“A kaleidoscope of pluses and minuses, the conventional, the odd, the enchanting, the ugly, the profane and the sacred that is us. Whether in motley plumes or tattered rags, we wear our young nationhood with justified pride.”
That is what the late Michael Refalo, then minister for youth and the arts, wrote in the foreword to a book titled Malta: Culture and Identity, in 1994.
The initiative launched by President George Vella in 2021 and being repeated this year – the national conference and survey themed State of the Nation – is a good way to establish what that ‘kaleidoscope’ looks like today.
Having been the first, the 2021 survey served to indicate where we were. The second one should start to give an indication of trends and better highlight the way forward.
The president should be commended for taking such an initiative. Still, interviewing people, compiling the data and authoring a report of the findings is the easier part. The going gets tougher in trying to put the results to good use.
If problems are identified – and, judging by the first survey, they will be – how will the country and the various stakeholders move towards solving them? There is no point in having nice words and elaborate PR presentations but no meaningful action.
The president will give his full backing to the findings. But he must go further than that: he must then use his moral authority to press various institutions to work towards a state of the nation that we long for and deserve.
Launching this year’s initiative, the president explained that his intention is to identify, through the survey being held, those areas in which we lag as a nation, with the aim of further improving the quality of life, and not just economically.
In fact, the national survey is aimed at better understanding society by identifying the people’s views on topics like politics, religion, family life and other aspects that shape the nation.
Some may argue that such surveys only tell us what we already know. That may be the case but the fact is they provide scientific backing to what we ‘already know’. If properly interpreted, they can give us a solid, updated portrait of the Maltese character in all its facets.
That should then help policymakers and experts draw up a road map for the nation.
This would be in line with the president’s efforts to look into ways in which the country can improve its social and political relations and foster national unity.
The steps that follow the second national survey should ideally go beyond those taken last year if the full potential of the exercise is to be achieved. First of all, the results should be compared with last year’s to find out whether there have been any changes in trends and, then, with the input of professional experts – not the rhetoric of politicians – the whys and wherefores can be determined.
After the results of the first survey were published, Times of Malta had sought the input of a handful of experts and political science professor Godfrey Pirotta was spot on when he remarked: “We are not studying the ‘why’. We always look at what is wrong but never why this is.”
Seeking the ‘why’ would better illuminate the way ahead that would need to be planned following the second survey.
The president’s initiative is a great opportunity to get people to rally behind causes and not just political parties.
The new data can chart the way forward for the whole nation.