I thoroughly enjoyed the recent Go Musical Weekend event. Go invited me with a number of hacks and hackettes and others to the first night to savour both the Spanish singer Cristina Vilallonga and Sandro Zerafa and his jazz quintet. I was slightly disappointed with the singer as I was expecting someone coming from sunny Spain to have a little more pizzazz. She did not engage me at all. I wanted more verve and intensity and some inward lyricism but didn’t get it. I suffered mild regret that my expectations were not fulfilled but no more than that. Her pianist was brilliant and he played a couple of his own compositions which more than made up for the singing.

I daresay that Sandro Zerafa and his musicians were like a shot of caffeine into what began as a mainly soporific evening. The quintet played his compositions. Their playing was not noisy – no artificial amplifications trying to render us stone deaf. None of the brassiness which local bands insist on producing, no matter where you are. There are times when I want to hit the musicians to stop them from making such an unnecessary racket which rots the soul and stifles conversation.

Sandro’s was lounge jazz, sophisticated and pleasant and one would be able to carry out a conversation while listening if it was being played at a cocktail bar. No wonder he is popular in Paris and is going round the world with his quintet and his compositions. We need more sophistication all round – Sandro’s sort.

It is not champagne I am feasting on at the moment – the credit crunch has put paid to that – I’m relishing packet soup as that is all there is in my office, which is looking more and more like a warren than ever. I know that there are many who are sharing my utter delight that the prime minister has shelved the extension idea to St John’s Co-Cathedral without even discussing the motion in parliament. A glance at the list of those of us who signed the petition which appeared in the Times on Monday had some very distinguished academics and a host of double-barrelled names. The news that the plans for the extension had been shelved brought with it a rush of fresh air, for most of us at least, but not for everyone. Some needed a dose of salts after that bit of news! Dr Gonzi could see that the tide is against this project and that putting it to the vote could have easily turned against him. The government is looking dreadfully lacklustre these days. I wonder if those who are grinding their teeth at the remarkable Astrid Vella will turn against Dr Gonzi and write reams against him for bowing down to a mere housewife. Of course nothing of the sort will happen. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you. And I get the feeling that Dr Gonzi is not enjoying the stink of contemporary reality; life in the present tense. The pre-election smiles, like the pre-election promises have gone.

I have been following the St John’s extension saga closely and have listened to numerous people express an opinion, and they were certainly not all Sliema housewives, although these too, have an opinion about something as aesthetic as St John’s. It is a building which is culturally imprinted in us and for all the churches we see on our travels many friends comment that it is still one of the most beautiful.

I watched two programmes during the week which dealt with the extension. One was Issues on Super One which was being broadcast while Loo Bondì-in-braces was busy discussing tatooes, a depressing subject at the best of times. Issues presented by Matthew Carbone had Astrid Vella, now a much admired national figure, and Miriam Cremona, discussing the extension. It was a sober and well-conducted programme and both Astrid and Miriam know their subject and speak well.

But the star TV programme was X Press on Tuesday on Favourite channel, presented by Manual Micallef. I happened to fall on this programme as I was zapping away, trying to find something which was worth spending time on. When I saw the panel with Mgr Philip Calleja, Astrid Vella, Martin Galea and Labour MP Owen Bonnici – I did not know the other two participants – I stopped zapping and followed X Press right to the end. It was excellent and far superior to other current affairs programmes on other local TV stations most of which are generally biased. Mr Micallef conducted it with dignity, not hurrying anyone to speak, not interrupting, not waving his hands. He was a fair chairman and there was much to learn from X Press. The six participants were articulate and expressed their points of view clearly, and were knowledgeable in their area of expertise. I saw the young Labour MP Owen Bonnici in action for the first time and I liked him.

Forgive me if I muse lyrically but the star of the show was Astrid Vella. For Astrid and so many of us this is not merely a crazy moral crusade because we have nothing to do. It is much more than that. Armed with documentation which she barely looked at as most of it was already in her head, she expressed herself in clear Maltese and with sobriety. She has gravitas – some are very fond of using that word in their blog. Well it can certainly be used for this Sliema housewife tal-pépé. (A reader tells me, that those who signed the petition, have been described thus on the blogs.)

On tv it helps that she is pretty and petite but most of all that she is well prepared and can argue coherently in the presence of six clever men. Her opinion is based on research and certainly not speculation. If it hadn’t been for her interest in the environment and in our heritage this project might have received an official rubber stamp, quietly, behind our backs, and we would only have got to know about it after the first bulldozers appeared in front of St John’s. And in no time the cost of the project would have doubled and tripled and at last we would have woken up! Then there would have been reams of press releases, coloured glossy brochures, puff pieces, pull-outs and columns to explain why it was a good thing for everyone but it would have been too late for civil society to protest. The bloggers and their toadies would have gone on carping through the night about it. The more I think that it might have happened under our very noses the more disgusted I feel at the indecency of it all.

On X Press Mgr Calleja explained how he had seen a similar extension in Monza and how he was impressed and his colleagues and himself on the St John’s Co Cathedral Foundation thought the same idea would work for Malta. This wise man of great experience and certainly with no hidden agenda wants the best for St John’s but as Astrid pointed out, Monza is a much smaller cathedral and therefore the extension is much smaller as well. The same cannot be said of St John’s. We need to drum it into our heads and those of our children that it is best to restore what already exists and only build new structures when absolutely necessary. There is still a great deal of restoration which can be done on this island. EU money must be spent not on building extensions but in restoring old buildings many of which have a distinguished past and can be put to excellent use.

And public opinion cannot be ignored. As the Leader of the Opposition commented, we cannot let those who were never voted to govern us run the show. I am very happy to see that Dr Muscat is playing his role well. He is bright and well-informed and thinks and speaks clearly. This motion against the extension was after all forwarded by the Labour Party. The Nats luvvies commented for years that we need a strong and credible Opposition. Now that they have it they are not liking it.

I loved a comment passed by Mgr Cachia, a member of the Foundation, who said somewhere something along these lines: ‘Since when has St John’s become a government department?’ Yes, since when?

Astrid, FAA, civil society, let’s tackle the bombed theatre next. We don’t want Parliament there. We want a vibrant Arts centre. Civil society seems more buoyant after this victory and we need to make our voices and opinions heard. That’s what democracy is about. And while I’m at it. Where are my 5 bulbs promised before the election? This is my latest mantra. Care to join me?