Visiting Malta for the holidays, I am welcomed by a new awful trend of gaudy Christmas villages at every corner of the island, with blaring music and blinding lights, like a version of Christmas on speed. Such attractions promote a soulless and capitalist Christmas, while traditional religious processions and the cultural industry were restricted due to COVID.
Even if Malta’s Christmas street decorations have always been kitsch and rudimentary, they are charming in their naiveté. Many Maltese flock to these attractions, failing to see them for what they are: showy commercial traps that do not retain any of the local character or Christmas spirit.
This is not dissimilar to failing to see our glitzy politicians for the aspirational social climbers they really are. Devoid of any honour and decency, they do not realise they are there to serve not to be served.
We celebrated Christmas following a succession of spicy scandals that confirm the continuity of Joseph Muscat’s sleazy legacy, including the culture of impunity, normalising self-serving corruption and blatant nepotism, as opposed to the promise of meritocracy sold to us.
One would have thought that, after such grave corruption at the heart of Castille, Robert Abela would have wanted to wipe the slate clean and redeem his government to clearly distinguish himself from his dodgy predecessor.
Muscat heralded an aspirational culture, showing off a glamorous surface hiding a hollow body, as he paraded a flashy lifestyle of Dubai trips, Petrus parties and shady chums.
When Muscat first appeared, I was incredulous that so many were fooled by his void pomp and the lies he blatantly fed his voters. He set the norm for today’s desensitisation to wrongdoing, as we lose track of the endless rot resulting from our politicians’ fragile egos, needing to validate themselves through material means.
Apart from the tabloid-style scandals involving Justyne Caruana and racy Rosianne, another frivolous scandal was the attempt by Malta Tourism Authority director Lionel Gerada at treating himself and his pals to a Christmas stay at the Phoenicia off people’s taxes, with the puerile excuse of offering “logistical support” to the Christmas fair.
This did not even gain him any concrete income but merely a luxury that perhaps makes him feel socially distinguished.
Such a poor example of ‘success’ actually disempowers people, sending the message that one needs to fool the system rather than be capable of advancing through hard work and skills. This government set a model of vacuousness, echoed in the rise of a new middle class, materially successful yet morally poor, making unsustainable profit from excessive corruption and a short-sighted economy and keen to show off its new wealth and social status but lacking the integrity to invest in ethical and intellectual self-advancement.
Labour thrives on uninformed voters who do not question its ways, do not know any better or selfishly turn a blind eye- Miriam Galea
Massimiliano Buzzaccarini Gonzaga’s letters, collected in the book In the Service of the Venetian Republic, confirms Malta’s uncelebrated history of piracy in the 18th century. The fact that we were colonised in our past may contribute to an inferiority complex and an aspirational nature justifying unorthodox ways of getting what we want.
Poverty and a disdain for it could be the root of an obsession with social climbing, valuing material gain that we’ve been deprived of, rather than having the luxury and means to pursue intangible wealth and values. Having been starved of power for so long, we indiscriminately jump at any opportunity to become richer or more powerful, much like small-towners stuffing their faces at all-you-can-eat buffets.
When we gained independence, we perhaps focused on rebuilding our material prosperity, without giving as much importance to haughtier pursuits such as our ethical development. Centuries of imposed obedience rendered us passive and stripped us of autonomy and independent thought, silencing our inner voice. We are still to question the status quo and become critical. Sadly, this also transfers to our politics, economy and lifestyle.
Our economic system is built on easy, fast and direct gain – the online gambling industry, construction and mass tourism. Our education is oriented towards parroting crammed information rather than a holistic approach.
Mere economic success is neither progress nor affluence. This is not what the future looks like, despite the government boasting of progress. True progressives are past the goal of mere material affluence and are looking rather at smarter, sustainable systems that are more socially inclusive, ecological and innovative.
Our focus on commercial gain stops us from valuing our cultural richness and natural beauty. We have transformed Valletta, formerly an elegant albeit sleepy cultural city, into a second version of Paceville, now that the latter has become completely depraved. We are allergic to nature in its original state and boast of ‘upgrades’ that flatten lush gardens into sterile slabs of concrete with piously designated turf sections, lest we soil our feet.
Normalising such low standards is convenient as it keeps people ignorant of what they should expect. People are kept happy through small favours and populist politics, such as the cannabis
legalisation introduced conveniently right before an election, while being robbed on a much larger scale.
The Labour Party thrives on uninformed voters who do not question its ways, do not know any better or selfishly turn a blind eye.
It is time to stop being so easily satisfied with stuffing ourselves in fancy restaurants, living in a sleek concrete box and sitting in our fancy car in traffic and start to respect ourselves enough to expect more from our politicians and, ultimately, from our own selves.
Miriam Galea is an artist and writer working in Brussels as a translator