Our national Chihuaha complex

When the American pop star Kelis, visiting Malta for the MTV concert, posted a remark about the country on her Facebook page, she sparked a storm of comments by aggrieved locals. The singer's remark was innocuous and quite complimentary.

She wrote: "Malta is beautiful! Food so far is not amazing but it's so glorious here I will just drink good wine and eat bread." These were the first impressions - and overall positive ones - of a first-time visitor to the country.

There is no evidence of any intended slight, cultural superiority or dismissal of a nation's gastronomic heritage. Kelis' comment was simply an observation about her experience so far.

As such, I would have expected it to pass unmarked and uncommented as do so many similar utterances by pop singers and other minor celebrities (Jessica Simpson about the wonders of cupping or Jennifer Aniston about her baby food diet).

However, the good denizens of Malta did not take this affront to our glorious culinary heritage lying down. Armed to the teeth with their artillery of clichés, absurd non-sequiturs and woeful spelling abilities, they took to the keyboards to disabuse Kelis of any notion that she may have had about Maltese food not being uniformly excellent and delicious.

First bat went to two men who both said that Kelis should go back to her diet of burgers and chips and junk food. There they were happy with their alarmingly outdated stereotypes, letting the world observe their utter ignorance. Do they imagine that it's only Americans who over-indulge in junk food? Don't they know that Maltese children top the obesity stakes? That doesn't come from grazing on broccoli and snacking on strawberries.

More to the point, do they think that American cuisine is solely made up of burgers, chips and the occasional hot dog? Of course it's not. The 50 states all have different immigrant influences which make for a wonderfully varied cuisine which does not consist solely of gristle and fat.

The 'Americans are brought up on burgers, hot dogs and fries' refrain was taken up by a woman who peppered her comment with exclamation marks (a sure sign of poor writing style) and lamented the fact that Kelis could not partake of good Maltese home cooking which was the best in the world.

That may be the case, but short-term visitors and tourists may not have the opportunity to sit down for a family meal, so there's a lot to be said for having restaurants and bars which serve decent food.

Another eloquent person simply told Kelis to leave if she didn't like it. And someone else tried his hand at sarcasm, wondering if Kelis' taste in food had been influenced by the chef at the Waldorf Astoria or by the junk food which she could grab while on tour. He also exhorted the singer to stuff it and just go up there and do her thing as that is what she had been invited for and not for her culinary expertise.

That last statement reveals breathtaking levels of ignorance and arrogance. First, there's the totally unsubstantiated assumption that pop singers have never experienced the fine dining experience and cannot recognise good food when they taste it. Then there's the way that the commenter dismisses Kelis' comment because she's a singer, and singers should stick to singing and nothing else.

Well, I've got news for Mr Stuff It. Every visitor to Malta, every diner who goes to a restaurant on the island, has a profession or a job other than that of expert gourmand. That is no bar to their voicing their opinion and criticising the mediocre meals, the indifferent service, and the exorbitant prices that they may come across from time to time.

If the people in the restaurant and hospitality industry were serious about improving their product and service, they would be taking note of the criticism coming their way and strive to change things. Instead of that, we get the "shoot the messenger" reaction with angry and incoherent ravings directed at the person making the criticism.

I have noticed this kind of aggressive reaction mostly in cases where we perceive that the national honour is being affronted or anything Maltese is being criticised by a foreigner.

That's when we whip ourselves into a misguided faux patriotic fervour and snap and bitch at the offender. I think it's a case of national Chihuahua syndrome or Napoleon complex, which is the term used to describe a personality complex which consists of aggression and false machismo to compensate for short height and feelings of inferiority.

The people who yap and snap so loudly when confronted by criticism of anything Maltese feel they have to respond in this over-the-top manner to make up for the country's insignificance on the world stage.

They cannot come to terms with the fact that others may not regard Malta as the epitome of excellence in all fields and yelp away loudly.

In so doing they only reveal how ridiculous they are, which has always been the fate of Chihuahuas they so resemble.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt