Funny how differently events are interpreted depending on who is involved.

I was present at the infamous Alfred sant debate at the University when Alfred Sant was booed and heckled by University students – actually I was one of the journalists asking the questions on stage so I had a perfect view of the audience of hundreds of antagonistic students.  As usually happens when there is safety in numbers, each section of the Sir Temi Zammit Hall eventually bolstered its courage and joined in the booing. Was it orchestrated like so many events were at that time? Maybe one day we will know.

And it’s funny how the students were exalted and praised for showing exactly what they thought of Sant, and how no one took their particulars for being disruptive and rude. On the contrary, many said that it was at this debate that it became patently clear which way the youth vote was going to swing. They were right.

And yet, fast forward to 2011, a solitary student expressed her feelings toward Austin Gatt and all  hell breaks loose. Not only that but a certain employee from the Malta IT Agency within Gatt’s ministry arrogantly demands the student’s particulars.  What gave him the right to do this, and more significantly, what made him think he had that right?

As the controversy over Nicola Abela Garrett’s outburst continues, it is quickly snowballing into something more sinister. Media spin has already labelled her as a foul-mouthed Laburista who orchestrated the whole thing  in cahoots with a journalist.  Joining in the chorus are those who are claiming she should shut up and just be grateful for her stipend.

Excuse me? Is this what we have come to in this land of “free speech”? We are always complaining that students do not get more involved in what is happening around them, and then one young girl speaks the mind of bus commuters everywhere and she is being bulled into submission.

As for her political leanings..again EXCUSE ME?  Who cares who she votes for, or what “background” she comes from?  How is this relevant to her legitimate, well-founded complaints?  The persecution complex of certain members of the PN has now become so out of control that they interpret every criticism as an attempt to bring down the government.

Here’s a thought. Rather than doing background checks of 20-year-old students, maybe they should expend their energies into giving us the bus service we were promised with such hype.