I cannot but pick up Marie Benoit’s invitation to react to a short, boxed contribution entitled “Anti-Colonist not anti-British” (TMIS, 9 March) in which Giovanni Bonello confides that his anti-colonialist attitudes do not translate into being anti-British. This does not come as a surprise. Whoever states otherwise is giving vent to misplaced passionate outbursts very often without much knowledge of the real issue at hand. Britain, like Italy and France, have shared so much of our past, including mixed marriages as evidenced by our surnames, that it is impossible not to have widespread sentiments for one or the other. However, it would be naïve not to realise that our association with the British was colonial – totally different from other periods in our history – creating expected situations wherein the dominated community was made to feel inferior and dependent on the ruling power. One must also remember that in our particular case, being anti-colonialist means being anti-British colonialism because that is the experience of the Maltese Islands. |

Albert Memmi (Portrait du colonisé, portrait du colonisateur) argues the colonized and the colonizer enter into a long relationship that becomes difficult to wind up. Nothing harmful there if citizens of ex-colonies do not become mnemonic products themselves, that is they keep believing – as their colonizers meant them to do during years of colonialism – that their only identity is the one that was crafted for them when they were not independent. Alas, that seems to be the situation in Malta today for many who are not inclined to explore our collective memory – on which identity is constructed – and opt to remain victims of a blocked memory. As Paul Ricoeur rightly posits, society could easily suffer from a forgetful malady when it is unable to recover dormant sites of memory. Such sites are usually the ones colonizers had manipulated because they deemed their subjects would be much more loyal if they were made to forget or properly remember certain ‘undesired’ parts of their history. An example would be thinking Malta saret nies taht l-Inglizi (was civilized under the British) when we have a legacy of civilization dating back two millennia.

As regards Bonello’s personal gesture, regarding Coleridge’s marble plaque in Republic Street Valletta to commemorate the poet working in Malta as a ‘colonial’ officer in the early years of British occupation, during which he inspired the first local demonizing waves against the French when he was suffering from opium addiction. I do not mind its presence as a link to literature but I find it aesthetically out of proportion in size to the existing environment (I take it this has been approved by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage). I believe Valletta, which has a history of being the colonizer’s playground when it comes to erecting British memorials, should reflect a more balanced homage to our past especially where it concerns our identity. Colonial monuments – Valletta gardens resemble a British officers’ cemetery –outnumber by far our own heritage. Worst still, while six large British royal coat-of-arms surround the Maltese Presidential Palace, two monuments commemorating Maltese heroes were relegated to the outskirts of the city in 2009, leaving Queen Victoria to enjoy the much more prominent site she has occupied for decades. As regards balance in historical mnemonics, it is unfortunate to note that the only remnant from Bonaparte’s period in Valletta – who is by far much more known to tourists than Coleridge – after more than two hundred years is still in a pitiful state (see photo) in spite of continuous reminders to our authorities. It is a fine indicator of what our colonizers wanted us to remember and forget.

While on the subject of colonialism, I take the opportunity to laud New Zealand’s Prime Minister who is considering changing the colonial flag of his country, even though Britain’s queen is still its head of state. I strongly trust that our politicians, one day in the near future, will follow New Zealand’s example and remove the symbol of the British George Cross – of which we are proud if it stays in the war museum; anyhow it never represents Malta except on the flag – and liberate our red and white colours which represented Maltese hopes for centuries. I believe the time is opportune before the CHOGM is held in Malta next year. It will go a long way to show that we are anti-colonialism not anti-British.

Charles Xuereb

Sliema