What irritated you in Malta/Gozo

Nothing

why buy a dog when you can bark yourself....

People who find nothing irritating about Malta / Gozo.

To be honest, I get irritated every morning when I take my son to school. I see dog S**t everywhere in the pavements and I feel disgusted. I reckon that people who take their dogs for a walk should be a bit more responsible and clean. I just can't understand how some people can be so dirty.

tearnet wrote:

People who find nothing irritating about Malta / Gozo.

Actually, I will confess to one thing that does irritate but it's not confined to Gozo. It's the littering, anywhere and everywhere.
Used to do a lot of hillwalking and even up on the top of hills you'd find litter, empty plastic bottles and cans. They took them up full, why not down empty?

Seriously though, the littering on the islands is destroying a lot of their beauty.

totally agree

So do I, it doesn't matter where we walk the amount of rubbish left behind or deliberately dumped is terrible.

Totally agree about the littering, cant understand it

To state a words of another expat I recently met:
"What I like about Malta is that you can do any job, because hardly anyone is really well educated for their job."

Which basically means that professional standards are usually low. Living in Malta has boosted my confidence in capitalism. On this small island there is simply too little competition, so you get away with second-rate performance.

There are a few niches of excellence but those are few and they are exceptions.

holgerMalta wrote:

To state a words of another expat I recently met:
"What I like about Malta is that you can do any job, because hardly anyone is really well educated for their job."

Which basically means that professional standards are usually low. Living in Malta has boosted my confidence in capitalism. On this small island there is simply too little competition, so you get away with second-rate performance.

There are a few niches of excellence but those are few and they are exceptions.

What irritates me? Just remembered my pet hate. ExPats who treat the Maltese as less than equal. You now the type, the ones that call for service at a bar/restaurant, the ones who constantly compare the Maltese culture with (usually) English (but the Germans come a very close second) in a very critical and disparaging manner. The ones who do this at the top of their voices AND the ones who insult and patronise the Maltese.

altho i understand what you are saying Red and it is your opinion - it has to be remembered that not everyone has the good experience of the country the people and the culture. Sometimes a persons experience of Malta as a whole is down to bad choices bad advice insufficient research or unrealistic expectations....   

as the old adage goes - the island is not for everyone - you will either love it or hate it. There is no halfway house here.

Agreed totally but I was referencing the previous post which I found patronising and insulting, particularly the comments

'Which basically means that professional standards are usually low. Living in Malta has boosted my confidence in capitalism. On this small island there is simply too little competition, so you get away with second-rate performance.'

As you state it is about awareness of the culture and yes, it is not for everyone.

If I had to work for a living it would not be in Malta! (most sectors seem to have low professional standards).

I wold never buy a house in Malta! ( overpriced, very poor construction standards etc).

Having said that, we are retired and can choose what we do and when we do it. This means that when the cons out way the pros we will move on!

Simples !!

I agree about some of the standards but that is relative to whatever one is comparing them to.
I also admit that I sometimes forget that it is different for us retirees.
And as you state, it's a matter of choice but I also think that it is a matter of mindset.

Ive not seen any pros about - where are you going at night Mr T

toonarmy9752 wrote:

Ive not seen any pros about - where are you going at night Mr T

What, tell you and increase the competition!!
Force up the price!
What do you think I am?

don't bother answering that!

pimping my ride again......

Almost non existent pedestrian crossings.

narrow uneven pavements

too many foreigners

georgeingozo wrote:

too many foreigners

Too many foreigners on narrow uneven pavements trying to cross on nearly invisible crossings.

yeah too many foreigners lets send them all back!!!!!

Dear Red,

it seems to me that our argument hinges on the assumptions of cultural relativity,
which you seem to subscribe to and I do not. I do not compare the Maltese culture to
the German, I compare both to culture-universals.

But to make matter more concrete and less philosophical,
I think most can agree to the following sentence:
"Public transport in Malta is second-rate".

I do not see how this is insulting to the Maltese, it is a statement that most would call true.
Is it not more insulting to say the Maltese culture does not allow to be judged
in terms of efficiency as most western cultures, and that we should not
expect them (ever) to achieve levels of efficiency in public transport that
other European countries do?

holgerMalta wrote:

I think most can agree to the following sentence:
"Public transport in Malta is second-rate".

public transport in Gozo is excellent

georgeingozo wrote:

holgerMalta wrote:

I think most can agree to the following sentence:
"Public transport in Malta is second-rate".

public transport in Gozo is excellent

Just what I was going to write.
And just what is a culture universal? Who decides what one is? By what and within what parameters is one defined?
If it is what I think it is then by its own definition anyone who subscribes to it fails to recognise the differences between cultures and fails to appreciate those differences or the individuals who contribute to their culture. It's like ignoring ethnicity and forcing everyone into a collective box.
I know what that is and it's not very nice.

Mosquitos in *#%"*^* December! 

georgeingozo wrote:

holgerMalta wrote:

I think most can agree to the following sentence:
"Public transport in Malta is second-rate".

public transport in Gozo is excellent

good for you, but Malta is not just Gozo so I have to agree with sentence:
Public transport in Malta is second-rate

maybe you in gozo haven't experianced delight of having 7 buses just go past station and not wanting to stop even though we all could see that they are not full, maybe you have all lines covered with normal buses, but for exp. lines 202 and 203 which go to b'kara and further are coaches in which you cant go in with kid in strollers but you need to fold them, which is "great" when baby is sleeping, delight of trying to pay ticket with 10e bill and getting kicked off the bus with words when you get exact change then get the next bus... and we must forget different ticket tariff system

yes, arriva is second rate


edit:
i hate dog shit all over roads and lack of pedestrian crossings

Duxx wrote:

georgeingozo wrote:

holgerMalta wrote:

