeru tal-Finanzi abbli jibgħatna għand il-Mulej, għal aktar fondi, fil-budget
li jmiss!
Issa ħallina miċ-ċajt...
Huwa xieraq li nibda billi nintroduċi ruħi bħas-soltu... jisimni Juanito Camilleri, u jien
ir-Rettur tal-Università ta’ Malta. Formalment jien responsabbli mit-tmexxija ta’
kuljum tal-Università mill-aspett kemm akkademiku kif ukoll amministrattiv. Fit-tim
tar-Retturi, tul l-erba’ mija u għoxrin sena storja ta’ din l-istituzzjoni, jien in-number
80... u issa għad-disa’ sena, għadni qed nilgħab... iżda hemm min jgħid li dan għax
qegħdin nilagħbu fl-“extra time”.
Is-sena li għaddiet qabbilt il-kariga ta’ Rettur ma’ dik ta’ goalkeeper jipprova jilqa’ lblalen – ħafna drabi jipprova jevita l-auto goals! Sfortunatament, nista’ nistqarr li ssena li għaddiet kienet impenjata ħafna f’dan ir-rigward – u mhux għax konna qegħdin
nipprattikaw għall-World Cup! Waqt li wieħed jaċċetta li xi kultant l-auto goals iseħħu
fuq bażi ta’ żbalji ġenwini... nispera li ma naslux f’punt fejn din l-Alma Mater issofri
minn auto goals premeditati minn ħdanha stess.
Iżda din okkażjoni feliċi... mhux waħda ta’ skeletri u iħirsa...
Dan id-diskors ta’ ftuħ irid iwelled ċiklu ġdid ta’ ħajja, nifs ġdid għal din listituzzjoni... verament għandna biex nifirħu u nkunu kburin...
Nibdew bl-istudenti tal-Università u tal-Junior College... għan-nom tal-korp
akkademiku u amministrattiv ta’ din l-Università, bi pjaċir nilqa’ lill-istudenti l-ġodda
tagħna għax ħadu l-impenn tal-istudju bis-serjetà... ħadmu u stinkaw... u llum
qegħdin magħna għall-ewwel darba... biex iġedduna... biex ikunu d-demm ġdid li għal
sena oħra jagħti lil din l-Università u lil pajjiżna futur... mhux biss passat...
Għeżież studenti, bħala l-gradwati prospettivi ta’ din l-Alma Mater, bħala l-mexxejja
futuri ta’ pajjiżna, bħala s-sisien tal-ekonomija u tas-soċjetà ta’ għada, aħna
nistidnukom tħarsu ’l quddiem b’kuraġġ, għax kull wieħed u waħda minna hawn illum
għandhom bżonn minn dak il-kuraġġ, l-enerġija, u l-entużjażmu taż-żgħożija li intom
iġġibu magħkom illum... ibda minni!
Intom ġejtu biex iġġedduna... aħna lesti biex inħarrġukom...
It-tema li għażilt għal din is-sena hi magħmula minn sitt kelmiet li rispettivament
dejjem sibt importanti ħafna f’ħajti, u ċert li ser ikunu fil-ħajja tagħkom ukoll:
ĦABREK; ŻBALJA; TGĦALLEM; IRNEXXI; IKBER; GĦIX. Iżda nħoss li meta naqraw dawn
il-kelmiet f’katina nkunu qisna qegħdin indommu l-perli fil-ġiżirana tal-ħajja.
ĦABREK, ŻBALJA, TGĦALLEM... IRNEXXI, IKBER... GĦIX!
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ĦABREK:
Ħabirku, għeżież studenti: kunu biżlin, u aħdmu bla heda, għax il-Mulej sawwarkom
bit-talenti, u għalhekk għandkom l-obbligu li tħaddmuhom u tkattruhom għall-ġid tassoċjetà.
Qatt tibżgħu tfittxu lil hinn minn dak li tħossukom komdi bih... lil hinn mill-familjari...
u mingħajr ma tiżżattu, qatt tibżgħu ssibu l-limiti tagħkom... u meta tiltaqgħu
magħhom agħrfuhom u ħaddnuhom... għax b’hekk biss tistgħu tagħrfu lilkom infuskom!
ŻBALJA:
Ftakru li medjokri hu, dak li qatt ma żbalja! Għaliex? Għax jekk qatt ma żbaljajt jew
fallejt f’xi ħaġa żgur mhux qiegħed timbotta lilek innifsek biżżejjed... jekk qatt ma
żbaljajt żgur mhux qiegħed tuża t-talenti tiegħek fil-limiti tal-kapaċitajiet tiegħek.
