12 December 9, 2012 • SUNDAY MAIL
Opinion We’re all showing a shameful lack of public spirit EVERY DAY a new interest group protests against the provisions of the memorandum and argues that provisions affecting its members must be rejected. They all want to be exempted, for constitutional or financial or social or emotional or moral reasons and each group believes it is entitled to preferential treatment. By Thursday when the first bills of the bailout were being approved at the legislature more than a dozen different groups had protested or complained about allegedly unfair provisions. Underworked and overpaid teachers have been at the vanguard of the protests, issuing verbose announcements against wealth and threatening work stoppages. On Wednesday they held a demonstration outside the legislature, supposedly in support of teachers on temporary work contracts, but in reality because they are opposed to working an extra period a week a provision of the memorandum. This was obvious as the protests continued after the education
ministry made it clear that contracts of all teachers would be renewed. In short, the EU’s second best-paid teachers demonstrated against having to teach an extra period a week. Policemen protested about being paid only a third of their overtime entitlement in cash and threatened to impose an overtime ban (they also moaned about losing their plain clothes allowance) while non-commissioned officers of the National Guard also moaned about losing an allowance. Electricity Authority workers, fearing their privileges were under threat either from privatisation or an end to the authority’s monopoly, took out an advert calling for a referendum on the bailout. As for state hospital doctors, they were outraged that they would have to pay for healthcare, in line with the new regulations which make free care available only to low income earners. It is sad that well-educated members of our society, to whom people look up to, are incapa-
Cyprus Mail
ble of setting the good example by putting aside their personal interest for the general good. And though we have come to expect such self-interested behaviour from state doctors and teachers, it was very disappointing to see judges showing no public spirit when their incomes were affected. Large numbers of district court judges filed appeals against last year’s small cut to their pay on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. To avoid having to rule on the issue, the Supreme Court proposed that judges gave the equivalent of the pay cut, in a monthly contribution. This would mean that judges’ pensions and retirement bonus would be calculated on the full wage. If Supreme Court judges were more public-spirited, they would have proposed an amendment of the constitution, instead of a compromise that, ultimately, was in their personal interest. How-
ever, it would appear that this is no longer an issue, as the Attorney General has said the pay cuts and all other measures included in the bailout were being imposed under the ‘law of necessity’, implying that no group could appeal against their constitutionality. This was also an answer to unions arguing that changing collective agreements unilaterally was a violation of the law. How ironic that many politicians, including the president, have been waxing lyrical about the spirit and resourcefulness shown by Cypriots after the 1974 catastrophe and calling for a repeat performance. They ignore that we live in a different era, an era governed by self-interest and an appalling sense of entitlement cultivated by decades of union rule. For decades organised groups have been securing privileges for their members - be they lawyers, doctors, air-traffic controllers, civil servants etc - with the support of self-interested politicians concerned only about votes.
And even though these privileges/rights have driven the state to bankruptcy they still refuse to give them up. Each group wants to be exempted but is happy for the other groups to make the necessary sacrifices. This is how entrenched the sense of entitlement is - people only want to take, never to give. Nobody seems capable of seeing beyond their narrow personal interest while notions such as the common good, sense of community and public spirit have disappeared from our vocabulary in the era of the ‘me culture’. Cyprus is going through the most difficult period since 1974 and the only concern of the best looked after members of our society - those with secure, well-paid jobs - is to get out of contributing anything to help the country. It is a shameful attitude, considering there are more than 40,000 unemployed and more people are slipping below the poverty line each day. But it seems we have become too selfish to care.
