On the morning of the 14th of August 2024, I received the sad news that the last surviving founder member of the Federation for Hunting and Conservation - Malta (FKNK), then the National Association of Hunters and Trappers, Joseph Rosario Scicluna, had peacefully passed away at the age of 92.
The son of Carmelo (Memé) Scicluna, the famous businessman who built the Empire Sports Ground, later the Empire Stadium in 1922, which served as the official national football stadium until 1981, "Joe ta' Memé", "Is-Sur Joe", JR or simply Joe, as he was known to his true friends and anti-hunters alike, was definitely one of the greatest defenders of our traditional socio-cultural passions of hunting and trapping, who never gave in or gave up in the face of any opposition, never. The seventies, eighties and even the nineties were extremely turbulent and challenging times for both hunting and trapping.
From the inception of the organisation on 17 September 1973, Joe held the official position of Vice-President and later President. In those early struggling days, Joe's determined enthusiasm drove him to devote most of his time to the day-to-day needs of the Association, from 'office work', the necessary correspondence, especially in response to the frequent anti-hunting letters in the newspapers, to the organisation of Association events, meetings and related legislative negotiations, where he was more often than not the main spokesman. At a time in the early eighties when we couldn't afford to rent office space, Joe offered his business premises, The Cork Centre in Gzira, as an alternative, free of charge.
I am honoured and deeply grateful to JR, a man I have looked up to and respected since childhood, who welcomed me with open arms into the Association's Committee as Treasurer in 1985, and who has since inspired me to work enthusiastically to safeguard our beloved traditional hunting and trapping passions.
I am also immensely proud and thankful to Joe for being a part of his many achievements, such as when, thanks to the understanding of Joe's personal friend, the late Prime Minister of Malta, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, together with the late President of the Association, Alfred E. Zammit, we secured the management of the Miżieb and Aħrax Hunting Reserves in 1985-6, and later the subsidy from hunting licences that had been promised for years, in fact since the increase in licence fees in the early 1980s, but never paid.
It was then that I told Joe that we could afford the relative cost of membership of FACE (The European Federation for Hunting and Conservation). So in September 1987 Joe and Alfred attended that year's FACE Annual General Assembly in Brussels when they presented our application for FACE membership. Due to the malicious damage that had been done in Brussels to our traditional passions of hunting and trapping by local anti-hunting organisations and individuals, our FACE membership was not easy to achieve, but as always Joe's determination prevailed. I accompanied Joe to the following year's FACE General Assembly in Brussels, where we have been an established and active FACE top member ever since.
Joe 'retired' from the FKNK Council after his term as President, but his dedication and fighting spirit never left. In fact, on several later occasions he was a regular and welcome visitor to the FKNK office, where, in his always humorous way, he meticulously explained his latest inspirations and ideas on the hunting and trapping situation of the day. On the 27th August 1996, Joe was presented with a silver plaque together with another FKNK pioneer, the late Aldo E. Azzopardi, and made an Honorary Life Member of the FKNK.
All Maltese and Gozitan hunters and trappers should be grateful to Joe Scicluna and those like him, without whose farsighted vision we, the FKNK, wouldn't be here and as strong as we are today, nor would any hunter or trapper still be enjoying his passion.
Above all, Joe was a true gentleman hunter, whose passion for hunting, above all other local game, was the exclusive pursuit of woodcock, in the company of his beloved side-by-side shotgun and Maltese Hunting Dog.
On a personal note, I am totally indebted to Joe for his honest friendship and wise counsel whenever I have needed it in difficult times, and apart from all the others, I remember one particular piece of sensible counsel that I will always treasure and never forget. Thank you Joe.
On behalf of the FKNK Council, the entire FKNK membership and the hunting fraternity, we offer our condolences to Joe's family and friends.
May the Lord grant Joe eternal peace.
See you soon my old friend, and until then may you hunt forever.
lino
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