Nicolà Abela of Form 5B St Monica School, Birkirkara was one of the winners of the BCA Essay Competition held in January. The title of the essay is followed by the two winning essays.
Well over a century ago Malta was once described as an island of yells, bells and smells. Today, the island is still as dirty and noisy as ever. Do you agree?
As I board the afternoon bus, I am hit by the revolting aroma of petrol, oil and sweat and the warm welcome of the driver who savagely and rudely hassles me to pay the fare. I now face a long row of chewing-gum covered seats and a filthy floor, so severely carpeted with used tickets it is barely visible to the naked eye. This is the result of the hard work and maintenance towards the environment the Maltese consider as an improvement.
As the bus violently jerks forward, I squash myself into a small corner which is probably the only remaining seat of the bus which has not been besieged with litter and graffiti. Facing me is the back of a seat which has been tragically scarred with doodles and paintwork of obscure and vulgar language. How well these Maltese youngsters have expressed their artistic talents by creating a collage of saliva-smothered gum and a dictionary of taboo.
To be honest, I do not really know where to begin with this long list of environmental disgraces the island faces everyday. Perhaps one environmental crime which has always been present on the island is the people themselves! During my journey on the fore-mentioned bus, I witnessed several unfortunate passengers being ambushed and scandalised by crude and tacky characters who board the bus by making an unethical scene of pushing, tripping and indecently insulting the poor soul who was in front of these brutes; all this just to be first to pay for their ticket.
As one of these gentlemen lunges himself forward to bag a seat for himself, he crumples up his ticket and flings it down to the floor for it to join its fellow trodden paper pieces. I try to shift my gaze from this walking hazard, only to be looking out of the window at another lewd and lip-pursing masterpiece; a separation site which is, as are its replicas situated nearly everywhere, over-flowing with a waterfall of plastic bags, glass bottles, metal parts and all sorts of other junk one would expect to find inside the respective bin, rather than a whole mountain of it towering over the actual container. I now recall a discussion debated between two intellectual idiots not far from one of these separation sites; their excuses for not bringing in their waste were absolutely preposterous. The misfortunate citizens found the site too far away from their homes, it being a staggering five-minute walk from where they lived. Though I do not blame them for having difficulty putting their waste in the bins, since the hatches have been inconveniently blocked with all the other excess rubbish inside.
It is a known fact that the Maltese are a stubborn and obstinate race. Through the years, many heroes, from teachers to politicians, have tried to promote qualities which are needed to establish a hygienic, civilised and tourist-friendly ambience, which is more than I can say about its population. It has been proved that the only way the Maltese will learn is if their financial life is affected and by forcing them to dig deep into their pockets with every act of vandalism they do. It is only then that they will finally learn to not harm their own habitat.
My journey on this bus will soon come to an end as soon as we drive down this road which looks more like the producing studios of the Teletubbies rather than a street. I cringe at the ghastly green and pungent purple these flats have been painted and it would heal my curiosity to know the designer who saw the pulchritude in all these nauseating colours clashing together. Perhaps it symbolises the loud and lively characteristics of the Maltese citizens. Then again, it could also be the result of the lack of taste some people have when it comes to decorating.
Without further ado, I shall conclude by saying my belief on the matter: Man will have built a dumping zone on Mars by the time the Maltese learn to respect their environment.
Max Bartolo is the winner of the Sixth Form category of the BCA Essay Competition which took place this January. He attended St Aloysius College
The fact that Malta was once described as an island of yells, bells and smells is too often misinterpreted as harsh criticism by the majority of the Maltese. It is my opinion that this description was simply a statement of the situation in Malta at the time and that it should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt by us Maltese who, I feel, are overprotective of our beliefs and are often too patriotic for our own good.
This patriotism is making us blind to the current situation in Malta which, although not very pretty, most Maltese will deny fervently and passionately, and will actually force themselves into believing that they are right.
In my opinion the situation in Malta is actually worse than it was a century ago. Last century we had yells and bells, a description which is simply stating the facts that the Maltese were loud (how else would you want to communicate without mobile phones and all the latest gadgets we have) and that religion played an important role in everyday life. The current situation is far worse with the amount of noise actually being classified as pollution. Noise is all around us nowadays: car horns, the monti, Paceville on a Saturday night (or any other day of the week), the neighbour’s heavy metal music playing full on at 7am; take a walk in the countryside and you’ve got approximately the same chance you have of winning the Super 5 that you don’t encounter that all too familiar “bang” of gun-touting hunters enjoying nature to its full (we do boast six times the density of hunters than any other EU
country). This proves, very unnervingly, that the situation is deteriorating with extreme
rapidity. We had yells and bells, now we’ve got three times the yells and half the bells (just take a look at the latest church
attendance figures).
The problem of dirt and rubbish has also increased tenfold in the past hundred years. I’m quite sure that there were cleanliness problems back then, but it couldn’t possibly have been anything as bad as it is now. The litter on the roads a hundred years ago was either dust or, if not, it would most probably have been biodegradable and would therefore have had no huge impact on the environment. At present most of our rubbish is plastic. This being non-biodegradable and, therefore, a huge environmental problem, is a major component (along with the many other tonnes of toxic and hazardous waste) of the monument which serves as a constant reminder to the way the island has been neglected, the rubbish dump we lovingly call il-mizbla tal-Maghtab. Above all that, after successfully ruining Malta’s once beautiful countryside, we have also taken to polluting the air and even worse the sea. This is quite simply suicidal seeing that Malta is an island and is therefore almost completely dependant on the fruit of the sea.
I do, however, applaud the government’s and the whole population’s attempts to rectify the situation after finally coming to our senses, or so it seems, and realizing what a crisis we have on our hands. Who knows maybe in a hundred years time Malta will be renowned as the island of photocells (a solution to energy pollution problems? Hopefully won’t cause too much visual pollution), bluebells (get the countryside back to the way it should be?) and seashells (don’t forget the sea of course!)
I believe that Malta has the potential to become an island of true beauty but the only chance for this to happen is if we Maltese get the mistaken idea that we live on the most beautiful island in the world out of our heads and face the truth. Only then can Malta truly fulfill its potential and become an island of dreams. Unfortunately, although something is finally being done, I don’t believe it is enough. Call me paranoid but it’s my opinion and I fear it’s the truth. I would sincerely appreciate being proved wrong.