Cosmopolitan Malta does not – and should not – have any qualms about the ever-increasing number of foreigners seeking jobs here, raising families and offering services and talents very few Maltese have so far mustered or care to muster. It is all part and parcel of: 1. being a member of the European Union, whether you had voted yes or no in the 2003 referendum, and 2. having a thriving economy as opposed to the ailing economies that many of these foreigners originate from.

The problem is that with the talents and the talented we are also getting the riff-raff who seem to think little of our Police Corps, and assume that the whole island is their own little backyard which they can use for their daily rodeos. In fact, the number of foreigners being charged in court for crimes they commit randomly and in open disrespect of the laws of the land that has welcomed them is definitely also on the increase.

There are no national boundaries and these new cowboys cavorting all over Malta, in entertainment areas, across village streets and town piazzas, hail from many different parts of the world. We’ve had drunken Arabs, Russians, Scotsmen and Englishmen, even African immigrants, vomiting, to use a metaphor, openly on Maltese society, Mafiosi-like Italians selling cheap pizza to loud music till the early hours of the morning, despite protests from neighbours and local councils, and two French students even chose to break up a public bench to use its wooden parts for their barbeque fire.

In recent days we have seen an Egyptian taking on the Police as if they were all minnows wearing oversize uniforms and a Ukrainian throwing drunken tantrums as well as landing a pretty heavy foot on the head of a poor policeman, again seemingly helpless along with his colleagues when it came to restraining the foreigner.

One could go on forever, so many are the daily episodes involving foreigners accorded our hospitality and earning our money. There seems to be the general impression, certainly not unjustified, that our Law Courts are too lenient and are always willing to offer these people another chance, and another, and another...

There is really only one option: give them the order of the boot. Deportation orders scare the wits out of most of these people who certainly do not feel inclined to go back home to joblessness, slashed or no social benefits and, even worse, to being small fish in a big pond, among many other things.

This should not in any way reflect badly on the majority of foreigners of whichever nationality who work here and many of whom have married Maltese citizens. The Maltese have always welcomed overseas visitors, from St Paul’s unheralded arrival on our shores to the British coming in to help us get rid of the French and then “benevolently” opting to stay for almost two hundred years.

Giving the order of the boot to those who think they can make Malta their bizarre exhibition hall is an effective and much more efficient way of getting rid of them rather than dumping them into a Corradino cell where we continue to pay for their upkeep.

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Chuckle chuckle

It certainly makes you want to chuckle when you read that the European Union has recently drafted a plan “to counter” Russian disinformation activities and calling for the promotion of EU policies in the post-Soviet space and the implementation of measures against Russian media, including the excellent Russia Today (RT) service.

This comes from a Europe that has so many “independent” news and current affairs sources that one is wont to forget some of them. Along with the American “independents” like CNN, CBS, FOX and Bloomberg, there are the national 24-hour services of France 24, the BBC, Euronews, Sky and their counterparts in Spain, Germany and Italy to name but a few. All of these against one solitary Russian station transmitting in English and bravely bringing up stories that most of the “independents” tend to overlook, like nationalistic issues in EU countries, barbaric stories of human rights abuse in countries like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the “liberated” countries of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and the Sudan that are allies.

One also needs to bear in mind that there are hundreds of Western newspapers, TV channels, websites and radio stations, all beaming the same take on what is going on in the world. The UK is known to have created a 1,500-strong army unit to, among other things, fight Russia in the social media space. NATO has a special taskforce dedicated to countering Russia’s influence. Deutsche Welle has launched a 24-hour English-language news channel that is supposed to compete directly with RT. How good must RT be to require all these multiple resources launched against it, one wonders? Chuckle chuckle.

Obtained by EUobserver, the nine-page paper drafted by the EU Foreign Service is aimed at tackling Russia’s “use and misuse of communication tools” and the “promotion of EU policies” in former Soviet states as well as support (the way Putin’s money goes into RT, no doubt) for “independent media” and “increased public awareness of disinformation activities by external actors”. Chuckle chuckle.

The plan specifically mentions RT, which according to the report broadcasts “fabrications and hate speech from their bureaus in EU cities”. Anyone who has watched RT knows this is a very sinister and incredibly incorrect description of RT’s very professional and down-to-earth services from all over the globe. Yes, there is an obvious Russian slant, but then you know what you’re watching. Many need to do the same when they watch CNN or BBC or Sky, so what’s the problem? Can’t Russia have access to international media airtime?

You can’t blame the Russians for hitting back and insisting that the proposed plan “is violating the right to freedom of expression and creating conditions of total discrimination against Russian media”. You suddenly have to stop chuckling.

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While Simon’s away... Sai plays

One couldn’t help noticing that while Opposition leader Simon Busuttil is away in China on an invitation by the Chinese Communist Party, here in Malta his pet subject in Parliament, Ambassador Sai Mizzi Liang, was witnessing the fruit of her work with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Maltese government and the Shangai-based company Huawei.

Huawei is one of the biggest technology companies in the world and will now have an office in SmartCity, Kalkara that is happily no longer a ghost town but is quickly growing and expanding to meet present-day demands. Huawei has plans to reach out to Africa from our shores and to offer opportunities in the sector to our bright young men and women.

All Simon has to do is say thank you to both his Chinese hosts and Sai. I don’t have to write it in Mandarin.