M’hemmx mistħija jekk tfalli wara li tagħmel jiesek... hemm mistħija biss jekk fil-fatt
ma tagħmilx l-almu tiegħek!
Toħdunix ħażin... hawn mhux qiegħed ninkoraġġixxi lil min jikser il-liġi jew ir-regoli...
qiegħed nirrikonoxxi biss li, li wieħed jagħmel żball jew ifalli hu fatt naturali... le...
essenzjali... f’ħajja impenjata.
TGĦALLEM:
Ovvjament, dejjem għandek titgħallem mill-iżbalji... iżda biex jiġri hekk l-ewwel
fittex fejn u kif żbaljajt, u ħaddan l-għaqal li taċċetta l-iżball.
Però għażilt il-kelma “TGĦALLEM” bħala waħda mill-perli tal-ħajja, mhux biss fl-isfond
ta’ dak li ħafna drabi jiġri wara li wieħed jaċċetta li żbalja, iżda wkoll għal raġuni
oħra.
Ma nistax nitlef din l-okkażjoni biex nerġa’ nfakkarkom, għeżież studenti, li l-istudju
bl-amment u r-ripetizzjoni bħal papagalli huma bla sens... bil-“cut and paste” minn
xogħol ħaddieħor tkun qiegħed tqarraq bik innifsek biss...
Issa b’umiltà nfakkar ukoll lil sħabi l-akkademiċi li l-korsijiet ta’ studju, il-modi kif
ngħallmuhom, il-modi kif neżaminaw, dawn m’għandhom qatt ikunu bbażati
prinċipalment fuq kemm wieħed jaf jimmemorizza u jirrepeti xi fatti, iżda fuq kemm
fil-fatt student internalizza s-suġġett... u wieħed jispera li dan jintwera b’mod
naturali fil-ħsieb kreattiv u individwali tiegħu jew tagħha.
Fil-qasir, nawguralkom li f’din l-Università tagħrfu t-tagħlim bħala esperjenza intima u
mhux mistier kosmetiku u superfiċjali. Jalla tiltaqgħu mal-muża ħelwa tat-tagħlim
mhux biss fis-swali u fil-laboratorji tagħna, iżda wkoll f’kull esperjenza fuq dan ilkampus u lil hinn.
IRNEXXI:
Li tipprova, biżżejjed? Li tipprova mill-aħjar li tista’ hu kruċjali jekk trid tkun denju li
tissejjaħ gradwat... iżda li jirnexxilek tilħaq il-miri tiegħek jibqa’ dejjem dak li
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jixprunana lkoll ’il quddiem. Kif għedt, m’hemmx mistħija jekk tipprova u tiżloq, iżda
hemm tant ħlewwa meta tipprova u tirnexxi, partikolarment meta l-isfida ma tkunx
faċli. Għeżież studenti, biex qegħdin hawn ġa ħabbattu wiċċkom ma’ bosta sfidi, u
rnexxejtu... ġa doqtu s-suċċess. Omogħdu dik it-togħma bnina u kabbru l-aptit għal
aktar!
IKBER:
Meta nistidinkom tikbru fi ħdan l-Università qiegħed nagħmel dan mhux biss fis-sens
intellettwali jew professjonali – dan importanti ħafna. Iżda dan l-aspett hu parti
waħda biss mill-formazzjoni tagħkom. Illum qiegħed nistidinkom tikbru bħala bnedmin,
qiegħed nistidinkom tagħrfu aħjar dak li jagħmilkom ċivili, bnedmin sensittivi għallbżonnijiet tal-oħrajn, bnedmin f’sensikom u aġġornati f’dak li qiegħed iseħħ fiddinja... dinja ta’ faqar, dinja ta’ gwerer, dinja b’għatx bla rażan għar-riżorsi...
U int fejn int f’dan kollu? Ser tkun f’dinja għalik, li ddur biss fuq id-drittijiet, ilbżonnijiet, u l-kapriċċi tiegħek?... U l-obbligi, l-impenn, l-ispirtu ta’ solidarjetà u ta’
karità, dawn fejn jinkwadraw f’ħajtek?
Għalhekk nistieden lill-komunità universitarja kollha biex nikbru bħala bnedmin
impenjati li nfittxu li ntejbu din id-dinja... għax b’hekk biss inkunu verament
gradwati... gradwati tal-ħajja!
