One of the revelations coming out of the Panama Papers is not about a particular person or tax manoeuvre but about a trait of the Maltese character, or lack of it.  It shines a light on an outdated way of thinking which is costing our country very much economically and socially.

During a recent visit to a Government health centre, a queue of people waiting had built up over the past hour.  One possible reason for that was that one employee in the room concerned, was having a long, loud argument or conversation over the telephone.   I returned to the reception to see if they could indicate when we might expect to be served or not treated as invisible.  Obligingly someone from reception knocked on the door of the room to relay a sarcastic message to them, as that is the way she interpreted my enquiry or request for assistance.

Once the blockage was cleared and the office opened their door to attend to the waiting persons, we were once more interrupted by another long personal phone call, conducted at full volume, taking precedence over us.

Such occurrences are common place.  One person is a bad apple and drags all the rest of his/her colleagues into bad repute, even though they may want to provide a more professional and efficient service to clients, they are held back from doing so.  Eyes are lowered and glances shifted away from the public.

Clearly there is need of qualified and effective supervisors to put standards in place and make sure that they provide some security to clients against the fancies of individuals who err.  But supervisors who do their job effectively are like lambs to the slaughter and will surely be ostracised by the others.  Some supervisory staff are professional enough to handle the offenders with diplomacy and tact and to not worry if they are not seen as the most popular person in the office.   We owe them a great deal.

But there is an unspoken rule in Malta that you do not report or rat on your colleagues.  You  do not stand up to be counted.  You go home and grumble non-stop to your parents or spouse, to the cat or the hairdresser, but you do not go to your boss and say this and that person are hopeless and are causing problems for us.  It is the same in class, at school from where such attitudes are bred. 

Maybe it is a factor coming from our past when we had to join forces against invaders and those who threatened our security.  Or even from the way offending priests were treated by the Bishops, receiving a quiet transfer rather than being revealed.  Possibly also, the excessive indulgences shown by mothers to their children against overly strict or busy fathers. Or simply, it is a lack of education, courage and integrity.   Rather than raise the standard, we conform to a common low one.  That is office politics.  That is socialism for the socialists.   All hopelessly equal in falling below the line.

On a national scale, we have just seen the Prime Minister doing just that for his staff – Keith Schembri, his Chief of Staff in a position of trust and Konrad Mizzi, who was Minister of Health and Energy and responsible for Projects Malta.   His example was followed by the rest of the Cabinet and his Members of Parliament.  Nobody was going to rock the boat.  Nobody would dare speak out and cry foul.  The situation revealed in the Panama Papers (and before) was judged not against its corrupt practice but in terms of standing against the enemy. In this case, the enemy was everyone who wanted to expose a failure or an individual who had sought to deceive the rest and expected he account for it.

Had the Prime Minister imposed judgement on Mizzi and Schembri, that would have reverberated throughout the whole civil service and beyond.  God knows how many other individuals would otherwise have found the courage to speak out and put a stop to those persons who sabotage a whole organisation by their selfish and irresponsible attitude.

The PM speaks of the whistle-blower act as his cri de guerre against such transgressors.  Yet he is the very same protector and enabler of those live by a perverse code of honour, those who choose to turn away from responsibility and the truth.  It is a gang mentality.  Accommodating the lie and elevating those who keep the silence to a higher status becomes the norm. 

This way, anyone who feels opposed to staying quiet is intimidated into doing so.  If such an attitude is coming from the Prime Minister himself, then who amongst the ordinary people is going to a hero and speak out?

There is now a clear carte blanche to allow the bad apple in the cart to be left there to spoil it for all the rest.  Standards have deteriorated and will continue to deteriorate rapidly.  Anything goes. 

If there were actual weapons available, you can be sure that they would be utilised as a show of force against those who oppose the system.   In this philosophy, anyone who would put this efficient system at risk by revealing the injustices and corruption, deserves to be kicked out forever and the axe will be used to clear them off.  Clearly, the “Family” trumps truth and corruption.

“Friendship is everything.  Friendship is more than talent.  It is more than the Government. It is almost the equal of family.”  “The Godfather, Don Corleone”  - Mario Puzzo.

Preaching about decency, integrity, truth, values and honesty to such manipulators, is like using fertiliser to eradicate weeds.  They thrive on their perverse definitions of solidarity and complicity.   The responsibility of truth becomes transferred onto the objectors who would be turned into turncoats and rats if they spoke out.  Not quite a whistle.  More an Omerta’.

So, Joseph Muscat and his good friends Keith and Konrad remain thick as thieves in their mission to maintain the brotherhood.

Should we feel defeated? 

In early 1965, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) made Selma, Alabama, the focus of its efforts to register black voters in the South. That March, protesters attempting to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were met with violent resistance by state and local authorities. As the world watched, the protesters (under the protection of federalized National Guard troops) finally achieved their goal, walking around the clock for three days to reach Montgomery. The historic march, and King’s participation in it, greatly helped raise awareness of the difficulty faced by black voters in the South, and the need for a Voting Rights Act, passed later that year.

It is important not to lose sight of truth and the goal.  Ralph Bunche, who participated in the Selma to Montgomery March with Martin Luther King Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for his successful negotiation of an Arab-Israeli truce in Palestine a year earlier.

It is shocking and depressing to see that in this day and age, in what is meant to be a European country founded on Christian democratic values, we are having to remind ourselves about a resistance movement and perseverance.  Intimidation is being experienced on a daily basis whether on a psychological level, bullying or through transfers and other tactics, such as rewarding those who have broken the law or shown poor judgement even though they are people in a public role and who have the duty to stop such harm from taking place.  The case of the Police Major and the Speaker’s verdict are an example of this travesty, albeit the person concerned later asked to be removed.  The very “reshuffle” appears to be an endorsement, created specifically to drive home this point -  don’t mess with mama.  If you’re gonna get all up in my face you better back it up.

“I don’t care if my family thinks I have a drinking problem. The unicorn who visits me in the night time says I don’t & I believe him”.   Unknown quotes.  And so, they sleep another night, comforted by the unicorn.