Something entrenched, right deep within the Maltese psyche, is that only what takes place indoors, from the front door inwards, matters.  Anything else outside the home is detached from value and no relationship will exist with it. 

We see that a house can have spotless, shiny windows and not a speck of dust over the front door but the pavement on which the house is situated is covered in litter bags or cracks and potholes and generally dirty in every way. 

Similarly, your table is full of good food, whilst an elderly neighbour may be eating out of tin of corned beef and peeing in a bottle.

Your back garden is now tiled over and the tables and chairs stand where you once had a nice patch of soil where flowers grew.  The trees that afforded some shade over the garden are now replaced by someone’s washing line. 

Maybe it was a survival tactic, now buried in our DNA, where it served us to mind our own business, otherwise we may find ourselves in the hands of the enemy.  Perhaps, also, trees were considered as firewood and cut down for burning so that we never really stopped to consider them as embellishment or necessary for good oxygen. 

But, this week, our attitude really crossed the line and showed us to be an insular, regressive and possibly broken nation.

In the European Union Commission, the members of all parties and countries, debated the Rule of Law in Malta and how it is or is not being upheld.  The resounding result is that there is serious and immediate cause for concern in how the law is being treated in Malta.

This debate was raised in the light of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and also in the issues that are affecting not just Malta but also other European member states who share in the common good of democracy and the union. 

As the majority, right across party lines, supported the Resolution, it was clear that there is a big difference in the way that many Maltese view their life and country and the way it is viewed by the rest of Europe. 

If the attitude of the Prime Minister was an indication of how the debate was perceived here, we could conclude that it was a matter of little or no importance.  He was not in Malta at the time, as he was overseas on the business of selling citizenship and when he returned, the Opposition actually felt they should walk out of Parliament at the lack of engagement on the current, burning issues the country is facing but that are simply being dismissed or ignored by the government Ministers. 

It seems that here too we have a typical attitude of what happens in Valletta, stays in Valletta.

Any discussion taking place outside of Valletta, be in the EU Commission or any other foreign media or entity, is simply not debatable.  The national television station neither saw it necessary to air the live debate.

And most especially, anyone who would have an opinion or concern on what is happening in Malta is free to be considered as the enemy.  There is no relationship and no manners to be extended to whoever is outside.

Manners are, in fact, a crucial element that the Maltese people lack.  If they had manners, they would understand why Werner Langen, Chairman of the Pana Committee was so surprised and shocked by the way that he was handed a brown envelope by a driver from the PM’s Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, who had been called to testify, instead of showing up for the interview.

So, too, many persons who had received a call from Daphne, as she checked her facts before putting up something in her blog, could see that she had manners and that it was in fact those who responded who lacked them, badly. 

The clash that is taking place currently in Malta is heightened as so many instances are occurring where manners and lack of manners are coming up against each other in one form or another.

Some people simply don’t get it.  Shouting, ignoring, being rude and abusive are not going to compensate in any way for the gross lack of manners.  Neither is a fake patriotism, with all the cymbals clashing.

Even in the ordinary instances, like at a Tourist Information Office or on a bus, in a hotel reception or driving.  They are little things which many may not be aware they are doing but are seen as bad manners by the other person.  It is not surprising our roads are what they are.

When bad manners then combine with arrogance you have the perfect cocktail. 

The problem is that these bad manners, treating others differently than some, affording yourself privileges without right, feeling entitled, have now become a way of life in Malta and Gozo and have replaced the Rule of Law. 

That is where we currently find ourselves.  A bad shop-front, all broken and with rubbish strewn all over the pavement but shiny and modern inside.  Whoever comes inside is a customer so don’t leave complaining.  Buy something or else shove off.  No way will anyone who dares to remark about the mess outside be tolerated.  On the contrary, that person is now a rude villain who should mind their manners and mind their own business.

Until now this unfortunate behaviour was contained.  There were others who compensated for a bad incident here and there and mostly people have been generous in their opinion and behaviour towards us.  Now that is over.  What is rude is clearly rude, what is broken is no longer fixable and an insult is an insult.  Europe’s good opinion on Malta has left the building.

There was always going to be a limit to how far political allegiances could cover for the failings. That limit has been reached.  No more bluff or smirks and cynical comments can distract from the serious infringements on the Rule of Law taking place in Malta.

It is time for good manners, good behaviour and a good example of what it means to have good manners.  Let them who lack them, be reminded every time they pass by or sit in the new Press Room in Berlaymont, Brussels, with the name of Daphne Caruana Galizia above it.  Remember that phone call?

It’s all a question of manners.