Maybe it's because I'm over the hill, actuarily speaking, but Bondi+ last Tuesday struck a chord.

I don't mean that the speakers were particularly impressive or that the facts made known were all that earth-shatteringly new: way back when I was working with the Malta Employers' Association, known as the Employers' Association because of Mintoff's wilful assumption that he could decide who may use the word "Malta" (L'etat, c'est moi, hey?) I had crunched a few numbers and even an arithmetical apostate such as I could see that our population is aging dramatically.

That said, the show did a service to the nation by bringing out this stark fact, thirty years on.

In a few years, the population over 75 will double, meaning that the strain on the care sector will increase dramatically. Current facilities depend, sadly, on what can euphemistically be called rapid turnover to free up spaces for applicants, and with this turnover decreasing in speed, the increase in applicants will, quite simply, not be accomodated. The end result will be further strain on medical facilities which will be called upon to act as - if you'll forgive the strength of the image - dumping grounds for relatives who have outlived their welcome or similar strain on families, aging themselves, who do not think it is right to dump Gramps or Nanna on the meagre mercies of the State.

And the situation has been made worse because the traditional taker-up of slack in the area of care, the Church, is itself feeling the pinch and cutting back on its resources.

I haven't seen the people who should be planning for these things doing much of that. Yes, we get squeals of "shock, horror" when comfy pillows run short (and a dearth of coverage when it is shown that Coleiro Preca wasn't fully accurate) and multiple whines when twisted ankles are given less priority than victims of vehicle smashes, but apart from it being suggested that we should adopt a grannie, there haven't been much by way of concrete suggestions.

I'm constantly told that my life-style will make this not much to worry about as far as I am concerned, but on the off-chance, I'd really like to be able to rely on the State, that has been so eager to take my financial contributions to the coffers over the years, being there for me.