I am not fond, not even remotely, of carnival and the ancillary activities which are intrinsically related to it.  Admittedly, over the years, most of the carnival events have improved considerably to what today is a professional standard, with large sums of monies invested in this grotesque festival of excesses which precedes Lent.  Although held in many localities, carnival is mainly organised in Valletta and spontaneously in Nadur, Gozo.  But this year, the weather did not oblige.  And despite my indifference towards carnival, I really felt bad when most of the planned activities had to be cancelled due to the inclement weather.

Unfortunately, most of the activities were cut short due to sudden cloudbursts and strong winds, while others were crammed between very tight schedules.  In a nutshell, the bad weather spoiled this year’s carnival. The efforts of the carnival participants and the organisers, who worked tirelessly and painstakingly in the previous months, almost went down the drain with the rainwater flooding most of our streets, had it not been for the postponement of the activities to last weekend.   The children’s carnival was organised in the elegant St George’s Square last Saturday, while the gran defile’ was organised in St Anne Street, Floriana on Sunday.

This year, carnival was originally organised during the weekend in which, in normal circumstances, the feast of St Paul, with all the pomp, is typically celebrated.  By tradition or by coincidence, most often than not, the weather on 10 February is very inclement and cold.  According to tradition and to the Acts of the Apostles (XXVIII) by St Luke, the weather was very bad when Paul was being taken to Rome to be tried as a political rebel.  The vessel carrying him and 274 others was caught in a violent storm, only to be wrecked on the Maltese coast; yet all aboard swam safely to land.  According to the Acts, Paul and the rest of the survivors were given a warm welcome by the locals, until Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake.  But he suffered no ill effects. 

Ever since then, Malta turned to Christianity.

I do not want to sound cynical, but the change in dates, and the swap of the religious for the grotesque, was not well received by St Paul, who must have taken exception to the change.  And this displeasure was not helped by the leader of the Opposition!  If anything, it was further compounded with the lashing made publicly by the leader of the Opposition during an interview conducted recently on a Sunday morning. When referring to Malta’s constitution, he made two strong assertions which should be looked into.  The PN leader claimed that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wants to “remove crucifixes from classes” and that he “wants to send our children to war”.  Both statements are of serious nature. One perhaps more than the other.  But the reaction of the general public to the comments passed by the leader of the Opposition was zilch. 

The non-reaction of the public to the statements made by the leader of the Opposition may mean one of the two things. On one hand, people are not really in the mood to enter into some sort of confrontation with the competent authorities on issues which are or may be considered by many as far-fetched; alternatively, people are as yet not taking the assertions seriously. 

I dismiss the notion floated by the leader of the Opposition that Prime Minister Muscat wants or is planning to send our children to war.  Dr Muscat’s recent pledge that nothing will make him change his mind to contest another general election is a clear signal that he is preparing to end his political career on a high note.  Sending our children to war will tarnish his political reputation for good.  The Prime Minister has, so far, managed to survive and handle very serious allegations of corruption, without too much fallout.  Under his stewardship the PL has grown in popularity, although the price for this has not been costed.  At what price this was achieved, not in monetary terms, may yet surface at some later stage when it would be too late to rectify.  The monetary cost is, in fact, only a secondary issue.

With regard to the removal of crucifixes from classrooms, I have my own views on this proposal, if this issue ever surfaces. I strongly believe that crucifixes should remain fixed prominently in classrooms; but what I consider important is not the corpse of Jesus Christ on the cross, but basic altruistic values which must be promoted in classrooms and at homes.

A fast-changing society needs much more than a crucifix in a classroom.  Our society is in desperate need of role models, not least in the political arena. Working tirelessly for the common good takes more than promises in an electoral manifesto or a televised programme, as the case may be.

St Paul may have expressed his disappointment when, on the day he was expecting us to celebrate his feast on 10 February, we opted for the profane instead.  Similarly, the electorate may find a thousand and one reason or excuse to support or abandon a proposal.

The time for wrapping up empty promises nicely is up, and rubbing people the wrong way should stop. Enough already. The electorate is expecting our politicians to show the way forward and to take the high moral ground.   

 

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