Graduation Ceremony 6
Tuesday 25th November 2014 at 4.30 p.m.
JESUITS’ CHURCH – VALLETTA
Graduand’s Address
Mr Noel Buttigieg
a Ph.D. graduand and representative of the students
Din li għamlitna dak li aħna....Twelled dak li għad iseħħ minna. This was the theme that dominated the University Rector’s
opening address to the University of Malta students and faculty in October 2009. I happened to be present during Professor
Camilleri’s welcome speech, emphasizing the importance of the University of Malta and its on-going role in providing a platform
to prepare students who will contribute towards Malta’s social and economic growth for generations to come.
At that time, I had just enrolled with the intention to read for a PhD within the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture. The
aim was to explore the culture of the grain-bread cycle, that process involving the acquisition, processing, production and
consumption of bread in eighteenth-century Malta.
So today, I stand here before you feeling extremely honoured to be invited by Senate to deliver the graduand address. For all of us
this is a joyous moment. In my case, a feeling of exhilaration after fulfilling the requirements pertaining to Doctor of Philosophy
course offered by the University of Malta. Of the twenty-two PhD students graduating this year from our University, I also happen
to be the first to graduate from the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture. All this, thanks to the opportunities I was presented
with by the ‘bread and bakers’ that crossed my path during this journey. For this reason the 2009 Rector’s welcome speech had a
second meaning to me. No food, no life, no history. This is an undeniable truth. Therefore, Il-ħobz jgħamilna dak li aħna
....Jwelled dak li għad iseħħ minna.
Bread plays a fundamental role in Maltese historical consciousness, and forms an integral part of the Maltese cultural tradition.
Despite the modern changing eating habits and a drop in the local per capita consumption of bread, the Maltese still consider
themselves to be mainly ‘bread eaters’. Cultural tradition, however, is no linear continuum. The physiological and psychological
‘meaning’ of bread evolved through time. My research employed bread as a means to understand better cultural continuity and
change. Identity, power and memory are some of the concepts discussed, including some insights into the world of the baker and
the production of bread.
The combination of flour, water, salt and mother dough, form the four basic ingredients in leavened bread production. The baker
employs these ingredients daily to produce bread of good quality and correct weight. The student, similar to the baker, uses these
ingredients during the term of academic research and study. Flour represents our knowledge, the theoretical and practical mastery
of information. Water identifies our understanding, the power to make experience intelligible by applying concepts and categories.
Salt is a marker of our skills, the ability to use one’s knowledge and understanding effectively to competently execute a particular
task. Mother dough stands for our creativity, the ability to produce something new through imagination. This could be a new
solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. Against this background, our Alma Mater is that
institution that guides the student on how to utilize these ingredients and knead them together in the hope li twelled dak li għad
iseħħ minna. Similar to the relationship between the master baker and his apprentice, the University of Malta guides the students
in becoming ‘bakers’.
The successful master baker is constantly seeking ways to ameliorate the final product. As the art of bread making evolves through
time, the entrepreneurial instinct of the master baker seeks to safe guard the interests of his clients while anticipating new market
demands. Universities are also motivated with such ambitions. Twenty-first century universities are expected to be relevant to
current trends and demands.
Universities are challenged to act as harbingers in terms of innovation in teaching and research. For the University of Malta, these
qualities are necessary on both national and international level. In the case of the latter, the University of Malta needs to remain
competitive, broadening the horizons of the courses offered while furthering opportunities for both academic staff and students.
Programmes of cooperation in teaching, learning and research between institutions of higher education have now reached
unprecedented importance. During the past two decades, dynamic student and faculty exchange programmes have become an
interesting characteristic of our four hundred year old university. However, Faculties, Institutes and Centres are encouraged not to
rest on the laurels of the past, but to continue to pursue further opportunities. Sponsoring such programmes also comes at a cost.
The University of Malta requires the support of the authorities. Governments need to sustain an effective budget that allows this
institution of learning to continue to twelled dak li għad iseħħ minna.