GĦIX:
U fl-aħħar... [għall-erwieħ, nisma’ ’l min jgħid...] fl-aħħar nawgura li tgħixu l-ħajja
bis-sħiħ... sibu l-milja tagħkom... hi x’inhi. Iżda ftakru li d-dinja hemm barra kollha
tagħkom... tibqgħux ankrati ma’ dinja żgħira, iżda ħudu l-opportunitajiet li titilqu
xtutna minn żmien għal ieħor. Tkunux rassenjati, taċċettawx il-medjokrità... uru liddinja xi ssarrfu!
U fuq din in-nota nixtieq ngħid kelmtejn bl-Ingliż, għax huwa importanti li niftakru li
għandna studenti barranin fostna minn erbgħa u tmenin pajjiż, li llum nistidinkom
tilqgħuhom magħna.
Iżda qabel nagħmel dan inħossni obbligat li nfakkar lil kulħadd li din hi Università
internazzjonali – hawn inħaddnu l-kulturi kollha u niċċelebraw id-diversità kulturali.
Għal ħafna raġunijiet, huwa kruċjali li din l-Università tibqa’ tiġbed lejha studenti
barranin mill-irkejjen kollha tad-dinja. Jien ċert li l-maġġoranza assoluta tal-komunità
universitarja tagħmel minn kollox biex tilqa’ kemm studenti, akkademiċi, kif ukoll
ħaddiema oħra li jiġu minn kulturi u pajjiżi oħra. Iżda rrid nerġa’ nfakkar lil kulħadd li
s-Senat ta’ din l-Università ddikjara b’mod ċar li kwalunkwe aġir razzist,
partikolarment f’din l-Università, mhux aċċettabbli, u huwa kundannabbli.
Ftehemna?... Grazzi.
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Dear international freshers, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the University of
Malta and I thank you for patiently listening to the initial part of my speech which I
delivered in Maltese in accordance with established tradition.
Today you have joined a vibrant academic community which looks at the future with
optimism and looks back on its past with pride.
I understand the challenge you face and the excitement of leaving your homeland to
pursue studies abroad. Settling down in a foreign country whilst delving into one’s
study or research programme is a challenge, but, I assure you that you will soon
cherish your stay with us.
Please do not hesitate to seek the assistance of the International Students Office
should the need arise, and please note that Professor Mary-Anne Lauri, the Pro-Rector
in charge of Student and Institutional Affairs, and Professor Marilyn Clark, my delegate
in charge of International Student Wellbeing, are available to assist you.
I trust you will put to good use the facilities in the Library and the IT Services Centre
and that these provide you with a comfortable study environment, beyond the
facilities provided by your respective faculties.
In the initial part of my speech I invited all students to live life to the full and to seize
every opportunity that comes your way. Push yourselves and discover your limits, who
you really are, and what you stand for, even at the risk of failure at times. There is no
shame in failure if one does one’s best. Learn, move on, and grow!
I suspect that you may not have had enough time to acquaint yourselves with the
campus here at Msida. This is only one of the campuses of the University of Malta.
There are also the Medical School facilities at Mater Dei, the Junior College, the
Valletta Campus, the Gozo Campus, the Cottonera Resource Centre, the Argotti
Gardens in Floriana, and we are also working on another Resource Centre dedicated to
Sustainable Energy in Marsaxlokk.
When you get better acquainted with some of these environs, you will notice that the
University is investing significantly in upgrading its facilities and in scaling up its
capacity.
We are working on a Master Plan for the Msida Campus which envisages five major
projects, the construction of at least two of which is scheduled to commence in the
next year or two when European Regional Development funding is secured.
We envisage the construction of a state-of-the-art Sustainable Living Complex
requiring an investment of circa €36 million to house the Faculty for Built
Environment, the Faculty of Education, the Institute of Sustainable Energy, the
Institute of Earth Systems, and a School of Visual Art, possibly amongst others.
We also envisage the construction of a Post-doc, Creative, and Engineering Labs
Complex – we have coined this as the University’s trans-disciplinary “Research
Incubator”. This will bring studios for our School of Performing Arts to the heart of
campus, will create, for the very first time, facilities for trans-disciplinary thematic
research clusters of postdoctoral researchers to be housed, and moreover, will provide
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much needed additional space for our engineering laboratories, for our Institute for
Creative Thinking, our Centre for Entrepreneurship, and for our business incubator.
