I have had enough of voices of gloom and doom, forecasting all sorts of negatives for this our country.
What haven't we heard? That we're doomed. That all the best of our young cannot wait to leave to other countries. That 60 years after we became independent we have not had the growth we dreamt of, so too 20 years after we joined the EU, that fundamentally we have remained the accidental island south of Tunis, speaking in a sort of Arabic but writing it in Latin, revering God as Allah but deeply Catholic, with a civil service once subservient to the British colonial power and now completely inefficient, riddled with time-servers, not meritocratic at all, where successive leaders have turned it into a cesspit of patronage....
Need I go on?
Oh, that as a people we are doomed, this country becoming too crowded, non-Maltese on track to becoming more numerous than we natives, we have built so much that we lack space....
In short, that there is no future for us and for our children.
And if you just consider the political scene all the above predictions come to a head. Half the population is afraid the other side will win the next election. And curiously, the other half thinks so too. Robert Abela is reviled by one half and Alex Borg by the other half.
At the tailend of my life I beg to differ. I am questioning today all these dire predictions.
Let me begin with the most basic of our reality - our limited, very limited geographic space. Many say our generation and the ones before it have taken over so much of the land that we have run out of space. Some are even talking of land reclamation. To all these and without any expertise in the matter I say: there is still ample space available if only we build up, not sideways.
Take a look at most of our towns and villages with their horizontal expansion. Now take a look at, let's say, Hong Kong, with its 50 plus apartment buildings and see how they use space.
Of course. Building regulations are strict and they are enforced. So too are the anti-seismic regulations. So too are the traffic regulations. That's the price to pay. Here in Malta my generation and the one before it were brought up on Dallas and Dynasty and the houses in our dreams had to be American ranches. That was so wrong on so many levels.
The advice our generation is getting from politicians on either side is: give us your vote and leave the rest to us. Like hell we will.
Take public transport for instance. Don't they see the early buses packed with smelly people now that they made them all free? What's stopping the buses from realising they need to increase drastically the number of buses and ensure people get a decent ride (and throw in some air freshener too).
Now as to the health sector about which the politicians have been talking about on all airwaves. Health is more important than winning an argument or law suit. Over the past years of non-funding or even negative funding the health of the ever-increasing number of people on these islands has been cared for by the health workers at huge sacrifices to their health and wellbeing. To them our gratitude is never enough.
We are now in a situation when we can at last begin restructuring the entire system. But we cannot do everything at once.
The sad lessons of the past two legislatures should make us careful about politicians taking all the decisions only to find out much later the decisions were the wrong ones. Every new minister seems to think the world was born with him/her. Surrounding themselves with equally incompetent and time-serving aides ensures more failures and pain.
At this point, believe no one, trust no one. Give to no one a blank cheque. Abolish all direct orders and investigate each and every cost overrun.
Be warned: they want to hustle you and speed up everything so that you lose what little power they left you with.
The coming weeks will see the great deception at work. You can already see it around the Budget Speech, the memes, the fake news, the simplifying of issues.
The home visits have begun - an unwelcome intrusion and the candidates show no sign of wanting to engage, to listen, to learn. They only want to collect promises. Give them promises in abundance. The shock, when it comes, will be greater.
Oh and go and cash that cheque the minute you get it. Don't feel responsible for the massive deficit.
Note of history
Anne Brogini
Crisis and Revival. The Convent of the Order of Malta during the Reformation (16th - 17th centuries)
In: Mike Carr, Jochen Scheme (eds.) The Military Orders. Culture and Conflict in the Mediterranean World (Vol 6.1)
Routledge, London - New York, 2017
The paper discusses the transformation of the Order of Malta during the Catholic Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries, focusing on the internal challenges posed by Protestant influences and subsequent reforms initiated by the Council of Trent.
Key reforms included stricter adherence to monastic vows, enhanced education for brethren, and regulations aimed at reducing violence within the Order.
These changes were pivotal in re-establishing the Order's monastic identity and aligning it with the Catholic Reformation's objectives.
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