What did little and humble Malta turn into?
“Malta hanina, hobz u sardina” our neighbours used to say. Literally translated reads, Malta’s merciful, bread and sardines. Our nation was a peaceful, always ready to help and loving lot.
With time, this mediterranean welcoming vibe has turned in a colder more mainland feel. We embraced the internet, the foreign culture and manners that came with it. Now, it’s improper to talk to strangers on a bus and having a pool is a mark of success. We lost one of our old marketing points.
That’s not all, quite recently I clicked on the trending suggestion, Malta, in my Twitter. The first three posts that came up were frightening:
Accusations of money laundering, claims of corruption and rich Russians buying our EU passports.
Don’t take me wrong, I wasn’t looking for all of this. After watching a clip of an American show where Malta was advertised as a great holiday destination, I wanted to see how people reacted to our country.
Again it is not all doom and gloom, Valletta was crowned as the European City of Culture for 2018. Many changes have been done to the city.
The old butcher market was turned into an all new food market. Have yet to visit it. On the day I check my twitter, there was also the official opening of the refurbished Triton fountain and a new open area just in front of the city gates.
Was expecting loads of positive press about the whole thing and yet, stories that are now months old are still being dug up and new controversial ones keep coming.
This whole city regeneration project is one of many good things and yet…
I just wish we go back to our honest roots, and be a country where everyone wants to live in and love to visit.
When I was little boy, Malta didn’t have all these ambitious economic plans, but with growing ambitions, came immorality. We sold our passports for money, just to mention the obvious one.
We are still giving up our Outside Development Zones (ODZ) land to investor that bribe/support our government. Read for yourselves, we’re crushing our virgin land in an already over-developed island. Still looks stunning to be honest.
Crime has been left unchecked for ages and will continue flourishing if we don’t take stand. Law enforcement is underfunded and lack the means to help our growing population.
I feel compelled to say the truth. Malta has kept its patterns of the past such as corruption and nepotism, which are now merging with the tolls of a growing economy. The latter includes an increase in rate of crime and dealing with a huge influx of economic immigrants.
While I have nothing against immigration, low-income migrants can turn to crime. Some also bring with them a physical violence culture, which we are not used to.
We need to make our country great again, without resorting to scrubby old dirty tactics. Malta deserves better than this. Let’s make this country just and safe again. Let’s make Malta a diamond in the Mediterranean we claim it to be.
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