Malta is paradise. I know I’ve said this often but so what if I repeat myself? Sounds good and we are in the season of jollity and stuffing so my little repetition—which needs and must be repeated—won’t go amiss.

After all Christmas comes every year and every year most of us promise we will not over-indulge in food and drink and sugary stuff. And we do it and re-do it year in year out. I repeat life is all about repetition.

That Malta is paradise I have no doubt. Our life here is glorious. We even had the sun shine on Christmas Day. We are supremely blessed. If I was fundamentalist enough in my ways I’d hazard a guess that we are so supremely blessed because we are one of the last true super bastions of Catholicism. But if that were so then a few other countries and cities would be smitten out of existence. Anyone who even dares contemplate same-sex marriage would be bolted post haste to a Sodomite and Gomorrahish end. And the God we believe in walks in different ways. Or so we hope and think He does.

Back to Malta being a paradise. No, hold on let me interrupt myself again—surely I will not mind and the editor will nod his disapproval but let me get on with it. Except for a few visionaries, saints and assorted oddballs few have been to heaven and come back to tell us what lies ahead after we kick that proverbial bucket. Not the gnashing of teeth and eternal damnation—that sounds so terrible I’ve been converted to disbelieve in hell wholeheartedly.

But even in heaven, which I believe in fervently, one can’t be unreservedly sure of the conditions. If no one ever went and reported how can we know what goes on? My fear is that even there they might have a few slight problems. Could they have a leaking roof or a celestial recession? Traffic jams and obesity? Fat angels who cannot sing or play the harp? Do they get banished if they sing out of tune? What if there are some angelic malcontents who are sent packing because of their vices?  

Malta, with all its warts, is a great place to live in. L-istrina was a sure sign of how good, how generous we are and how we forget all our piques and oligarchies and manage to put politics and racism aside and give a bit to massively help those rather less fortunate than us.

2012 wasn’t a great year for us with regard to politics and maturity. We sounded more like a Lilliput trying hard to lose our keel and go under like some countries near to us are doing. But this message of hope—even if just in a monetary way—should be a good ray that politicians will or should rise above the misery and the petty fighting and launch us into a rather more peaceful year.

Congrats Malta—you did us all proud. I know it’s been said before by loads and loads but I really don’t care if I repeat it ad nauseam—we were generous beyond belief and this to me proves we live in quite a good place.

Have a great ending to the year and here’s hoping you all have a fantastic New Year filled with love, laughter, fun and health. If your health—or anyone’s health close to you—is failing I do wish you all a speedy recovery or at least less suffering.

To all the ones I have bored and bugged, the ones I have insulted, the ones I have misquoted, the ones I have annoyed with my views and my jokes and especially to all the ones who want to gouge my eyes out because I have never mentioned them—have a wickedly wonderful year.