When many years ago, Mid-Med Bank was about to be sold to HSBC, many voices spoke out in praise of what was being done. Personally I was one of those who stood against, and strongly: apart from the fact that the bank was sold on the cheap, it was going to end up as a small bolt in an enormous banking machine, which would give limited attention, if any,  to the Maltese national interest. Mid-Med was the second largest bank in the country.

Those in favour of the sale claimed that Malta would benefit greatly from the presence here of a "global" bank like HSBC - whose basic lines of activity were rooted in Asia... It would attract huge new investments to our shores.

There is no evidence to show that foreign investments that were attracted to Malta since those days arrived because of HSBC. Meanwhile the latter soon recovered the monies it expended to purchase Mid-Med on the back of profits the bank made in Malta (even if for HSBC the funds involved both ways amounted to peanuts).

And now HSBC wants to get rid of "Mid-Med" in double quick time and is selling it to a bank which surely is not "global". Everybody's happy it has a least found a buyer! To whom it will sell on the cheap!

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SUSTAINABILITY

One of the principles that is bound to become (if it isn't already) crucial in the economic, social and environmental endeavours of this country is that all initiatives that are undertaken should be sustainable. This means that in future, no approved project would serve in any way to reduce or destroy the national resources from which it is derived, but it would be ensured that the same resources are renewed, indeed reinforced, so that an initiative remains valid and productive. Resources could be natural, human, cultural, historic, social...

Actually this imperative is widely recognized by the powers that be. It gets mentioned frequently. It also gets considered as a leading criterion when projects come up for official approval prior to implementation. However what's missing in what gets projected and implemented is a clear, binding and concrete statement that should be made regarding what sustainability of planned activities will consist of, what measures are going to be taken to safeguard it, and how they are going to be implemented definitely and in a compulsory manner.

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FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The Trump administration in the US proclaimed itself the defender of freedom of expression. Earlier this year, vice US President Vance gave a tough dressing-down to European governments because according to him, on social media among others, they were restricting  -- indeed deleting the freedom of expression of "extreme" right wing exponents they considered to be demonstrably spreading hate and untruths among citizens.

In this context, one just cannot understand how the same US government - via the condemnations it launches and the financial pressures it exerts - is seeking to remove from US TV channels and other communications platforms, commentators who transmit strong messages that contradict its own sympathies and propaganda messages.