This project too will require an investment of no less than an additional €39 million.
We are also planning for the longer term: for the construction of a University
Residence and Community Complex on the land we have just purchased adjacent to
the main entrance on campus. This will provide student accommodation and a variety
of other services and amenities for us all. We are planning for a Clinical and Health
Sciences Complex with extensive underground parking and public transport facilities
on the site of the current main student car park. This will allow the Medical School to
move out of Mater Dei to increase bed capacity. Finally, we already have drafted plans
for the University Sports and Wellbeing Complex to bring sport back to life on this
campus.
Sounds ambitious? Yes, it does! Can we build it? Yes, we can… if we all work together…
hopefully with no auto goals!
Where will we get the money from? I hear you say…
To be honest, we don’t know exactly yet, but, nor did we know when we planned to
build the IT Services Centre and the IT Faculty building, nor did we know when we
started working on the specifications for the significant number of laboratories we
have built over the past years, but, somehow we managed then, and I am sure we will
all do everything we can to turn this vision into reality now…
…as I said earlier, there is no shame in failing when one tries one’s best to achieve
ambitious goals… but, in this regard, I genuinely believe that failure cannot be an
option for the sake of this University, and for the sake of this country. Unless we
continue to seriously upgrade the infrastructure on campus to match modern day
requirements, in a decade or two, this 420 year-old Alma Mater will only be able to
look back, alas, not forward!
Let’s now look at some more recent achievements…
Work on the extension of the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences is nearing
completion. We are hoping we will raise the additional funds required for furniture,
but, otherwise we are ready to roll.
I am pleased to announce that the old premises of the Faculty of ICT which has been
refurbished to temporarily house the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business
Incubation, the Knowledge Transfer Office, and the Business Incubator proper is now
buzzing with activity. Actually, in a matter of a few months, our incubator is
practically full with around 20 start-ups operating therein. I invite all staff and
students to visit TAKEOFF – the business incubator – and to find out more about the
services it provides.
The two-storey extension on the footprint of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and
the Department of Biology on campus is also ready. Once again, we need funds to
furnish the offices, labs, and lecture rooms, but, here again once completed this new
facility will bring together a significant number of established researchers from a
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number of faculties under the umbrella of the newly established Centre for Molecular
Medicine and Bio-banking.
Just in case people think that such
Harry Potter’s hat, I would like to
Education for his continuous support,
the pleas from the University’s Oliver
achievements happen like magic pulled out of
take this opportunity to thank the Minister of
and the Ministry of Finance who are now used to
always asking for some more!
Beyond the Msida Campus… the embellishment of the Valletta campus into an
international conferencing and graduate centre continues to unfold. We are working
on plans to expand the facilities of the Gozo campus, and we have drawn up an
extensive list of works that need to be done at the Junior College.
At this point, I would like to thank my Pro-Rectors who I am pleased to introduce in
alphabetical order:
•
•
•
•
Prof. Joe Friggieri is the Pro-Rector for Gozo;
Prof. Mary-Anne Lauri, as mentioned earlier, is the Pro-Rector for Students and
Institutional Affairs;
Prof. Richard Muscat is the Pro-Rector for Research and Innovation; and
Prof. Alfred Vella is the Pro-Rector for Academic Affairs.
I thank them for their unstinting support and for sharing my vision, joys and
frustrations… but most importantly for getting on with it, most times against the odds.
I am truly proud and blessed to work with them.
I would also like to thank the College of Deans who have always provided us with
constructive feedback and advice whenever needed.
Before I close off my welcome speech this morning, I would like to appeal once again
to the staff and student community on campus to engage and help out in any way we
can in the run-up and during the unfolding of two events of national importance which
will undoubtedly benefit from the input of the University community.
The first is Malta’s presidency of the EU in 2017, the second is Valletta the City of
Culture in 2018. These are both projects of National and European pride – I invite all
Deans, Directors, and Heads to actively encourage their staff and students to lend a
hand both in the run-up as well as during the unfolding of these events. Both events
can create backdrops for project work, practical work experience, summer
placements, specific studies, extra-curricular voluntary work under the aegis of the
Degree+ programme, and other initiatives which I’m sure can provide an invaluable
learning experience and exposure for us all.
Without further ado, I welcome you all – academics, support staff, and local and
international students - to a productive and fruitful year.
Let’s live life to the full… remember… we’ve only a lifetime to show what we’re
worth!
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