Who doesn’t like a bit of luxury? Who doesn’t enjoy a little bit of pampering, cocooning oneself in a blissful environment, treating oneself to a fine dinner, surrounding oneself in opulence. Et cetera – you know the drill and the marketing glib.
Well, it seems we Maltese know it too well, as luxury shops, starry restaurants and boutique everything have popped up everywhere. Why, luxury has even reached Comino.
I have always maintained that our country needs more quality tourism: certainly, a bit of tourism by numbers – as in, the more the merrier – has its merits (cheaper to host and easier to arrange and satisfy) but, for a time, it was becoming quite evident that an unhealthy imbalance had pervaded the tourism sector, mainly thanks to the surge in low-cost travel.
The plethora of establishments catering for the luxury lifestyle that have cropped up on the island, dotting it with golden promises of lavish experiences, have corrected that trend and have provided venues for the affluent – whether these choose to visit rests on many other factors, of course, for who wants to spend money (and time) in filth and concrete?
In any case, assuming the rich do visit the island to spend their hard-earned money made toiling away in their fields and assuming they come here to actually spend and not buy the country out and price out the locals, the country stands to gain.
As long as the whole population reaps the rewards, as long as the money trickles down to the rest of the populace, then luxury tourism has great benefits in the long run.
If you know where this is going, it is only partly the fault of my predictability as an author. Mainly, it is because it is the same old story that is being told.
Firstly, we have to contend with the pitch and the marketing mumbo jumbo, not to mention the famous bait-and-switch tactic. The wise – or those who have wised-up – know too well how it goes. The initial plan proposes lush gardens which make the Hanging Gardens look like a little courtyard. Why, the greenery is so rich and varied that it might possibly bring back the Dodo. Give it a century and the high-rise tree tops would probably push evolution in bringing back the dinosaurs.
That’s the virtual, computer-generated imagery, of course. Then comes the real deal: a couple of trees impressive only in the realm of bonsai. So much for a new world wonder.
Then it’s the trickling: if any happens, it is so light and serene, that nobody notices. It is certainly no avalanche of prosperity for the majority: the floodgates do not open and the populace is left to look from a distance, hoping that some crumbs literally fall by the wayside as the luxurious gorging takes place literally on their shores.
Perhaps it is best to leave places like Comino untouched- Kenneth Charles Curmi
Which brings us to the real point I would like to address.
For whom the donkey cheese? Certainly not for the Maltese.
In other countries, luxury spills over from its golden chalice held firmly by the ever-thirsty wealthy and the financial rewards are felt throughout the country. Switzerland is peppered with luxury watches shops – quite obnoxiously so, to be honest, at least in that most insipid and dull of capitalistic monuments which is Geneva. At least, a good number of locals do afford to shop at the high-end of things, at least once in their lifetimes.
Austria’s capital has its fair share of luxury shops, including haute horology, as well as fine-dining restaurants, swanky bars and cigar rooms. Once again, there are a good number of locals who actually afford the stuff on offer: plenty of Austrians eating oysters, drinking champagne and smoking their perfecto as they check their expensive wrists for that important meeting they don’t really have.
What about Malta, however? So far, I cannot imagine the locals actually enjoying any of the luxurious overabundance, when wages are so low that one can barely afford a decent living, let alone a luxurious one.
The latest reports on wealth and how it is distributed on the island, as well as the increasing inflation and cost of living, with the only constant being the paltry, miserable wages, seem to confirm my suspicions, with many Maltese clearly struggling to make ends meet, let alone splurge on luxuries.
I realise that my lament is quite redundant: after all, we have a socialist government whose main interest is seeing the ordinary worker strive and succeed and which will certainly do its utmost to defend their rights. These are bona-fide Socialist stalwarts, after all, most likely writing their mail using typewriters to save energy and donating any extra income they may inadvertently be recipients of to all kinds of causes meant to bolster the plight of the working class.
Yet, I am a needlessly sceptical being, and I cannot help but worry about the state of my country and where it is heading. It’s as if one is on a ship or, rather, a tiny, flimsy and very unequipped boat, looking out on the horizon, helplessly seeing it heading straight into a raging storm. The captain on the other hand is still looking for his glasses, which he actually forgot at home.
Somehow, I feel that perhaps it’s best to stay ashore till we find proper spectacles, lest we become a spectacle ourselves. Perhaps it is best to leave things as they are, to leave places like Comino untouched.
That is why I always treat any proposal for a new luxury whatever with lavish scepticism. A questioning attitude is one I strongly suggest people adopt in such circumstances and, judging by comments on this newspaper, I am confident a good number do. One should always ask questions, even when the answer is obvious: who stands to truly benefit from this supposed ‘improvement’, who will fatten their pockets with this ‘progress’ and ‘embellishment project’?
For whom the luxury malls? Certainly not for the proles.
Strangely, I feel that, perhaps, Comino would have been better off kept as a bathing place and pig farm.
Wait, come to think of it, perhaps it will still be.
Kenneth Charles Curmi is the former national representative of the Parliament of Malta to the European Parliament and the EU institutions.