Letters to the Editor
Not everyone can learn a new languge Further to your prolific contributor, Clive Turner, and his observations and opinions about learning Greek in last Sunday’s issue I concur with what he says. A point in turn, which this esteemed newspaper highlighted a couple of years ago, was my experience with the courts. I was issued with a court order in Greek. Later, I did a bit of research and it transpires that under article 12 under the linguistic Right of the Cyprus Constitution section 5: ‘Every person charged with an offence has the following minimum rights: (a) to be informed promptly and in a language which he understands and detail of the nature and grounds of the charge preferred against him’. This article, one suspects, has been enshrined in the constitution at the time of its conception. In this day and age basic human rights of this nature should be obligatory to all government departments. To be told that one should learn Greek by a government officer is, in my view,
offensive. There are many reasons why people are unable to learn a new language and they should not be penalized by officialdom. Cyprus has failed to recognise that being in the Euro family one is part of a multicultural concept. Rather than harangue some of its community with negative remarks the administration should be seeking ways of using modern interactive communication applications. Communicating in any language is now possible. Of course only a caring and progressive administration would know about such things. For those who are interested I did start taking Greek lessons but stopped when the Cyprus Pound became the Euro. The reason was simple. On one visit to a restaurant I approached the waiter and endeavoured to converse in Greek. For my effort all I got was: Please speak English I am from Poland! Nearly ten years on and it hasn’t changed. Peter Stammers, Mesogi
Be grateful Cypriots speak English In reply to Clive Turner’s letter of last week, I would just like to ask him which other EU countries, apart from Greece and Cyprus, have official information published in the Greek language. The UK has a Greek speaking community a lot larger than the British population of Cyprus, but I don’t ever remember seeing instructions on medicines in Greek or being asked by the council if I required them to send my local tax bill in Greek. In fact I am sure that if someone in the UK complained about receiving an official document in English which they couldn’t understand, they would get a very similar response to that given by Mr Andreou. You should be grateful that so many Cypriots speak good English and can help you out in these situations, that is of course if you know any. Martin Rodger, Nicosia
Paradise lost as history about to repeat itself It is with much sadness that we, the overseas Greek Cypriots, have been following the economic and political developments on the island. Cyprus should have been the jewel of the Mediterranean and instead it’s what many would call a banana republic, a paradise lost, a place where the same few have ruled since 1960 and have driven the island to the brink of economic disaster. A place built on false promises. A place where people, especially the youth, have lost hope. From the ‘50’s through the mid ‘70’s poverty and war forced many to migrate to countries like England, Australia and the U.S. in pursuit of jobs, hope and a better future for their families. In the last 30 years migration was minimal and many of us accidentally stayed abroad due to love or post graduate jobs and in general left Cyprus with much better memories. It looks like history is about to repeat itself. Cyprus, due to the incompetency of its politicians and the greed of the elite
few, will once again force its young away from its shores. Unemployment and corruption will drive the younger generations to pursue hope and happiness in places far away. The songs of Kazantzidis about xenitia (foreign lands) will once again become relevant to mothers and fathers across the island. Everyone has contributed to this situation and everyone is part of the problem. Cyprus has a highly educated population which somehow has either stayed silent over the years by showing complete apathy or became part of the establishment through conformity. Apathy and conformity are both equally dangerous. Unless a cultural mindset shift takes place, the Troika loans will only encourage the continuation of the reckless behaviour of the politicians and the elite few. A call to action is in desperate need. What’s stopping educated, independent, progressive citizens with no political af-
filiations to organize and challenge the establishment? A new movement by the people and for the people. A new movement with a vision to make Cyprus the jewel of the Mediterranean, corruption free with best-in-class education and health care systems. A new movement where the youth will have hope once again and where senior citizens will be able to live their golden years with dignity. Today, in Cyprus, visionaries are in great need. Visionaries are wanted. Cyprus needs you to come out of hibernation and speak up. Do it for your children, otherwise they will end up living five thousand miles away from you. If you don’t do it, no one will do it for you. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. Now it’s time for you to dream big and take action.
Leaflet delivery or casing homes? Covered in your paper over the last few weeks there appears to have been a considerable increase in crime, mainly on private property. Less than two weeks ago a neighbour was broken into between the hours of 07.30 – 11.00 - yes broad daylight - and the only items taken were made of gold which apparently is so easy to sell on, no questions asked, receiving good money per gramme. The other day I was outside cleaning around the front of my house when I noticed a person standing on the opposite side of the road looking over the front of my house. Okay, he might have been just looking or admiring it, but what made me a little suspicious was that as soon as he saw me looking he said: ‘kalimera’ and gave me a supermarket flyer. Before I forget, he was not Cypriot. Then I noticed that he was not on his own as
another person was compiling flyers and placing them in next door’s letter box. He seemed to be taking longer than normal to do this. Normally they are sorted prior to delivery, stopping momentarily just to place in the box or on fence. What really got me thinking is that I had never seen them being delivered by two people. For sure one was delivering flyers but the other only had a few flyers in his hand so was he delivering, keeping company or casing properties for access, ideal cover when you come to think of it? I could be wrong in my assumption but with the high unemployment situation a mock cover is a reality. In no way do I tar those that deliver flyers with the same brush. Most earn little for what they do and are just doing a job to earn some bread. PL, Limassol
Nicolas Nicolaou, New Jersey, US
Housing benefits for refugees no longer necessary I think the easiest way to cut a large chunk from the government budget would be to stop all payments to refugees. After 38 years there are no true refugees anymore. All have been rehoused and given land to compensate them for their losses. Children born after 1974 are still being given grants to build houses when it should be their parents, or themselves, footing the bill. Last year’s decision to give refugee status to daughters of refugees has only deepened the hole that this government finds themselves in. Alan Morton, Famagusta
Want to send a letter? You can send letters to the Cyprus Mail by email, fax or post. Letters should include a full postal address (an email address is not sufficient), a daytime telephone number and a reference to the relevant article. A name and address may be withheld from publication if circumstances warrant. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Correspondence will be published at the discretion of the editor. Management is under no obligation to inform readers if, when or where their letters will appear.