A trust to run the opera house (2)

In the wake of Peter Apap Bologna's monumentally crass letter, might it not be a good idea to slightly alter the wording of one of Oscar Wilde's best known quotes to, "An accountant is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing"?

Since Mr Apap Bologna does not seem to count himself as belonging to the 'cognoscenti' or 'glitterati', he should stick to accountancy and keep his nose out of things that he admits he is not qualified to comment upon.

Mr Apap Bologna kindly lets us into a secret, namely, that "many cognoscenti and glitterati" (no less!) privately think the Prime Minister's idea of depriving Malta of a theatre for the performing arts makes "eminent sense". Is that really so? There has been very little public evidence of this. How is Mr Apap Bologna privy to the innermost private thoughts of the aforementioned cognoscenti and glitterati?

Culture and encouragement of talent is worth infinitely more than what is coldly calculated in terms of what is affordable and viable. And, when it comes to local talent, we compare very favourably with Rome, Milan, London, Paris, Berlin, or Vienna; thank you, Mr Apap Bologna. All that is missing is encouragement and suitable venues. Culture in Malta has already has its first philistine stab in the back. This was the summary assassination some years ago of FM Bronja. This marvellous radio station was Malta's only true cultural lifeline. At a few thousand liri per year, this radio station was considered too expensive to maintain. This time it was a minister behaving like an accountant and using price, not value, as a criterion.

Putting money above everything has already turned Malta into an architectural desert; let us not do the same with culture.