From St Julian's with love

The inauguration of the St Julian's promenade brings to an end months of intense work on an area that has for years been crying out for improvement. It is Malta's most popular area not only with the residents but also with the thousands of others who visit from other towns and villages and with the thousands of tourists who frequent the area.

We had planned to have the project in place before the Easter holidays and before summer sets in, and we managed in time. On Thursday, April 3, the Prime Minister inaugurated the project. A sculpture produced by Professor Richard England was also unveiled.

At a time when world news was dominated by live war reports, and where conflict tends to overshadow peace and harmony, we felt that it made sense to reflect on our most fundamental Christian value: that of love. The sculpture also complements the one created for the Sliema promenade, also by Richard England, entitled 'White Shadows', which depicts a family strolling along the promenade. White light and hence white shadows flow through the family cut outs in the marble and manifest themselves on the platform behind the sculpture.

The family is the most important cell in our society. It is the stronger for the love and solidarity that exists among its members. In St Julian's the idea was to expand further on the theme, progressing from family love to love of the community, of our own nation, and of the broader regional fora to which we belong.

The white shadows now become normal shadows and at around three o'clock in the afternoon, one can notice the word 'Love' displayed along the promenade. That explains why the sculpture portrays the word inverted. It is meant to create a reflection, the right way up, on the promenade as well as on the sea surface.

The whole new landscaped promenade is a gift to each individual of the Maltese community. Each and every one of us needs a nurturing space, a place to relax and build up positive emotions to enable us to face the difficulties of today's fast and complicated contemporary life.

While 'White Shadows' refers specifically to the collection of parents and children, and therefore invites us to unite the family group in both peace and love, the new LOVE sculpture, as the end piece of the promenade, extends this message even further from the unit of the family to the wider one of society in general.

The message here is for us to reflect on the word LOVE and its importance, especially wherever it is absent as a positive value. It becomes paramount to emphasise love as the source of goodness. Love needs to be spread, for, as Lao Tzu says, "he who loves does not dispute, he who disputes does not love".

Love, above all, is the essential ingredient that generates joy amid the complications and difficulties of contemporary life. We need to breathe 'love' in life. We need to be reminded that love melts away all evil. An anonymous saying states that "love cures people".

The main object of the sculpture set up at St Julian's is to remind us each morning to start the day with love in our hearts for whatever we tackle in our daily routine. Let us not forget that one of the most important Commandments in our faith calls upon us to "love thy neighbour as thy self".

The words of Robert Browning also come to mind: "Take away love and our earth is a tomb".

In a couple of months' time, St Julian's will be the hub of thousands upon thousands of persons who every evening flock to the area to frequent the promenade, the waterpolo clubs, bars, restaurants, political clubs, the band club, the coffee shops, and other leisure venues. It is a meeting point characterised by innovative ideas, young people, a sense of déjà vu, colour and merriment.

It will then be easier to comprehend how the new sculpture will blend perfectly into this setting and will become itself a popular meeting point as well as a photographed memoir, replacing a derelict bus shelter that used to occupy the same space rather unceremoniously.

As with all works of art, there will always be valid arguments for as well as against it. What was however never quite contemplated is that the sculpture becomes a target on the political scoring board during the electoral campaign that led to yesterday's general election! Perhaps its 'love' message did not go down that well with those who did their utmost to spread hatred and division.

What was even less comprehensible was the Opposition smirking openly about an accident that occurred during the finishing touches on the promenade. A tower crane ended up in the sea because the brakes gave way. Luckily no-one was hurt and there was no particular damage caused. Was the accident the result of negligence or over-enthusiasm of the operator? Or a mere technical failure? Whatever the case, it was merely an accident that did not affect in the slightest the splendour of the finished promenade or its inauguration.

I have always emphasised that the way to appreciate a finished job is to try to break it down into its various components. The same rule applies to a better appreciation of works of arts. In the case of the St Julian's promenade, one would do well to go through such an exercise.

It was not simply an exercise in repaving an area and get patted on the back for making the place look better but without producing a new quality product. It was a project that meant widening most of the area by creating balconies overlooking the sea, erecting columns from sea level as this was the only technical way of doing it in this area.

The project also meant creating a green belt for the planting of olive trees and flowers. Another feature was providing drip irrigation to ensure that the green belt will always remain green. Moreover, new decorative lamp posts were set up overlooking the sea, adding character to the entire area.

Fairy lights that were installed on the trees along the promenade are not being lit up only at Christmastime but have become a welcome and permanent feature. The project also involved the total reconstruction of the St Julian's waterpolo club, creating a new quay below the promenade, better access for persons with special needs, new railings and new street furniture.

The St Julian's promenade links up with the one in Sliema - producing a total of two and a half kilometres where pedestrians can enjoy their free time, where the family has been very much kept in mind as the real focal point and where all those walking along the promenade can benefit from an ensemble that is the result of having an eye for detail and a determination of putting all the pieces together.

This is ultimately a work of love that has been provided so that the community many benefit from a quality leap meant to foster a better environment.

To mark the inauguration of St Julian's promenade, an original composition by Marc England was also launched. If I may borrow a thought from its lyrics, "I want you to know that I will always be there for you."

I dedicate that thought to the St Julian's community, to which I am proud to belong. It is also a fitting tribute to our nation which needs our combined energies and resources to keep moving ahead as well as to rise to the new challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us.

As a country we have just been through ten weeks of non-stop campaigning, initially for the EU referendum and then for the general election. As the votes cast yesterday are being counted in anticipation of initial results later today, this is an appropriate time to ensure that while the will of the people will be respected by one and all, we can rejoice in the knowledge that we are capable of coming back together as one nation and as one people.

In that way we can demonstrate that the values of solidarity, love, unity and shared values are characteristics of which we can all be proud without distinction.

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