Such arrangements have a concomitant effect on a national level. The graduate is expected to enter the world of employment
equipped with the necessary tools, attracting the interest of the employer. Job providers seek candidates with entrepreneurial
qualities. The University of Malta’s curricula are also motivated by this mindset. Programmes are required to indicate within their
rationale valid reasons to justify the possible contributions of the graduand towards the Islands’ economy. Several University
courses are today directly linked to the world of employment as students are provided with the possibility of exploring at firsthand jobs directly related to their area of studies. Such arrangements continue to give added-value to the University course
offerings as well as to the students’ learning experience. Further support in this regard should be provided by the industrial sector
through effective co-operative partnerships with the University of Malta.
Great leaps forward have been achieved by our Alma Mater. I can attest to this progress, now that I am graduating for the fourth
time since 1998. Jim Collins, in his seminal work Good to Great states, ‘I don’t know where we should take this company, but I do
know that if I start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate, we will find a way to
make this company great.’ In seeking greatness, the University of Malta should also take stock of unnecessary bureaucratic
exercises, hampering progress and dampening the enthusiasm of valid contributors. At the same time, some members of the
academic staff need to embrace change and pull down their ivory towers. The master baker is always wary of a poor batch of
mother dough as this could ruin the leavening process and therefore the quality of his final product. The scientific study of the
eighteenth century French Apothecary, Antoine-Augustine Parmentier, elevates the subscribes of the fermentation process to ‘the
soul of the bread-making process’. Of all the stages involved in the bread-making exercise, Parmentier considered the preparation
and insinuation of the leaven into dough as the one step requiring most care and skill. The same care and skill I would suggest to
the members of the Academic Body.
The allegory of bread and bakers applies to the graduands too.
French scientist, Raymond Calvel wrote profusely about the challenge associated with bread making and baking. The baker’s work,
explains Calvel, is made more difficult because of the continuous amount of skill and experience required. The skilled artisan is
expected to read and understand all the chemical mutations taking place just before his eyes. In fact, the baker could go through
the entire bread making process, generally unaware of the bio-chemical transformations which altered four simple ingredients into
the most sought out food since time immemorial. Beyond the traditional recipe, the baker requires every drop of experience to
compensate for several other variables which could ruin an entire batch of baked bread.
Against this background I suggest the following to the graduands:
Maintain a curious approach to life.
To read and understand the ‘chemical mutations’ is a must for that student motivated by a curious mind. The want to know is an
important human characteristic. Curiosity stimulates our desire to challenge ourselves to explore beyond unchartered territory.
Cultivate a love for research, an important ingredient in this modern age driven by ongoing changes in knowledge and technology.
Seek your passion.
It is widely held that our curiosity is primarily motivated by our passions. Our accomplishment today is a celebration of our
success in pursuing those goals triggered by our interests. Consequently, successful learning experiences are primarily motivated
by an individual’s aspirations to follow an exciting, but not always simple, path. Therefore, do not be disheartened by the different
‘chemical mutations’ you witness during your journey. On the contrary, seek ways which allow you to generate a positive feeling, a
state of mind provoked by a serene internal satisfaction. ‘For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a
meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work’, argues Jim Collins.
Make valid contributions.
As graduands, we need to apply our knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure that we are valid contributors towards our
community. Let’s get involved, and promote ways to make valid contributions. Think critically and act creatively.
To us all assembled here today, I ask you to consider ‘bread confection and baking’ not as a challenge, but really as an opportunity.
What lies ahead of us is not necessarily easy. Winston Churchill’s 1940 first address to the House of Commons as Prime Minister
immediately comes to mind, ‘I have nothing to offer you but blood, sweat, tears and toil’. Translate the challenge into an
opportunity.
Our achievements today should be celebrated and cherished for the rest of our life. However, consider today’s experience mainly
as a prologue. I encourage you all to be our society’s ‘bakers’. Dear graduands, our best is still to come, seek the challenge and grab
the opportunity. I wish you all a sincere best of luck.
Thank you.