Just what sort of society do we live in? People from other countries at least have the nerve to form up and protest against their government’s policies and decisions. We do not condone violent protests at all, but at least people have the mettle to show their anger in person. Here in Malta it is a different story. We resort to cowardly vandal attacks.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has again been targeted, with a bust memorial to his grandfather – Maestro Lorenzo Gonzi – being vandalised. The memorial was a simple one, a bust in the Holy Family Square, opposite the Holy Family Band Club in Kalkara. Mr Gonzi was the founding bandmaster of this club.
On Mother’s Day, the PM’s mother’s tomb was vandalised – another horrific act.
It happens all too often. It used to happen when unpopular decisions were taken and the targets were normally items of cultural heritage. We have seen Neolithic temples attacked, Portes des Bombes was daubed with oil, vandals (since caught and processed) uprooted hundreds of trees at the Natura 2000 site… the list goes on and on.
In fact, it was only a couple of weeks ago when this newspaper commented in a leading article that we need to respect our heritage. That article was written to coincide with the opening ceremony of the new visitors centre and protective canopy at Hagar Qim. We had called for an increased awareness about cultural relics and for a concerted effort to educate people.
It seems, however, that some people cannot be educated. Make no mistake, the PM deserves a good portion of the criticism which is being directed at him. Some of the issues he is being pilloried for include lost EU funding in the educational sector, the absolute mess which Arms Ltd has made of the water and electricity billing system, the very dubious process related to the BWSC power station extension project and many more.
But, it makes us again ask the question… just what type of society do we live in? Everyone has a right to disagree and criticise and in some cases protest; it is a fundamental form of democratic expression. We are supposed to be a modern country. But vengeful and cowardly attacks on a monument, just because that person was the PM’s grandfather is despicable. It could have been an attack on any other memorial and it would still be a despicable act. But if it is premeditated and planned in a sense of personal vendetta, it just makes the act even worse.
Sadly, that seems to be the way it goes. One hopes that the perpetrators of the act are caught. Forget the PM for a second… Did these people stop to think that the bust was put up because people at the band club look back with fondness on the man? Do they not realise that the bust had been there since 1995 and looked at as a fixture in Kalkara.
In other words, if it was indeed a deliberate attempt to anger the PM personally, there were other people who were also angered and hurt who had nothing to do with the business of government.