Your report MPs clash over validity of surveys (TMID, 17 January), once again exposed the fact that Maltese politicians still have to learn a lot.

You had Nationalist MP Dr Joseph Cassar quoting from surveys that favoured the Nationalist Party, and Labour MP Anglu Farrugia replying that no surveys carried out by Kulhadd or it-Torca were quoted.

This is an example of the fact that people see what they want to see, and also that surveys should not be given the importance that they get. Surveys are there just to create a debate on a given subject, nothing more.

In the same way, the result of a study showing that the Maltese are the happiest people in the world should also be taken with a pinch of salt. We should be happy that, for a few days, Malta was in the headlines. That’s it. How can happiness be gauged? In all probability, next year we will find ourselves down in the table.

T. Sammut

Mosta