2015 has kicked-in. Wearing a clean, well-ironed white shirt and a pin-striped dark suit, executives are once more behind the wheels preparing to take the fast lane again as the amber lamp light goes green. Executives are prepared to face new challenges, take new opportunities, address threats of whatever nature and measure risks that may arise.
At home, most of the Christmas decorations have already been neatly placed in boxes and put away. Every year it falls on me to carefully take down and store in a shoe-box the long string of Christmas lights. However, notwithstanding my efforts,these still invariably fail to light up later this year. It is the same annoyance almost every year. I take the string of lights out of storage only to find that these are not working. Despite my best efforts, I always fail to fix the lights, no matter how hard I press the on/off button and how many light bulbs I check are properly screwed on. As a new set of Christmas lights is not expensive,replacing is the easier option. Moreover, this would save me time and other venial sins. The colour, the size, the shape, the running or flashing of the illuminating small bulbs would not make a difference in the coming festive season. No big deal. The old set would make space for the new!
In the first few days of 2015, health conscious persons would have taken up a diet plan. The shrilling sound of the alarm clock early in the morning signals that it is time to hit the ground running to burn the excesses of the festive season. Those extra mince pies and endless nibbles do not seem worthwhile now, no matter how inviting and irresistible they were at the time.
By now, workers entitled to a Christmas shut-down are gradually returning to their place of work. Alternatively, workers who have overworked during the festive season will now hopefully enjoy some days away from work to help them recharge.
At the office, whatever was left in the pending tray during the last days of last year will now have to be addressed. Things cannot be procrastinated any longer.
During the festive season, between meetings and other engagements, I've been at various places to catch up with friends. Charlie at the Waterfront in Valletta, old acquaintances and colleagues at Café' Elia and the St Joseph Band Club in Hamrun, Alison in Floriana and Chris in Santa Venera are but a few. In these places I feel at home, and the environment is frank.I enjoyed the good company, the fine food and spirits and the good conversation. The festive season is a great opportunity to touch base. It gives me great pleasure to meet old and new friends. I enjoyed every moment, hopping from place to place, meeting people, and the conversations notwithstanding the different points of view.
The conversation varied from one place to another. Some shared their good and pleasant home experiences and positive career progression. Others had to endure discrimination at their place of work which, unfortunately, is becoming more pronounced in the public sector. This invariably leads to stress and a lack of enthusiasm at work. Others expressed concerns over the recent incidents, wherein a minister was forced to resign. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and their different leadership styles and approach invariably came up during most of the exchanges. It seems that politicians and politics have no Christmas holidays and they are grist for the gossip mill no matter the time of year.
If I had to summarise one major issue that emerged prominently is the growing lack of trust in our political class. This should be a concern to one and all. Are we facing a leadership crisis? I do not have the answer nor will I attempt to address such a challenging question. If anything, leaders are expected to show the way and lead. They are expected to take all necessary actions to protect all law abiding citizens at all times. Perhaps our society is searching for a great leader with a great idea able to think outside the box. A great leader needs to communicate his vision to others in a way that makes others want to follow and make it their own. Whether Dr Muscat and Dr Busuttil are putting forward fresh concepts to the people is a million dollar question. This needs to be addressed within the inner circles of the structures of both political parties. They have to address this question clinically.
In 2015,the usual tug-of-war between the major political parties for partisan political gains on trivialities should be kept to a minimum. The media spin-doctors should be kept at bay. People are getting disinterested in political antics. It would wrong, very wrong for our political leaders to underestimate the will of the people.
Political leaders should start addressing the concerns raised by people before it would be too late to rectify. Our leaders are expected to lead not to appease. Political leaders, like a string of colourful Christmas bulbs, have to illuminate people's lives.