Miriam Cassar, LEAD participant and sociologist
As I walked past the newly refurbished Tritons Fountain and headed towards City Gate the other day, I could see that our capital has undergone a major facelift. One could tell a lot of money has been spent on the Valletta project and that it has paid off. Seeing this, I felt a sense of patriotism that I have never felt before.
Part of the rewards of Malta’s booming economy was being invested in upgrading the landscape and infrastructure for citizens to enjoy. Yet, if we just looked at this project and others and the overall economic well-being of Malta and used these as measures of success, that would be just one part of the story. And it would be worrying if that was the only way of measuring success, but it is not.
Of course, one should acknowledge the economic gains made by the Labour Party during its legislature not only from the point of view of yielding economic surplus, decreasing debt, increasing GDP per capita, attracting foreign investment and the number of foreigners who want to work in the Maltese islands and so forth.
A booming economy has, more importantly in my view, enabled the present government to make significant contributions to the social well-being of our society. For example, money has been used to provide free childcare to facilitate female labour market participation.
Malta’s economic gain should not, and is not the sole indicator of success
More jobs have been created and unemployment in the last quarter of 2017 was at an all-time low. More homes for persons with disabilities have been opened. Public transport has improved. People are enjoying higher quality free public healthcare – there has been a reduction in waiting lists and waiting times, and out-of-stock medicines are a thing of the past.
To help young people in their educational pathways, SEC and MATSEC exam fees have been halved and fees will be completely removed in 2019.
This financial aid will especially help youth who do not have the necessary resources to further their education. In the near future, new schools will be built, more vocational subjects will be introduced for students and the one-tablet-per-child initiative will continue.
These are just some of the ‘social fruit’ reaped through our country’s economic success which has improved many people’s lives. However Malta’s economic gain should not, and is not the sole indicator of success. Indeed, according to the World Happiness Report released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations on March 14 (2018) just before World Happiness Day, which falls on March 20, Malta is the 22nd happiest country in the world from the 156 countries in the sample.
It has moved five places from its position in 2017 and eight places from its 2016 ranking. The report does not only measure GDP per capita to assess happiness but also includes healthy years of life expectancy, trust, generosity (measured by recent donations), freedom to make life decisions and social support which is measured by having someone you can rely on when times are hard.
In view of all this, Malta’s ranking is commendable because the country has not only achieved economic success (which is indisputable) and improved the lives of so many people through its social support measures but the people, when compared to other countries, are happy.
Overall, under the Labour government people’s quality of life and well-being has improved over the years, and is really something to be proud of and a truer measure of success.
Angelo Micallef, PN candidate
It is without a shadow of a doubt that every country strives to achieve economic success. In trying to achieve this target Malta has a number of natural disadvantages which it must overcome. Malta lacks any natural resources and does not have a head-start advantage in this sense. Its geographical location, an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, also means that it has a natural geographic barrier which may make international trade costlier in terms of the importation and exportation of goods.
Despite these natural hurdles, Malta is today one of the strong economic performers within the European Union. This is largely thanks to a policy shift that moved Malta away from the stagnant economic model of the 1980s to the services industry. It was the vision of successive Nationalist Party governments, coupled with much hard work from a great many individuals and entities that turned Malta into a services jurisdiction of choice.
Malta went from an island known simply for its rich history, the sun and the sea to an island that became a financial services player of the first magnitude. The thriving financial services sector opened the way for a dynamic gaming sector and, lately, the prospect of Malta becoming a blockchain hub. There is no denying that Malta’s economic success, thanks to the vision of turning our country into a services hub, has left positive economic results.
Who said it is all about money? Quality of life goes beyond the bank accounts
Yet to consider the economic results the be all and do all of a nation would not only be incorrect, it would be morally and politically wrong. Sadly, this is exactly what Labour is doing; just by following Labour’s media one would think that all of this country’s wrongs have been solved and settled thanks to a budget surplus.
All well and good that decades of careful financial planning have led to a budget surplus; but does this in any way mean that our country does not have a growing number of people at risk of poverty? Does the budget surplus mean that low-income earners are making ends meet without having to overwork tirelessly? Does the budget surplus mean that pensioners are enjoying the quality of life they deserve?
And who said it is all about money? Quality of life goes beyond bank accounts and encompasses a far wider spectrum of elements. What is money worth if the environment around us is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle? What is money worth if rather than fostering development we allow a situation of free-for-all over development, with detrimental consequences to future generations?
What is money worth if rather than preserving Malta’s beauty we insist on turning it into an uncontrollable crane and concrete jungle? This isn’t a matter of being against development. On the contrary, development is a necessary and key element in achieving success. This is about developing in a sustainable and sensible fashion and not in haphazard manner which will ultimately cause irreparable damage.
There is then the element of right and wrong. Is a nation that on paper and statistics is achieving economic success, a successful nation if it loses any sense of decency? Is losing the sense of justice, of right and wrong, a price worth paying for achieving positive credit ratings?
Should flashing the cash be enough to blind one to the rancid stench of corruption? Let us after all remember that with corruption, the success of one man, often enough, comes at the detriment of another. Should this dog-eat-dog world be the world we aspire to?
Economic gain is indeed important in measuring success; but it would be wrong economically, socially, politically and morally to make it the sole measure of success. Success should encompass a far wider spectrum than mere economical facts and figures.
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