When I saw the article “The euro in Malta: does religion come into it” by Juan Ameen, a big smile crossed my face (TMIS, 22 January). I remembered the beautiful words of Jesus in Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” It would be blasphemous (except for the religion of greed) to have religious symbols on coinage.
We have an amazing history and the oldest standing temples in the world. Being in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, we were the centre of civilization for thousands of years. Our history makes us unique in the whole world and we should be very proud of our history. We withstood and fought some of the biggest and strongest civilizations, such as the Ottoman Empire in 1565 and the German Reich in the 1940s, and won. Were it was not for us, Europe would most probably be a different place today.
Therefore, I suggest that we should have people who defended Malta and Gozo against the invaders on the euro coins. People like Jean de la Valette and the martyr Dun Mikiel Xerri. People who gave their lives for us. We should have important monuments like the Ggantija Temples in Gozo and Fort Sant’ Angelo. I also believe that our national plant (widnet il-bahar) and bird (il-merill) should be included.
If we do this, maybe more Maltese and Gozitans would be more appreciative of our history, fauna and flora. If the foreigners see that we take our heritage seriously maybe next time they will list one of our heritage monuments as one of the wonders of the world. How can tourists take us seriously when we try to promote the history of Malta and Gozo?
Consider Gozo's historical sites. Only the shell remains of the beautiful Chambray fort. The 1500s Falcon Barumbara in Sannat was demolished and replaced with apartments, the dolmens at Ta' Cenc are used by bird trappers, cart ruts are being buried under rubble, the old, haunted, red house at Tac-Cawla was replaced with apartments, Ulysses’ cave at Xaghra is next to a proposed large redevelopment site, the Gozo citadel is full of rubbish and weeds, a fireworks factory built next to the San Dimitri chapel waiting to be blown to bits. The list goes on. Most probably the same is happening in Malta.
The historical jewels that remain could prove a honey pot to attract visitors to Malta especially Gozo. Shame on us for allowing our heritage to be destroyed! That destroyed historical heritage will never there for future generations to enjoy!
John Michael Mizzi
SANNAT