The Sound of Silence

The Malta Independent



After a campaign that added more heath than warmth to the referendum argument, the electorate today is allowed to enjoy the sound of silence. I think that the din was so high during the campaign, the issues have been so wrapped up so much in exaggerations and gratuitous assertions, that one day of silence is not enough. A week would have been much better giving time for the electorate to reflect properly on the underlying issues involved, removing the wool and smoke which were purposely included as a substitute for real arguments.

But as we enjoy the sound of silence I invite readers to reflect on the history written last week is the sports world by the Geneva based Swiss yachting ALINGHI consortium that succeeded to bring the America`s Cup to Europe. An enterprise that had eluded so many more quoted sea-faring nations resulting in the highest international` Yachting honour staying` away from Europe for 153 years from where it had departed in 1851, was clinched by land-locked Switzerland. What an irony!

`a prime example of what can be done if one believes in one`s inner strength and work together in perfect teamwork to build a team of result oriented professionals that are given clear objectives, motivation for the challenge and adequate resources to accomplish the task of them expected.` This is a prime example of what can be done if one believes in one`s inner strength and work together in perfect teamwork to build a team of result oriented professionals that are given clear objectives, motivation for the challenge and adequate resources to accomplish the task of them expected.

Alinghi is not just a Swiss boat.` It is a project conceived by Ernesto Bertarelli, a bio-tech entrepreneur and director of UBS Financial Services Group.` UBS were also the major sponsors of the Swiss challenge and they believed in the project so much that for two whole years they built their international marketing campaign around the Alinghi`s challenge for the Louis Vuitton Cup first and the America`s Cup later.

The Alinghi crew, although Swiss based and sponsored, contained the best elements from 17 different countries.

Is there not a message we can note and adopt` How dared Bertarelli dream that land-locked Switzerland could make a serious bid for the America`s Cup How dared he reach out to the best of breed in the world and capture their imagination enough to convince them to join a formation which initially nobody would have seriously rated with any real chance of success` `This country needs to dream new solutions and needs to gather all its strengths to face the future as one nation no matter what we may choose for ourselves in the 3 electoral consultations that await us.`

For me the success of Alinghi is a living example that with good leadership and efficient teamwork, with determination and belief in one`s own strength and acknowledgement of one`s own weaknesses, the impossible becomes possible and dreams can be turned into realities.

Irrespective of the referendum outcome next weekend the structural problems facing this country will not be washed away with the euphoria of the winners, real or imaginary.

Solutions to these problems needs the same qualities that Bertarelli has shown in taking a very unlikely, almost laughable, idea and with determination and persistence accumulates enough resources which are applied with diligent efficiency to make a step by step approach to reach the final objective.` By building enthusiasm, celebrating small successes along the way, until the whole march of the project becomes unstoppable even by those that initially smiled wryly at the idea.

This country needs to dream new solutions and needs to gather all its strengths to face the future as one nation no matter what we may choose for ourselves in the 3 electoral consultations that await us.