Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Every generation has its own expressions to set itself apart from the others – and young people are particularly keen to express themselves through language. You're ‘cool’ if you say ‘slay’ at just the right moment. At least, that was the case a few years ago. And the fact that I'm writing ‘cool’ probably gives me away as someone who can no longer keep up with the latest slang.
In today's briefing, you'll find out which expressions young people in multilingual Switzerland have chosen as their "Youth Words of the Year".
Enjoy the read!
In just over a month’s time, Swiss voters will decide on, among other things, the “Fireworks Restriction Initiative”, which aims to restrict noisy fireworks. One of the driving forces behind the proposal – which, according to the first Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) poll, could win a clear majority – is dog trainer and co-initiator Roman Huber. A look back at Swiss political history shows that individuals can make a big difference.
“Roman Huber is part of a lineage of lone campaigners who have shaped Swiss politics with popular initiatives over the past few decades,” writes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). It cites Franz Weber, for example, who launched the second-home initiative, narrowly approved by voters in 2012. The difference between Weber and Huber is that, before launching the Fireworks Restriction Initiative, Huber was virtually unknown to the wider public, whereas Weber was already a well-known environmental campaigner.
Despite Weber’s prominence, alliances were needed to secure the initiative’s success. Franziska Herren had a different experience. She remained largely a lone campaigner throughout her campaigns, without any major alliances. Both her food initiative and her drinking water initiative were soundly rejected at the ballot box.
Thomas Minder, on the other hand, managed to triumph against the odds with his ‘fat cat’ initiative, which voters approved in 2013. “Minder managed the feat of rallying diametrically opposed political camps behind him,” writes the NZZ. Whether the fireworks initiative can achieve a similar feat remains to be seen on November 29.
Federal cost-cutting measures are putting pressure on important IT projects. One of them is a database maintained by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), which the agency says urgently needs updating.
The SEM uses the Central Migration Information System (ZEMIS) to manage data on foreign nationals residing in Switzerland. The federal government, cantons and municipalities use the system for purposes including asylum procedures and naturalisation.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has concluded that federal cost-cutting measures affecting ZEMIS risk causing delays and additional costs. And that’s not the only problem. The SEM must also incorporate requirements arising from EU agreements into ZEMIS, creating additional work and further delays.
For Patrick Treichler, a project auditor at the SFAO, replacing the current ZEMIS system is a matter of urgency. “With every delay, the risks of system failures naturally increase, which directly affect the SEM’s operational capacity.”
ZEMIS is not the only IT project affected by federal cost-cutting measures. DigiSanté, a programme aimed at digitally transforming the healthcare sector, has also recently had to be adjusted, while the federal government’s AI strategy has faced cuts. “The austerity measures therefore threaten to slow down the digital transformation,” writes Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
The biggest fraud trial in the recent history of Swiss Federal Railways began today at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. A former senior executive is accused of siphoning off almost CHF9 million from the company over 17 years.
“Legally speaking, only just over half of that amount is relevant to the trial before the Federal Criminal Court,” writes the Tages-Anzeiger. The reason? The alleged fraud dates back to 2007, and the offences are subject to a 15-year statute of limitations. According to the Office of the Attorney General, the loss covered by the prosecution therefore amounts to around CHF5 million ($6 million). Swiss Federal Railways, for its part, has announced that it intends to recover the money “as far as possible”.
According to various media reports, the accused had enjoyed a “picture-perfect” career at Swiss Federal Railways, working his way up from a tradesman to a departmental head in the executive ranks. Investigators believe that millions of francs were channelled into his private assets through a network of companies, enabling him to buy, among other things, a house in canton Solothurn, a property in Florida and 13 vehicles – including a Lamborghini model of which only 12 were ever produced worldwide.
The former Swiss Federal Railways manager apologised in court today, according to reports in CH Media newspapers. He admitted to having made a grave mistake: “I have caused people harm.” The defendant said financial difficulties had prompted the fraudulent scheme.
Swiss Federal Railways explained how its internal checks had failed: “The checking mechanisms were circumvented by considerable criminal ingenuity by the four other defendants, who were not employed by Swiss Federal Railways.”
Do you know what ‘würd mi’ or ‘goumin’ mean? For the first time, Swiss teenagers have chosen their Youth Words of the Year.
Young people across Switzerland have selected a Youth Word of the Year for each of the country’s four national languages. In German-speaking Switzerland, ‘würd mi’ took the top spot – a shortened form of ‘das würde mich nerven’ (that would annoy me). In French-speaking Switzerland, the choice fell on ‘goumin’ (heartbreak); in Italian-speaking Switzerland, ‘aura’ (a person’s charisma) was selected; and in Romansh, ‘bursa’ (an ironic term for a fool) came out on top.
And these words certainly weren’t chosen by out-of-touch adults. Each language region had its own jury of young people aged between 14 and 19. The competition was organised by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), which has also been responsible for selecting the Swiss Word of the Year since 2017.
Anyone wondering why none of the winning words is an Anglicism needn’t worry: runners-up such as ‘nöd so deep’ and ‘chill’ also received recognition. However, the German-speaking jury felt it was particularly important for the winning word to have a distinctly Swiss connection. “‘Würd mi’ has no chance of becoming the German Youth Word of the Year. That’s why it’s really cool that we’ve chosen a Swiss German word,” explained one jury member.
Translated from German, sub-edited by Alexandra MV Andrist/ac
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