The name of Hans Kapiteyn will not immediately ring a bell with many Maltese. However, there is a cluster of Maltese farmers who in the 1970s were exporting flowers to London’s flower market in Covent Garden. This was achieved thanks to Kapiteyn’s pioneering project of training these vegetable growers to become highly competitive flower growers.
Kapiteyn liaised with the United Nations expert, Eric Le Tissier, who was attached to the Malta government experimental plant, which was under my responsibility. We arranged for the ministry of agriculture to subsidise the farmers’ initial infrastructural costs and the expenses to organise on-site training. In the first few years, Hans became a family friend not only to Eric and myself but also to all the new growers who became his clients.
At that time, Hans was running the fourth generation of a bulb-growing enterprise, which was one of the largest in Holland, if not the whole world. He came to Malta in the late 1960s and knocked on the door to my office. Through that door, a tall, smart, well-dressed, handsome man walked in. I reached out to greet him and realised he had a tough handshake and spoke perfect English with a sharp Dutch accent.
From the first moment we took to each other and an incredible lifelong friendship was sealed. We discussed how he could introduce his flower bulbs to Malta and start exporting fresh-grown, long-stem flowers. I knew that the biggest markets were in America and Japan and could not fathom how tiny Malta could compete. Hans pointed out that because of our weather, we could arrive in the marketplace before all the Northern European growers’ product.
For Hans, even the smallest pocket of any market was important, as long as a high standard was maintained.
I showed him around Malta’s main sights and introduced him to several farmers who could have become his potential clients. Hans immediately fell in love with Malta and the simplicity of the life of Maltese farming families.
When he first came to Malta, our tourism industry was in its infancy and his flower bulbs which, at first, he freely donated to Malta’s government, helped make our islands more beautiful.
He was also instrumental in introducing Malta’s greenhouse horticultural industry.
Since his first visit, Hans must have come to Malta practically every year, always in the first two weeks of June. As it happened this was also the time of his birthday. We spent precious quality time together and became inseparable family friends.
By this time, I had left government employment and, thanks to Hans’s encouragement, started a private landscaping business of my own.
I also visited Hans several times in Holland and even when not together, we phoned each other very frequently.
About two years ago, Hans had a massive stroke, from which he was recovering slowly. The last time we spoke, a few weeks ago, I found that his voice was already quite steady and his spirit somewhat high and I was so happy for him. Alas, my joy was shortlived because he suddenly passed away. He was 82 years old.
I wish that our Maltese farmers will get to know of his demise and remember him in their prayers because to them he was a friend and a brother. May he rest in peace. I have no doubt that we will meet again in God’s eternal gardens.