Good news is always welcome.  But in Malta we tend to take it with a pinch of salt and some cynicism.  The constant contradictions around us create a lack of confidence and it tends to pour salt on our wounds rather than a soothing oil. 

The recent good news that was announced by Robert Abela and his Tourism Minister together with Jason Micallef as Valletta Cultural Agency Chairman is that COVID-19 will not kill Christmas.

First off, we need to sift through the image of “kill” and “enjoy” and put each in their proper place.  Kill is one of the most insensitive verbs to be using at this time, especially in the context of portraying a positive idea.  It indicates a disconnection with the reality that so many families and patients are enduring at this time, due to COVID-19.  It was not the people themselves, after all who came up with the advice that we should moderate our expectations this Christmas and keep our celebrations more intimate and avoid gathering of different households together, sticking to the more immediate family or bubble.

It is as though we are being told off for doing our homework right.  Now that we have been prepared to be considerate for others this Christmas, we are told that is all baloney and to focus only on the business aspect. 

The country has avoided going into full isolation, even though numbers of cases and deaths is extremely alarming and all kinds of warnings have been issued by the medical associations and even the Chamber of Commerce who see health as essential to recovery of the economy.  The decision was based on the need to keep businesses going, sales and jobs. 

The budget included the next round of vouchers, this time with a different ratio of retail to restaurant and hotel.  Has this had a good effect or will it stall retail sales until people receive the vouchers?  Shops normally have their sales in January, right after Christmas because that is a time when people have spent money, the weather is getting cold and wet and if they are to shop they need an incentive.  But the coming of autumn and start of the school year usually herald good shopping.

From the look of things, though, retail is suffering and needs a quick injection.  Since when, though, has the government become the driver of the retail industry?  Other than setting the VAT level, collecting licence fees and possibly subsidising rents, government need not interfere.  Instead of playing roulette with the behaviour of the shoppers, a reduction in VAT in restaurants or on certain goods, like clothing and shoes, would have benefitted commerce much more than a programme of activities that puts confusion into the mind of people. 

Once again, there are those who agree and those who disagree.  Everything in Malta has to become divisive.  Where, normally, shoppers would have got into the Christmas spirit and gone into Valletta with a calm and tranquil mind, they now fear they might encounter a risky situation and forced jollity that they may not be quite ready for in these troubled days.  Rather than trusting the common sense of people, the impression is that they need to be attracted. 

It does make us wonder what situation our economy is really in.  Malta Developers Association president Sandro Chetcuti said that contrary to the prevailing opinion that we are in a negative place, property sales are booming and promise of sale agreements for properties rose by 21 per cent in October when compared to the same month in 2019, and said it was one of the best months for the sector since 2017.

The construction industry has been seen, especially under this Labour government since its election in 2013 under Joseph Muscat, to be a pillar of the economy. 

So too, though, is tourism.  Of which we have next to none since March and prospects still remain dim. 

How then are the promise of sale agreements really benefitting the economy, if retail sales are slumping and in the mind of Robert Abela people need all sorts of fake news to get themselves into town? 

People have been spending less money and saving more.  The future is uncertain for many and sources of income are reduced.  Many jobs were indirectly linked to the tourism industry and it was a motor of the economy, putting money in their pockets.  Definitely, there is a marked change for many in their disposable income.  Loss of property rental income is also completely throwing business plans and home economics into disarray. 

On top of that, coping with the needs of the elderly in our families, of our children who are going through so much disruption in their education and trying to balance a sense of normality with a stark reality of bleak numbers is putting so much pressure on that sometimes the best tonic is to have someone just sit by you rather than force you to also do Christmas. 

Is there this rule in Malta that says that we must have a summer and we must Do Christmas.  We must go shopping.  We must party and drink.  It’s like Basil Fawlty and his “whatever you do, don’t mention the war”. 

Maybe it is a result of wiping out nature and its natural cycle.  Take away the country-side and take people into the streets and malls.  Add to the traffic and roads.  Manufacture culture.  Create a demand for a material life above all else.  After all, people are living in ever-less sqm, in dark flats with people all around them and they must go out to be seen and to show who they are. 

It remains, though, that we need to have an honest conversation about where we are and where our economy is, what we can afford to do and what should be best done to heal our sick and put our mind at rest.  The MDA can plonk a fat figure on our plate but that does not mean it will feed us.  Jason can strut his feathers but it will be hard to avoid the smell of desperation. 

These are days that ask for unity of purpose, one mind and one message.  Support is needed in many places and priorities have shifted from where they were some months ago.  When people are ignored and left to their own devices, panic can set in.  Nobody, not even Robert Abela, wants that to happen.  Simply, though, some humility from the Prime Minister and his Ministers would be much more appreciated than a scolding and a dictate on how we should celebrate Christmas.