My earliest memory of Albert Mizzi goes back to April 1974 (I think) when I, a rookie journalist from Il-Hajja, was invited along with other journalists (including our Henry Brincat then at The Times) and travel agents to Air Malta’s inaugural flight to Munich.

Even then, Mr Mizzi was already a national institution.

I remember it clearly because in typical fashion Mr Mizzi took us all to dinner and offered us a cigar each, and what with this cigar, the drink and the hot atmosphere of the restaurant, I was overwhelmed.

Air Malta, at that time, was in its hey-day; a newly-established airline competing against giants and at the same time making a profit. A far cry from what the airline’s state would be in later years. True, Air Malta then was the only airline operating out of the airport besides the foreign scheduled airlines but it was no mean feat, nevertheless.

As is well-known, Mr Mizzi chose not to be paid for this thankless task and I read in Ugo Mifsud Bonnici’s autobiography that before he accepted Dom Mintoff’s invitation to head the airline, he had met Opposition leader George Borg Olivier and got his consent too.

I have often wondered how Mr Mizzi survived working with Mr Mintoff, a man of fiery temper prone to sudden outbursts. Knowing Mr Mizzi, I am sure he found a way where they could agree and work together.

Later on I was to meet Mr Mizzi countless times, both socially and with regard to his manifold business interests.

Although his company, Alf Mizzi & Sons, was one of the five founding members of Standard Publications, he never sat on the board of directors. Yet I’m sure he followed the development of this new entrant with keen interest, as he did with so many things.

Later on, it must have been around 1998, I interviewed him as chairman of Malta Shipbuilding. Again, he took on this thankless job without costing the State any money. Shipbuilding was flooded with people given a job for partisan reasons and its business plan, if any, had long been lost under the huge debts accumulated.

Yet Mr Mizzi found a way to create two subsidiary companies to hive off some of the excess workforce. The venture did not take off and Marsa Shipbuilding soon became amalgamated with Malta Drydocks and ultimately closed down.

I remember clearly how concerned he was for the livelihood of the workers and how much he tried to get them to do productive work which would have helped them build a future away from MSB.

I am not into hagiography and I do not intend to praise Mr Mizzi to high heavens. With today’s ecological insights, maybe creating Santa Maria Estate and Mellieha Bay Hotel would not be countenanced, but that would be judging the events of so many years ago with today’s insights and ideas.

Later on I reported extensively on the development of the Tigné-Manoel Island development. Again, so many years have passed since the 1990 Development Brief (and the project is far from finished, much to Mr Mizzi’s disappointment) that one hears many people today regretting the extensive development across the harbour from Valletta (although both The Point and Mr Mizzi’s other creation The Plaza are very popular with shoppers).

I remember the pride with which he showed us the extensive restoration of Fort Manoel from the derelict, neglected and vandalized state he found it in.

As I said, he never sat on our board but his influence was there and our company’s relations with his many companies benefited us through examples of how a business should be structured. Some of the innovations brought in by his company have positively influenced other companies, including ours.

I was always a reporter, a journalist, and so had no inside information as to his business, but people I trust and whose words carry a lot of weight with me have spoken many times with bated breath about his business acumen. They all told me it was always a pleasure and a learning experience to work with him.

For all that I’ve said, he never interfered in the paper; the rumour around here is that he got the full force of a high person’s anger due to one of our ‘scoops’ at a time which must have been crucial for him. It is a matter of pride with us, at least those who possess the historical memory of this company and institution that this media house has never succumbed to such pressure.

In other countries, perhaps, a person who does well for himself earns praise and respect. Here, I sometimes think, a person who does well makes people suspicious, envious, who think that such success owes more to corruption than to anything else. Some of us unfortunately see cabals everywhere and anywhere.

For instance, some years ago, together with a colleague, we were eating at a popular eating place when in came Mr Mizzi along with some friends whose friendship dated back many years, such as Middlesea, another of his creations.

This was at lunch time, in a public place. The group all exhibited bonhomie and cracked jokes born out of familiarity and friendship. By now many of them had reached the pinnacle of success in their various roles. Do you think that if they had a secret deal to do they would have done it in such a public place and manner?

My last and abiding image of Mr Mizzi is at the semi-annual gatherings for stockbrokers and media as chairman of HSBC where the bank’s robustness would be matched by Mr Mizzi’s robustness in conducting the business.

With me, with many of us, he was unfailingly courteous, always wanting to teach and expound a principle, helping the State under different administrations yet always insisting on the public role of private enterprise. Other people in his place would have given up for a restful retirement long ago. Not Mr Mizzi.

[email protected]