Thinking of public education and the urgent need for change in the aftermath of the disastrous FAFT own goal scored by Malta’s misleaders, the country could do worse than ponder the values and principles derived from the South African traditional philosophy and practice of Ubuntu. 

While not directly transferable, it has much to recommend as Ubuntu stands in stark contrast to Malta’s pervasive culture of criminality, social hostility and unregulated greed. It also may offer a roadmap of alternative perspectives and frameworks to animate discussion among younger age cohorts not fully wedded to Malta’s own traditional tribalisms.

At the core of such a discussion is the term Ubuntu, most popularly described by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as meaning ‘I am, because you are’. In its extended Zulu form – 'Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu' – it reminds us that a person is a person, not alone but through others.   

Tutu described a person with Ubuntu as being ‘open and available to others, affirming of others ... has a proper self-assurance’. The Ubuntu such a person exhibits derives from being part of a greater whole – a value that is now routinely viewed in Malta as naïve, ‘soft’ and not in keeping with popular ‘macho’ culture. 

With its roots in traditional African philosophy, Ubuntu incorporates the concepts of common humanity, oneness, ‘you and me both’, the spirit as well as the ability of working towards a set of common goals. 

Another dimension of Ubuntu is that, at all times an individual essentially represents her/his people and this requires that individual to behave according to the highest standards and to practice and protect the virtues his or her society professes.

The relevance to Malta in current times is obvious except to the willfully blind or compromised.

In terms of democracy, Ubuntu implies the empowerment of a people to actively practice democracy rather than to simply talk of it. It suggests the ability to think critically and independently rather than robotically. It places considerable emphasis on acting responsibly and not just avariciously.

In the context of transparency and accountability, Ubuntu implies a willingness to use power with due care and consideration for all and not simply self. It suggests the desire to broaden the base of power rather than to narrow and control it in the interests of a particular agenda or a political party and its disciples.

Ubuntu is built on ensuring participation and not just observation; the empowering of all groups and not just some. It suggests the ongoing building of not just a society but also a culture of dialogue, listening and hearing before acting. 

This in stark contrast to our dominant political agenda of monopolising, silencing and controlling.

Ubuntu is also about emphasising collectivism and social relationships including ownership of opportunity, responsibility and challenge in place of giving sole primacy to material things. It is about rejecting the negative mantra ‘but the economy is doing well’.

In his eulogy of Nelson Mandela, Barrack Obama noted that we are all bound together in ways that are often invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity and that we realise ourselves by sharing ourselves with others and by caring for those around us.

Such an approach to life is now officially ridiculed and dismissed in Malta.

Ultimately, Ubuntu reminds us about the essence of being human and remembering that we can only be human through and in association with other human beings.

The philosophy, ideas and arguments within the concept of Ubuntu should matter greatly to all who live here presently as we observe our society being driven up a cul-de-sac.

Concepts such as Ubuntu offer us an alternative way of being and doing. It reminds us that things don’t have to be this way.