There is no denying that Pulse and SDM have established themselves as not only the fiercest of rivals but also a major nuisance to most local adolescents who are hammered with their irrational behaviour, puerile tantrums and pathetic propaganda strategies.
They are a creed based on partial leanings, vanity and opportunism. The situation at G.F. Abela Junior College has spiralled way out of control, breeding a new generation of hate, spite and gang-wars within its corridors.
And over what? Discos and ‘burger days’, literally. And that’s their claim to making a ‘difference in student’s lives’.
We recently saw the end to another futile campaign to which SDM prevailed and claimed their place in the KSJC council (how exciting). What really annoys me though is that the people who created the mess at Junior College want to manifest their narrow-minded tribal cults, at the MCAST institutions.
Speaking as an actual student from MCAST, I find the thought of the situation at MCAST even coming to remotely resemble that of Junior College, disturbing. The dynamics among students at MCAST differs heavily from that at Junior College. At MCAST, students come from all sorts of different backgrounds and all with differing opinions and ideologies, but in spite of this I have always been staggered by the bounding sense of acceptance towards variety among the majority of students.
I do not wish to be misunderstood, we constantly debate current affairs and certain hot topics of the moment, but aside from that there is no spite or affliction involved and most of the time we end up joking about it afterwards. At MCAST, or at any other school around the world, for that matter, arguments arise all the time, but the concept of fights or tribal wars is practically unheard of.
The same cannot be said about the situation at Junior College. I quote Dr. Philip Caruana, vice-principal at G.F Abela Junior College who said that he is ‘worried’ with the current situation at Junior College and calls upon a new system of student politics “but not like this, with all this fighting between the students and all the problems that we have because of this current system”.
Though unfortunately enough, Junior College has gotten to the point where Pulse and SDM are regarded with great eminence by their followers, and vice-versa, Junior College’s educational reputation is almost completely masked by the over-shadowing presence of these student organisations. In a way, I find it pathetic, the way most of the Pulse/SDM fanatics try to portray these organisations, often painfully attempting to portray them in John F. Kennedy or Nelson Mandela-like figures of stature, talking about dignity, loyalty and whatnot, without having the slightest clue what they are talking about. Most of the people running Pulse and SDM wouldn’t know the proper meaning of dignity if it bit them up the back-side! How is it dignified to cause unnecessary confrontation with your opponent over a Christmas Ball? How is it dignified to reduce one’s self to childish slandering and anonymous phone calls? If Pulse and SDM are supposed to give us a clear image of tomorrow’s leaders and politicians than I regret to inform that tomorrow’s political arena isn’t looking so bright.
Nevertheless, there are solutions. First of which, the MCAST administration board should learn from the mess over at Junior College and prohibit any political student organisations for their student elections, starting with the removal of Pulse. I know, it might not be welcomed positively by a few (who would later attempt to portray themselves as the majority), but this is absolutely necessary to safe-guard the general harmony among students, that MCAST still relishes.
Although I strongly suggest the Junior College follows the same path, I am more concerned on how a small group of people (most of which don’t even attend any MCAST institution) want to implement their failed system at MCAST. I am sure that the majority of students at MCAST do not want this, and should speak up, now before it is too late. Students wishing to run for the student council elections should do so independently and would therefore be encouraged to push their personal qualities forward, and how they feel they can contribute as individuals for the common good of all students. This way, students would not be voting for someone because of the political party this candidate’s student organisation is affiliated to, or other ridiculous reasons. They would be mainly voting for the individual qualities they note in the candidate.