The strength of this country is that while at times it seems nothing can be done properly, that this country is on the edge of a cliff, and people tend to expect the worst, then when the occasion comes, it rises up to the challenge beautifully.

The year that has just ended has seen more than its share of deaths on the roads. There were days when not just one but even more deaths occurred during the same day.

So it was to be expected that when the entire population was out and about, on New Year’s Eve, accidents would happen and multiply. People were out going to all sorts of events. And people were drinking and celebrating.

Yet there were no accidents, except for a man who drove into a tree at Blata l-Bajda. Or at least that is what the official versions have said.

In other countries, hospitals are filled on NYE with victims of other people’s celebrations: they throw things out of the window in Italy, they light up fireworks from windows and balconies; in France they torch parked cars. There is nothing of the sort in Malta.

Does that make us perfect? Far from it. But at least we avoid the worst excesses.

It is true that there are many warnings in Malta to stop people from drinking and driving and maybe some of these warnings stick. But from personal experience it was not noticed on Monday night that there were many police out and about on the streets, stopping cars and checking for alcohol on the driver’s breath. Maybe there were, or maybe they were doing something important elsewhere.

This NYE also did not see the recurrence of what happened in other years. The public transport, Arriva now, seems to have worked, which was not the case in previous years.

The celebrations in places like Valletta and Floriana seem to have attracted more and more people and while the shows as shown on television may have looked stodgy, the people seem to have been thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Other places of entertainment and restaurants were all full and fears that the outdoor celebrations might kill off private celebrations, and NYE parties do not seem to have happened. It is more likely that the people wisely spread themselves around and every entrepreneur was thus happy.

This is important to note as we come into the new year and the long-coming election. People are afraid this will be an election of confrontation and indeed the verbal confrontations of the past months may well have led people to fear the coming two months as months of confrontation at all levels, in all spaces where people meet.

But once again, this paper believes, the real character of the Maltese people will come out and once again the people will take the right decision and will avoid a confrontation that will ultimately damage only ourselves.