Early morning ferries are a good thing for the soul. Amid the stillness and peacefulness, reading the latest news, you can allow your mind to wander around. Away from unpleasant thoughts of leaving behind loved ones for another day’s work in circumstances that will go straight into the history books.
You wonder why, amid all the uncertainty, we rushed to our supermarkets to grab every piece of toilet paper in sight. If that is a sure sign of where our priorities lie, then we have reasons to be really worried. On the other side, you read about and notice commercial operators that jumped at the opportunity and unjustifiably inflated prices of stock items and marketed others as proper Trojan horses. Shame was the first item to go out of stock.
My mind then took me to our collective inability to find common ground for the common good. You notice people that are trigger happy shame ‘restriction-breakers’ on Facebook but found no issue in sneaking out and breaching those same restrictions with petty self justifications. Apparently it’s okay to just expect others to make sacrifices.
Then there are the others. The others I will not mention by name. The others that were making ‘hay while the sun shines’ and are the first to ask for state assistance, ready to offer their minimly paid employees on the mizbeach as long as they keep living their Hollywood lifestyle. Pity Hollywood is exactly 10,812 kilometres away.
Like the essential pepper spread on your favorite dish, racism is always lurking just beneaththe surface
And of course, what’s a debate without a pinch of racism. Like the essential pepper spread on your favorite dish, racism is always lurking just beneath the surface, always ready to pop its ugly head. Possibly a consequence of repeated institutional failures, consequences of actions that were not followed, promises that were not kept, utopian ideals that didn’t work. European superpowers that failed to follow up on their democracy bringing bombs and regime changes, now expecting minnows like Malta and Lampedusa to pick up the pieces on the southern borders.
And of course, what’s a story these days without a bit of fake.
The transmission of speculative, creative news these days is made easier with the many tools available at our fingertips. Just like that nuclear button which stands too close for comfort, to the King of Fake across the Atlantic.
A testament to the failure of our educational system over a number of decades is the lack of critical thinking that makes one confident in sharing anything that comes his way, wearing the expert hat in any conversation, from economic to medical. No wonder some believe we’re the centre of the world.
And then, why not throw in some class hatred. Today it’s the Air Malta pilots and their fat bank accounts. Weren’t these the ‘Pride of Malta’ up to some time back? All this as we conveniently clap and sing the praises to our health heroes, those same heroes that some used to generically tag with the ‘moħħom fil-privat’.
At last we recognise the efforts they make to keep us safe, realising that it’s not normal to work 24/7, always ready to rush in to work in case someone needs your intervention, not normal to isolate yourself from your family for long periods to care for others, not normal to put your life at risk to protect the nation.
Those that know me know that I’m allergic to extremist union antics, but this is not the right time for paybacks, this is not the right time to reach for the dagger to hit back at past grievances. I urge both sides to seek compromise, a recovery plan that is fair and reasonable considering the most extraordinary of circumstances.
We simply cannot afford to throw our best, our pride, our ability to fly high again under the populism bus.
The last time I checked, it wasn’t illegal or unethical to cash in on your skills, your expertise and your academic achievements.
Our actions of today will impact our recovery plans of tomorrow. We just need to be decent before anything else.
The Gozo Channel ramp guy with his surgical mask brings me back to my senses, this is the COVID-19 world, I need to focus back on the favourite subject of many. But why should I?
I just need to follow the advice of our competent leaders, the unrivalled health authorities. I have no reason to doubt their allegiance to make Malta run proud and healthy again, at the earliest. I’ll play my part; play yours.
Ivan Falzon, CEO of Water Services Corporation