Being surrounded by the sea, Malta has had a thriving sailing community stretching back to the time of the Phoenecians, but currently, two Maltese young sportsmen are making a bid for the Olympics in 2012 in London. Benji Borg, 20 and Seb Ripard, 23 are two young Maltese competitive sailors who have a dream of Olympic Gold, sailing in the 49er class.
Both Benji and Seb started sailing at a very young age. Seb comes from a family with a legacy of success in the sport. His grandfather, John Ripard, represented Malta in the sailing events in the Rome Olympics in 1960 and crewed a yacht with his brother.
For decades, there has been a general trend of population movements from developing nations to the developed countries of the world. Historically, developing nations are some of the countries on the continents of Africa, Asia and South/Central America. Since Malta joined the EU in 2004 there has been an increase in the number of such migrants reaching Maltese shores, particularly during the period from 2004 to 2008. These migrants are referred to as “Klandestini” in Maltese, a term that translates as irregular or illegal migrants.
There is a funny story that’s been around for quite some years about “The Italian Man Who Went To Malta”. The story is rather amusing and plays on a misunderstanding between the English accent adopted by the Italian and how it’s actually understood by his Maltese hosts.
Maltese people from all over the island are concerned about the foul smell of gas-like nature, which is present in many localities at the moment. Hundreds of reports have been made to the Civil Protection Dept and to the police, but noone has given concrete answers or explanations.