From Mr A. P. Galea

Occasional columnist Howard Hodgson was back last Sunday (13 July) to dispense his wisdom on the world at large.

Good that he has stopped plugging his book about Prince Charles, and his column is better for the non-advertising. Perhaps the penny has finally dropped that, 44 years after the break with Britain, most citizens of this Island Republic do not give a fig for his hero prince.

Similarly, does Mr Hodgson really think that the southern European islanders are so interested in “basket case” Britain that he has to keep flogging that dead horse? Over the past 40 years, a couple of generations have now grown up self-assuredly Maltese (which is just as well after two millennia of foreign occupation and rule). For them Anglo-Saxon Britain is a European offshore island in the North Sea, which is that much removed from closer affinity Italy.

However, lest anyone be put off by Mr Hodgson’s jaundiced views of Britain, I can assure them that it still is a green and pleasant land, and the summers just get better (must be global warming). Right now, it is more affordable than ever for anyone with euros to spend and wanting a respite from Malta’s stifling heat.

By the way, this comes from a boring (Mr Hodgson’s word) town in leafy Surrey that has: pedestrian friendly pavements, well maintained roads, considerate drivers, polite people of different races living peacefully together, no building dust and ghastly developments, nightly peace and quiet undisturbed by evening petards or shooters banging away at dawn. And that is besides the sparrows, robins, finches, blackbirds, doves, wood-pigeons, crows, jays and woodpeckers I can safely enjoy in my English garden and being a half-an-hour train ride away from London with its museums, art galleries, concert halls, fine restaurants and all-year round events.

Yeah, I do like “boring”.

Alex P. Galea

WOKING

UK