Malta yesterday celebrated its tenth EU birthday, so to speak. It almost seems like those past ten years have shot by. To mark the event, the International Fireworks Festival grand finale was held in the Grand Harbour to coincide with the event.

Fort St Angelo, and other historic buildings across the water were illuminated and used as canvases that were used to show people images of what Malta and the EU stand for and how they are intertwined.

Malta and the Grand Harbour looked absolutely gorgeous, lit up in different hues and bright colours. The EU flags and Malta’s red and white also looked stunning when the lights were turned onto the bastion walls.

Let us stick to all the positives for now. Some have taken to Facebook to say that the choice of rock music did not really reflect Malta’s traditions and culture. That may be true, but the vast majority of people who saw the show were in thrall of the awesome rock riffs accompanied by the absolutely stunning choreographed firework display. Those guys did not miss a beat. The tunes were good and the show was even better. You couldn’t really fault it, it was on a par with some of the amazing fireworks displays that we have seen featured abroad.

However, when it came down to the interpretation of the story, it was a bit flat. For starters, it’s a tad bit ambitious to try and blare the audio out when a voice just bounces back off the bastions on the other side. It sounded muffled and a bit shabby. A good amount of people also said that they could not quite see the connection of a child being compared to Malta’s journey in Europe. But that is art, one supposes and is left open to interpretation.

Malta really has changed in the last ten years. The PL has won a landslide victory and returned to govern after decades on the backbench aside from a two year stint. Maltese men and women now have the right to divorce. Gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry... the list goes on and on. But aside from all those landmarks, the ordinary everyday landscape has also changed. We have become a lot more cosmopolitan and our lifestyles have definitely improved. We have continued to develop Malta through funds that we have received from the EU to continue to improve our resources and infrastructure.

This government has told us that there is a lot more left to come in terms of change. Change is a good thing. Progress is a good thing. But while we must continue to push ahead in terms of civil liberties, we must also push ahead in terms of hard work and cementing our place within our European family.