“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, …”

This is how Charles Dickens opened his classic story ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, 161 years ago. It sounds like a perfect description of our times.

We are truly living in extraordinary times. The world has been turned upside down. We are being asked to show our love and respect for others by staying away from each other. Isolation has come to presume safety. Social distancing is the new norm. You show love by giving no handshakes, no hugs and no kisses.

This is a time for reflection. The challenges we face today were totally unexpected. We did not plan for this and none of us could predict this new reality.

A few months ago, I wrote about how Greta Thunberg was being ridiculed and attacked. Solving climate change seemed like an insurmountable challenge. Back then, nobody was thinking about how the planet would cleanse itself. None of us could remotely imagine the world’s entire population under lockdown.

Not too long ago we were complaining of long hours wasted in traffic. Now we frown on those who must use their car to commute through the empty streets of our towns and villages. The roads look eerie. Town squares look like ghost towns.

The initial shock is fading. We are all coming round to accept that our survival depends on each and every one of us. We also need to see the opportunity in the challenges.

Teleworking, video conferencing and other remote connections through a digital platform are proving to be much more efficient and effective than many of us thought. If such methods are effective and successful during these trying times, surely, they can continue to be used when things fall back into place.

We have all been forced to appreciate the true meaning of quality time with our family. Many of us have rediscovered the passion for long lost interests like cooking, reading books, painting, listening to music, and much more. We are also discovering the need to meditate, reflect and find spiritual meaning. And let’s not forget our newfound resourcefulness for DIY and home improvement.

Our citizens are looking up to the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and all the healthcare workers for inspiration. Rightly so, these front liners have become the true heroes of our turbulent times.

This dramatic shift has changed us overnight. It has changed everything.

Politics, or better still, politicians, are resisting the change, but they too will inevitably succumb. Partisan and populist statements like the ones made last week by Minister Silvio Schembri are no longer accepted and tolerated.

The Opposition is there to criticize but, clearly, we cannot attack and criticize everything just for the sake of it. Now, more than ever, we must choose our battles.

Our criticism of the Government’s agreement with Vitals Global Healthcare and, subsequently, Steward Health Care, has become even more relevant now than it ever was before. Did you know that ever since we had our first COVID-19 case on the 7th of March (almost three weeks ago), Steward Health Care has received close to four million euros from our taxes?

And while Government is working on building a temporary hospital, we could have made full use of St Luke’s Hospital after the necessary interventions. Of course, the millions our country is pouring into Steward Health Care’s coffers could easily be used to finance better schemes to safeguard businesses and save the loss of jobs.

We don’t need to see businesses on their knees to realise that we could use these huge millions in a much more fruitful way.

This could really be the time for us to sift our true values and make the right choices. This may be the worst of times, but it may be the best of times for us to draw on our collective wisdom and discard the foolishness of tribal politics and the impunity of corruption.

This epoch of incredulity may be just what we need to bring out a new epoch of belief in a renewed politics.

Difficult times like these should bring out our strengths. But we will only succeed if we really and truly look out for each other and protect each member of our community. We must all contribute and bring our country out of this unprecedented crisis safely, having learnt a muchneeded lesson that greed and arrogance will always be our downfall.

We must all believe that we can do this and we will manage. Together.