Do we really know our identity?

It has been claimed that our heritage is special. And as a consequence our identity is uncommon. But, do we really know our identity?

Our heritage is so rich as to equal that of the leading nations. It is abundant in inverse proportion to the size of our islands. It is as vast and valuable as our population is the most dense in the world considering the size of our country.

It is true that it has not always been recognised as such. Yet it is also true that Melita, as Malta was known in ancient times, has two whole chapters devoted to the shipwreck on our coasts of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Yet the treasure trove of our prehistoric and early Christian glory has been known fairly recently. In fact not more than a few centuries.

Even at present there is still quite a lot to be learnt. Much research work is awaiting scholars to discover the rich mine of information to be found in our Bibliotheca and in the Cathedral Museum library - besides the National Archives.

Roman road discovered

More excavations will uncover new riches of our heritage. For example, there are two amateur archaeologists who have discovered something as yet unknown from Roman times. Their work is not yet finished. They are continuing to uncover the remains of the Roman road on Xemxija Hill. Their work, by their own admission, is far from ready. They are continuing to uncover the remains of the road and possibly the foundations of a nearby villa or small town. They envisage preparing a heritage trail with more than 18 points, so far known.

We are yet nowhere near knowing all there is to know of Roman times. Even what has been discovered throughout the ages is not sufficiently known by the people to appreciate the treasure of our heritage. A more horrible fact is the senseless vandalism of three men who threw boulders and rocks in the discovered Punic burial place. Their reason for being so horribly negative is that the tomb is on land they hold by right of enphyteusis. The Heritage Act is quite clear. These men have no right to destroy or desecrate the national heritage. The case has been reported to the police with all available details. Yet so far nothing has been done in due process of the law in this respect..

On site learning

Learning history, geography and botany from textbooks is not enough. Subject rooms with scale models help, naturally. But these do not substitute a hands-on or a visit to a historical site, to a physical geographical feature and to searching for and collecting flowers.

When will curriculum advisers wake up to the fact that history, geography and ecology of the Maltese Islands form integral parts of our heritage? And that heritage is what forms our identity? When will they realise that nothing is better education - as opposed to schooling and learning by rote - than actual visits to what provides us with our identity and special character? And if it comes to that, not a solitary one during a stiudent's life at school or college?

A case in point. Russian students take time for a monthly half-day visit to museums and historical sites, art galleries and music academies. This is the sure way of knowing one's country and of making the student sensitive to and appreciative of the motherland's heritage. Being sensitive means being protective. All these factors lead to pride in national identity.

Knowledge of identity

What makes our identity worthy of note? Do we realise that ours is not a copy of any other European people? And that it is this difference and variety of identities that makes Europe the distinguished and distinctive continent?

It is, of course, our language, history, religion, traditions and life-skills that are characteristic of the people of Malta and Gozo. It is acknowledged that Maleth - as Malta was known in ancient times - was inhabited by people from across the sea. Our language is Semitic in origin. Another proof of immigration. Still it borrows, adapts, sometimes adopts words, phrases, proverbs from other languages. So does every other living language. This is the very vitality of language. No other people speak Maltese, yet our language has been accorded recognition as an official language of the European Union. Here is proof of our special identity.

Neolithic temples

Our free-standing neolithic temples are unrivalled; 7,000-year-old Ggantija is much older than Stonehenge. Even older than the Pyramids, These temples form part of our identity. They constitute the oldest known culture in the Mediterranean. They are perhaps our most precious heritage.

Yet how many schoolchildren of past and present generations have visited these Neolithic temples? How can they be sensitive to the engineering and architectural genius of our ancient first known forebears? How often are students taken to visit the bastions, fortifications and the baroque buildings of the Knights of St John?

Once we're at this stage of questioning, why is history treated as a Cinderella in primary and secondary schools?

How on earth, on considering the fate only of this subject, can our past and present students be conscious of their heritage and consequently of their special identity?