Sunday marks five years since Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated, and Malta is quite a different country now from what it was back then.  

Or is it? 

We headed to Valletta to see what people made of that murder and its impact. 

While some older people were willing to stop and share their opinion, almost all young and middle-aged professionals refused to comment.

Some had the patience to stop and listen to the question, but once they realised the question was about Daphne Caruana Galizia’s case, they said they preferred not to comment and walked away.

The moment they heard the late journalist’s name, some remembered they were late for a meeting or that someone was waiting to meet them. They hurried off, away from the discomfort of publicly saying what they think.

Surprisingly, students and young people were more willing to stop and speak their mind than most others.

Anyone who has ever attempted a vox pop knows it is very unusual for young people to entertain a microphone and a camera randomly pointed at their faces as they go about their lives. They usually rush out of the way to avoid them.

But not this time. We even came across a couple of young teens who stopped and opened up despite being late to catch the bus.

Most of those who took the time to speak said they feel nothing has really changed since Caruana Galizia's assassination. The country might have even taken a turn for the worse, some said.

Others said they plan on leaving the country when they are old enough.

It was clear that, in general, respondents do not regularly follow court developments related to the Caruana Galizia case.

The assassination did not affect them personally, most said, nor do they feel the country is less safe after her murder.

But they were not too optimistic about the future and do not feel the country learned anything from the assassination, either. 

On the other hand, a group of women said they could not really link Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder to politics before a court ruled that they are, in fact, linked.

And a couple insisted that the country is fussing too much about the murder.

Nobody should be killed, but why don’t other murdered victims get the same sort of attention, they asked?

This vox pop was carried out before George and Alfred Degiorgio pleaded guilty to assassinating Daphne Caruana Galizia.