It seems all the vacuous debates we have had over the last few weeks, prompted partly by the Children’s Commissioners very silly and inconsiderate remarks on IVF, have now all been put to rest by the gruesome events that have unfolded, in Zebbug in a smaller way, in London in a totally different way.

Last Thursday, as Zebbug came to a standstill in mid afternoon to mourn the deaths and the tragedy of those caught up in this pseudo religious mania we have associated with bomb-like fireworks, a dazed London, reeling from shock, was trying to come to terms with what just hit it, and we, those of us particularly who have lived and loved in London, or have loved ones there, were as well reeling from the shock of it all.

There is of course a sense of inevitability about both tragedies. Those who work with fireworks, and their loved ones who wait at home while they do, know this is a risky business. But what is worse of course is that we know this but ignore the safety rules, believing, as true Maltese and great Catholics, that we somehow always have God on our side. Accidents can happen, but they usually happen because we don’t follow all the safety rules we should, from making these bombs only in the cooler months, to personal pikas and competitions to outshine the rest. Stories of abuse in the fireworks industry abound yet little changes. People make fireworks in their back gardens, but neighbours are scared to complain because these people who are involved in fireworks have this blind passion, much like our hunters. And as a community we are scared to confront them although we are in the majority.

The fireworks industry is huge here and the occasional deaths are seen as inevitable and not enough to question the sanity of it all. Besides the terrible deaths and injuries that occur with monotonous regularity, every year thousands have their lives disturbed by these horrific bomb-like blasts that shatter the peace. It’s one thing having a spectacular fireworks display, but why do we all have to be blown out of our senses by these terrible bangs from early morning till late at night? I live in Birguma and two years ago pictures flew off the wall and shattered with the force of these festa bombs! Why doesn’t the Church intervene and at least ban these noisy bomb-like intrusions in our lives? It certainly could do so. Have the hour or whatever for pretty fireworks displays, have those stunning presentations in front of the churche, but let our babies sleep, let our children not be scared out of their wits, let us all move away from the bomb culture of our festas.

This is part of the reason for what my fellow columnist Daphne called the cabin fever gripping this country. We’re all in a bad mood because our institutions, wittingly or unwittingly, are not dealing with the basics which irk and disturb us, but come up with all these peripheral issues (like the anti abortion clause in the Constitution) which make no difference to anyone. We do not want to be disturbed by petards. We want to walk in our countryside safely. We want to be able to access a beach without paying a fortune for it. We want our children to have a childhood and not be pushed too far by the moneymaking spin of our Matsec system. We want but are left wanting...

And while little of the basics change or improve here, poor London also had to face the inevitable. I expected this around the last election, or expected the terrorists to do a Madrid repeat, but obviously evil is too clever to be predictable. The heightened security at that time may have put them off. Now, just as London was celebrating the news that the Olympics were going to be held there, came this terrible coordinated attack.

I can understand newspapers reporting that there were no Maltese casualties, but while some newspapers had a subheading that no Maltese were injured, for other newspapers it was simply the headline. It was very sad and definitely an expression of our insularity that l-orizzont had this enormous, Mhemmx vittmi Maltin headline. I mean make it a subtitle by all means, as many other newspapers did, but is that really the main issue – the genetic component of who died?

London is probably the city most Maltese have a passion for. Most of us have visited, shopped there. Many of us have lived or have friends living there, who have been or are being educated there. London is part of Malta too and of course part of the whole world considering all the nationalities who live there. I really think most of us felt this incredible shock and sadness at the hurt inflicted on this great city. We felt total disgust for those who disturb and destroy the live of innocent people.

It is really time for this country to rid itself of its small-minded approach, and stop navel gazing at problems that don’t exist.

Let the great and the good in this country stand up and complain about the dust in the air, the noise in our skies at festa time, the stress we are putting our children through. Let us be very grateful that London is a great city, that its people will not be cowed into submission, and let us continue going there and doing business there, and not let the bullies, the terrorists and the cowards have their way in London, as we so often let them do here, because we are scared of their physical strength and their proximity to us and their ability to harm us.