In recent years, the concept of leisure has received considerable attention by sociologists, educationists, political scientists and even economists. Since World War II, many theories of leisure have been revamped or developed with the common denominator indicating that leisure is discretionary time to be spent as one chooses.
The word leisure originates from the Latin word licere, meaning to be permitted, thus implying free time. The connection between leisure and education practised in ancient Greece becomes very apparent with the Greek word skole, meaning leisure.
This word also referred to places where scholarly discussions and physical culture were held. One such place was the grove next to the Temple of Apollo in Athens, known as lyceum with the curriculum being physical culture in the gymnasium (in many central European countries it means schools preparing students for the University), literature mainly based on the epic works of Homer and the poems of Pindar with his odes to the Olympic Games, as well as music, meant “to soften the muscles”.
It has to be pointed out that to the refined Athenians well-served by slave labour, work was ignoble, boring and monotonous. Leisure was so central to them that they called work ascolia, the absence of leisure.
Past centuries dominated by highly-moralistic modes of behaviour and a rigid Christian ethic of ora et labora (prayer and work) tended to denigrate leisure, particularly physical culture, as idleness or, worse, as the work of the devil.
In the modern world, the Church reveals a totally different attitude as the saintly Pope Paul VI calls sport “a school of virtue” and the incumbent Pope Francis I presents his active sporting life as a metaphor of Christian life.
In the Maltese islands, many church institutions have been the catalysts for the promotion of sports as active leisure. Unfortunately, a small segment of our society still tends to have a very narrow and repressive view of active leisure and recreation, subscribing to the idea that work is exclusively the most important element of life.
We have recently witnessed a sudden realisation for a better quality of life mainly brought about by an increasing number of frightening deficiencies in our everyday existence, deficiencies that put at risk the quality of our life, even life itself with rampant respiratory diseases, alarming obesity figures and their attending repercussions.
Leisure has grown markedly for most people, except for the workaholic
It is now being increasingly realised that man’s existence consists not only of working, sleeping, producing and consuming. There is also the natural urge for personal development, particularly through active leisure like sport and other similar pursuits.
In our industrialised society, leisure has grown markedly for most people, except for the workaholic. Thanks to the advanced mechanical processes in industry, agriculture and the computerised service fields, the production capacities of workers have increased dramatically with the result that the working week has shrunk considerably in the last four decades.
Furthermore, technology has also re-moved much of the toil from our daily life by providing so many labour-saving devices for the home like the washing machine. The expansion of social services in the post-war period, like free hospitalisation and schooling, adequate pensions and other benefits, has given a big boost to leisure.
In view of the dawning leisure-time society, sport is no longer of secondary importance but belongs to the important fundamentals of life. It is most gratifying to note that leisure -time facilities provided by the State and meant for active leisure are no longer considered a privilege but a right and an expectation. We have only to ensure that they are accessible to all at all times without any hindrance.
It is interesting to note that, because of Malta’s geographical size and unique family pattern, leisure takes a much wider and delicate dimension. The intimate structure of the Maltese traditional family within the confines of a small island has the capacity of giving our young people a strong moral influence but it also has its weakness.
Our small island makes all recreational venues easily accessible with the obvious result that youngsters have more time on their hands, Furthermore, I venture to add, because of our generous family set-up they are spared the worries, hassle and expenses normally incurred by their counterparts overseas. With more time on their hands and more money in their pockets, our youths are more prone to boredom with its resulting consequences.
Another added factor when considering leisure in a small island is the mentality that blindly follows the social mores of the prevalent films or the international media. In the circumstances, it is important to point out that, particularly in sport-oriented leisure, one should not only consider the traditional sports but also various opportunities for broad-based participation in sports programmes like rambling, camping, back-packing, trekking, swimming, sailing and orienteering.
Ideally, youngsters should be introduced at an early age to lifetime sports, like tennis, table tennis and swimming, activities that can still be practised later on in life, not forgetting children with special needs.
At all levels, whether as leisure-oriented sports or competitive encounters, sport is a bearer of cultural identity, enhanced in the last decades with the advances of information technology.
With the number of active participants in sports running into billions, we cannot ignore its therapeutic and social values. Sport regulates social behaviour and creates a feeling of belonging, which, in turn, leads to a more inclusive society embracing the whole spectrum of a community.
It is therefore essential to give youth a chance to participate in international sports festivals, tournaments and exchanges, opportunities that are unrivalled in promoting international understanding, one of the main tenets of the founder of the modern Olympic Games in 1894.
I was recently captivated by the eulogy to “sport as theatre” written by the great German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht in 1926, which I want to share with you: “I believe that there is such a wealth of subjects worth seeing, characters worth admiring and lessons worth learning that once a good sporting spirit sets in one would have to build theatres, if they did not already exist”.