An island with both givers and takers

One more time Malta came into focus of European news regarding its policy and its citizens' culture regarding nature and men's relationship to God's creatures. Let me state my opinion up front: Killing birds or trapping birds is wrong, so anyone looking for reassurance for his or her point of view on the subject should know what to expect. What I would like to share is a little different.

I'm a foreigner who choose Malta where to live not out of economic necessity or because it is a place to retire, but because I lived in so many lands and among so many cultures that I developed a list of necessities and a list of importance that one should expect from his/her place under the sun. Malta came at the top of a very short list. To put it more simply, the country is populated with more givers than takers.

It is inherent in people's (most people) nature to be pleasant and easy going and to be a giver. But there is another part of Maltese culture that seems to be based on the old pirate days when one of the ways of making a living was to tax anything and anyone that come across (a bit like the Swiss) the country's waters or borders. I think the urge to kill or to trap a migratory bird must be inherent in this (not very attractive) part of the Maltese culture - the taker's culture.

Still I'm an optimist and I have very high hope for my chosen country and of its wonderful people.

Please givers do not let us down.