A lot has already been said in the past week and a half about Karl Gouder, and what an extraordinary person he was. The national outpouring was quite remarkable, as exponents from both sides of the political divide, from all walks of life, recognised the gentle, passionate, spirited yet compassionate man that he was. It was a rare moment of coming together to celebrate the life of a person who appears to have captured the spirit of politics in its purest form - an extraordinary moment indeed.

I don't want to repeat how wonderful a person he was, and how much he will be missed by an enormous cohort of friends and loved ones; however, I do wish to make a few points looking ahead.

Karl did politics differently. He brought with him a fresh brand of dialogue which put respect at the top. While being highly driven and motivated in his political convictions, even when in Parliament, or leading his beloved St Julians local council, he was always fair to his political adversaries. He never attacked anyone personally, always focused on the subject at hand, and showed respect for all.

In fact, Karl managed to attract the respect of all. His gentle yet motivated way of dealing with his fellow man, cast a light on a better way of behaving with each other, communicating, doing politics.

I feel that the best memorial we can ever erect for the man is to take a leaf out of his book and be inspired by his style.

Politics is the art of bringing people together to find solutions for life's challenges. This is the crux of all we do. The reason why we run for elections, to serve in our local councils, in Parliament, ministries or any other forum which is empowered with the agency to change people's lives - for the better. All the rest is superfluous and sometimes I fear that we lose sight of the forest for the trees.  

I augur that this watershed moment for all of us becomes a turning point in understanding that we can do much better. We must empower the people around us to focus on the issues rather on the persons. We must make the quality leap in our discourse, and the way we make our arguments - our future generations will thank us for it.

Also looking ahead, I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to all going through a rough time. It is absolutely fine, not to feel fine. We hear this so many times, and we say it so many times, but it is now high time that we really start believing it.

We have built ourselves wonderful gilded cages, made of ambitions, fame, status and power. These cages are keeping us prisoners while we hold the keys ourselves. The rat race which we have designed is destroying our humanity, but we remain human, and frail after all.

It is fine to take a break. It is fine to call for a time out. It is absolutely fine to ask for help, and have a chat.

We must start a healthy conversation, whereby we normalise the fact that we are not superheroes. Superheroes belong in comic books, real life is made of wonderful human beings - complex, challenged, struggling, colourful, normal human beings.

Fly high, Karl my friend. Till we meet again.

Alexander Mangion is Deputy Mayor of Attard