Napoleon Bonaparte once said that conquering Malta was “worth any price”. Our ancestors made sure it was worth any price as well, to defend our island and our faith, as Maltese men, women and children fought side by side with the Knights of St John, warded off the Ottomans and kept our Christian faith.

Had, in the Great Siege of 1565, the Turkish invaders succeeded in conquering us, today Malta would be another version of a Muslim country, plagued by their never-ending tribal feuds.

Centuries later we have steered our island nation in the right direction. Today, our strategically located island is a free country with booming tourism, a good economy, low unemployment and our second language is the international language of the world. “Worth any price” indeed.