With the beginning of each New Year, it is natural to take stock of what has happened over the last 12 months. Josanne Cassar asked some people about their personal and

professional highs and lows of 2006

Miriam Christine

My worst moment in 2006 was when my Aunt Kikka passed away on 28 January after an illness. She was very dear to me, my husband Mark and all the family. Although it was hard watching her suffer and waste away, her death still came as a shock to us. We miss her deeply.

My best moment this year definitely has to be the birth of our son, Rio.

Amazingly enough, he was born on 30 October, nearly nine months to the day after Auntie Kikka died! He has brought a lot of happiness to the whole family and we are enjoying every moment with him.

Brooke Borg

Well, I consider myself quite lucky when I think about the fantastic family I’m surrounded by. Unfortunately, in February of this year, I lost my dear grandad whom I used to adore. It took me some time to get over his loss.

In the months that followed I had some very good opportunities in my singing career. The single tremendous moment I will never forget is when I, together with my singing partner Daniele Coletta, was called on the stage of the Ariston Theatre in San Remo as one of the top 10 singers to make it to the final. This was from about 5,000 participants aged between 14 and 36 during the song festival Una Voce per San Remo. Apart from these memorable moments, something I really treasure is the friendly environment that all the participants manage to create. After this unforgettable experience we are working very closely with important people in the Italian music industry and obviously hoping for the best.

Julia Farrugia

I woke up in Adelaide on a scorching 1 January 2006. Quite different from what we’re used to in Malta. In Australia I met relatives whom I hadn’t seen for 20 years but it was also a time of reflection on both a personal and professional level.

In life there is always the vexed question: what is the price you have to pay when taking important decisions? For me, 2006 was, in a way, the year for this question.

Being in the limelight is nice. It’s not always that glamorous though; there are the in-betweens that no camera can catch. You have to wear a smile when at times there is pain and sorrow to hide. At the end of the day, we are just like any other person on earth. No TV camera can capture moments when you hit rock bottom such as the loneliness derived from taking huge decisions in your life. Certainly it was no easy decision in 2005 to call a June 2006 wedding off. You have to start all over again in so many ways. Spending lengthy nights at home watching DVDs alone, building a circle of new friends, but yet I believe that these phases are important. They are there to strengthen you. The more downhill we slide, the more we’ll appreciate the nice things that come our way.

And, oh yes, the vexed question. It is up to us how we want to shape our world. October and November brought an overhaul. I had to say goodbye to my cabrio and get a new but trouble-free car.

Then I changed my job, and refused an attractive work offer by simply keeping in mind the vexed question. I’m born inquisitive – something that is hard to renounce when your compulsion makes journalism and media productions a must.

I work now for the Illum newspaper, investigating rewarding stories but also enjoying it because this job brought back that missing balance in my life. I feel like a brand new person. I have re-discovered the real Julia in me. Having ME TIME, enjoying Sundays and Mondays off and happy to have a normal working pattern during the rest of the week, whenever circumstances permit.

I guess that the moment that you have this balance in your life, automatically everything else will fall into place.

In November too, I won three journalists’ awards and oh, this was the month a new person came into my life. After 10 years I am cherishing simple things in life like all normal people do. It is like having an Indian summer and I’m simply enjoying it.

This is zero hour. Ready to embrace 2007.

Charles Xuereb

The highs were few for me during 2006, if we consider the broadcasting

landscape, which is my field of work, as the one under focus. In fact, they were a relief when compared to the numerous voices, shots, presentations, indeed whole productions, if not

schedules, that lack a professional touch. Ironically, this industry seems to have lost its standards with the introduction of pluralism. Occasionally, when one views a good production, hears a good broadcasting voice or an intelligent conversation – few and far between – then one feels better. 2007? Committed broadcasters never give up, but as a smart linguist from the university recently told me, Malta is the only country where the borrowed Latin word “dilettant” has the opposite meaning to

the original! That is food for thought for the New Year!