It’s stark reality that suffering is a part of life. I don’t believe for one minute that there is one person in the world who hasn’t been through some form of grief or another.

What I find intolerable is a “show” like L-Istrina. I call it a “show” because I find it mean and cruel to broadcast footage of people with a handicap for all the Maltese to see in order to encourage them to give money which might earn them a gift in return.

For God’s sake, wouldn’t it be more “Christian” to ask for funds to give to those who are afflicted with some disease without portraying them to be like children of a lesser God?

Every year I ask myself if the Maltese would be so generous if a “lottery” like L-Istrina would not be held and every year.

I ask myself if the gifts awarded to the winners of this lottery should be donated to the same people who are on the poverty line instead. It is then, and only then, that we will know for sure how generous the Maltese really are.

There is a great difference between giving and not expecting anything back and giving, hoping to win something in return. The end does not always justify the means.

Valerie Borg

Valletta