I think most can agree to the following sentence:
"Public transport in Malta is second-rate".

public transport in Gozo is excellent

good for you, but Malta is not just Gozo so I have to agree with sentence:
Public transport in Malta is second-rate

maybe you in gozo haven't experianced delight of having 7 buses just go past station and not wanting to stop even though we all could see that they are not full, maybe you have all lines covered with normal buses, but for exp. lines 202 and 203 which go to b'kara and further are coaches in which you cant go in with kid in strollers but you need to fold them, which is "great" when baby is sleeping, delight of trying to pay ticket with 10e bill and getting kicked off the bus with words when you get exact change then get the next bus... and we must forget different ticket tariff system

yes, arriva is second rate


edit:
i hate dog shit all over roads and lack of pedestrian crossings

According to your profile you are in Croatia. Is it bad there too?

i cant get that profile thing right, damm
no, i'm in gzira

i wont say it's perfect back in croatia, but it's way better

to ask you in return - how would you rate arriva to uk public (bus only) transportation?

I hate that I have to buy bottled water because the tap water tastes bad.
The dog poo when you go for a walk & the rubbish esp. plastic bottles Everywhere.

Duxx wrote:

good for you, but Malta is not just Gozo

and the Maltese Islands aren't just Malta

Living on Gozo, I would say it is excellent compared to UK, especially where I used to live.

People lie, steal, are not reliable, not professional, non competent. I'm desperate sometimes to live here but I bought here and it has been the beginning of the nightmare. I met a crazy man here. In fact, he harasses me for money, I have never experienced this in my whole life. I think if you don't have to deal with the Maltese everyday, it's ok otherwise....why?I don't understand. Malta is more an African country than an European country for sure (about development/mentality).

Duxx wrote:

georgeingozo wrote:

holgerMalta wrote:

I think most can agree to the following sentence:
"Public transport in Malta is second-rate".

public transport in Gozo is excellent

good for you, but Malta is not just Gozo so I have to agree with sentence:
Public transport in Malta is second-rate

maybe you in gozo haven't experianced delight of having 7 buses just go past station and not wanting to stop even though we all could see that they are not full, maybe you have all lines covered with normal buses, but for exp. lines 202 and 203 which go to b'kara and further are coaches in which you cant go in with kid in strollers but you need to fold them, which is "great" when baby is sleeping, delight of trying to pay ticket with 10e bill and getting kicked off the bus with words when you get exact change then get the next bus... and we must forget different ticket tariff system

yes, arriva is second rate


edit:
i hate dog shit all over roads and lack of pedestrian crossings

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you Duxx! My worst nightmares in Malta start when I have to use the arriva buses. I lost count of how many times I had bad arguments with some of the arriva bus drivers (both male and female). The last one was actually so bad that my wife left the bus crying due to the stress caused. If one day I leave Malta, one reasons will be for sure due to the poor transport system and the lack of knowledge and respect of some of the arriva drivers. Apart from the issue with the drivers, which I rather not even go there, we have the people in general that don't have any kind respect and common sense towards others, when using the public transports. First, they get into the bus without checking who's in front of them in the queue, some are the last to arrive at the bus stops and the first to get in. Secondly, they don't even wait for people to get out of the buses before they start to jump in, causing sometimes little problems to elderly people and parents with children trying to get out of the bus. It really pists me off when I try to get out and I see people getting in without allowing us to leave the bus first.
But anyway, I am better off stopping here with the arriva complaints or this post will be even longer than what it is now lol

I also can't stand the prejudice and miss conceptions of some Maltese people, they look at you and without asking, they assume you are from some country you never been and that you don't have an e-Residence card. To be honest, I do like Malta and I try to think more on the positive aspects rather than the negative ones but I have to admit I am a bit disappointed with a lot of things over here. I would probably have few other things to moan about but there's no point, there is not a perfect place and if I feel I need to move on, I will do it for sure.

jj2013 wrote:

People lie, steal, are not reliable, not professional, non competent. I'm desperate sometimes to live here but I bought here and it has been the beginning of the nightmare. I met a crazy man here. In fact, he harasses me for money, I have never experienced this in my whole life. I think if you don't have to deal with the Maltese everyday, it's ok otherwise....why?I don't understand. Malta is more an African country than an European country for sure (about development/mentality).

Those are serious allegations.
But I do not believe you can blame everyone for your own choices?
I would think there is more to this than is written here.

I can empathise with you Mantonas for sure- much of what you say has been experienced by lots of people - it isnt a one off.

Red - as I have said to you and others before just because you havent experienced the same as JJ2013 doesnt mean it doesnt happen or that there is a hidden agenda or that there is more to it than meets the eye - you may have been lucky so far. It also doesnt mean that JJs experiences so far are down to JJs choices maybe they are but you are assuming an awful lot.

we all have good and bad experiences some are down to choices some are down to just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.... some are down to people.......there are too many variables to make the statements that you made.here. Of course you are entitled to an opinion like we all are....

There are lots of things i like about Malta but I dont like it all. i was not always like that, and thats down to learning and experiences here... none of the bad things were down to bad choices and i dont blame anyone for what i have experienced... its Malta. Thats the way it is. NOT PERFECT - just like everywhere else.... its not heaven. but then its niot complete hell either.....

bottom line is... make appropriate changes to avoid the potential for bad experiences...... if you can .....some things sadly cant be avoided.... they will happen whether you like it or not.... thats life.

To accuse people of lying and stealing are serous accusations and with lack of evidence or any other information to substantiate those accusations are personal opinion. Therefore there must be more to it. I'm not blind to the fact that others have different, difficult and disadvantaged experiences, certainly not after my own life experiences and being exposed to other's horrendous situations on both a personal and professional level.
One should also bear in mind that these things are universal and not just unique to Malta.