Placed prominently right opposite the main entrance of the law courts in Valletta is a statue depicting three figures. The Great Siege monument commemorates the victory of our valour and values over the marauding, bad "Infidel".
Today, the 8th September, is the day Malta, this value-loving, seeker-of-truth-at-all-costs country, celebrates not just the birth of the mother of Jesus Christ, but also three victorious sieges: the Great Siege of 1565, the lifting of the French Blockade in 1800 and the end of hostilities by Italy in the Second World War.
What a fabulous history we have. Always under the guidance of the divine. So many wanted to subdue us but we, the valiant, the worthy, the upright citizens of this isle, resisted. We rose up and, against all odds, and with the help of the gods, beat the horrid enemies who were either besieging us or enslaving us.
We might be a little country but we are made of heroic stuff.
Or rather, that is what our legendary legend-builders tell us. Because in reality it seems we were made of some different mettle back then. Today we have been transformed from fighters for a just cause to hollow, value-less, citizens of greed.
If we scratch out the myths, the reality of course might be that we were - as a people - never too strong in character. We were, and have remained on the whole, firm believers in the family. Not the famous family unity our priests and right-wingers glorify. But keeping everything in the family; if it benefits me or my family all is allowed or allowable. Obviously we then extend it from family to friends - and friends of friends - who can be helped in any way possible, even if what they are helped with is wrong, unethical or criminal.
We, or most of us, are not brave enough to admit this. Or to fight it. If there is one rule we all basically follow, it is that of omertà. That is our religion, not Christianity or whatever religion our forefathers followed. We have always been self-seeking, fickle and lacking fibre.
If the piece where we are mentioned in the New Testament really refers to Malta - when St Paul ended up here - then it sums us up nice and tidily. The people who lived on the island, who most probably passed on their DNA to us all, were nicely hospitable. They were quite impressed by the then still uncanonised Paul. But quickly turned against him when a poisonous snake attacked him.
Oh, but look, he just flung it into the bonfire and the locals changed their mind again and decided Paul must be some godly being. Fickle does it. Fickle and ready to change your mind as the mood dictates, or as will give you most gain.
After Saint Paul left, we all embraced the Christian faith. So much better to love your neighbour as yourself than harbouring horrid pagan traits. Beating poisonous beasts cleansed us all of our old pagan ways. And we kept off all wrongdoing associated with paganism or barbarism.
Throughout the years, ever since St Paul converted us, we have loved our neighbour as ourselves. As long as they are similar to us and preferably as long as we can be friends and associates in our deals, however wrong they are.
Some of us even switched religion when it suited us after St Paul left these shores. Because if the colonisers pushed hard enough, we quickly let go of all our traditional setups and even converted to anoher religion in one period of our chequered history.
We all, or most of us, always got on with the occupiers. As some dare point out, we hardly wished to fight the Ottomans or the Italians and the Germans. But we had little choice, seeing we were under the rule of the Order of St John and later in the Second World War under the Brits. Against the French we did put up some kind of fight but on the whole - even if this is rather a simplistic generalisation - we went with the flow.
The present reinforces this going with the flow. If we were the courageous people depicted in that statue opposite the Law Courts, we would, by now, have risen against the new oppressor, the Labour Party.
Yes, agreed it is there by democratic means, voted in by us, who vote in hordes to keep the status quo intact. But if we had the brains and the courage of yore - as depicted in folklore and legend - wouldn't we rise up and as one nation kick out the Labour Party? Wouldn't enough pressure be put by hordes of people on Labour MPs, MEPs and party delegates, to force them to change their ways for fear of nobody voting for them?
Wouldn't they, the MPs, MEPs, delegates themselves rise as one and scream out that they have had enough of corruption, scandals, graft, sleaze, nepotism, greed, incompetence, pollution, destruction, congestion?
Wouldn't that prove that we do have, and have always had, a spine, a belief in truth, justice and values?
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