National events, such as Sunday’s celebration of the island’s 50th anniversary of independence, stir emotional feelings. But as the thrill of the festivities wears off, what often remains makes a mockery of the people’s pride in their country.
This may at first appear as a shocking indictment but there is enough evidence to show that the pride so openly exhibited at such national events is not matched by civic sense.
Many tend to go overboard in the use of superlatives when they talk about the island’s beauty and heritage. This logically presupposes that they care as much about the physical state of their country as they care about their own homes. Unfortunately, most often the opposite is the case.
Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna made a good analogy when, to drive the point home, he said that for the commendable monuments we built after independence, ranging from the university to the infrastructure, there are other monuments that showed the inability of our politicians to promote civic sense among the people.
He mentioned two in particular: the collection of boathouses that were illegally built over the years at Armier and Magħtab, the dumping ground that, for years, epitomised sheer recklessness in waste disposal. It is now being rehabilitated.
In bringing up these two scars on the landscape, the bishop touched a raw nerve among those who, for years, have been drawing attention to the growing disregard to civic sense and true pride in the country.
Attempts by the two main political parties, when in government, to legalise the boathouses in some form or other only help to add salt to the wound that has been festering for so long. This shows how hard the country has yet to work to inculcate a greater sense of responsibility among politicians and the people in general towards their country.
Mgr Scicluna remarked that the way some people talked made one think that many still thought Malta was a colony. He remarked: “If one steals from the State, one does not consider it to be robbing oneself or one’s children but, rather, someone who is far off.” The bishop is, of course, correct. Fifty years after independence, many continue to think it is not immoral to steal land or benefits from the State, or not to pay taxes.
The remark brings back memories of the time before independence when it was considered okay to steal anything that belonged “to the Queen”.
It used to be said that soon after a ship docked to be spruced up at HM Dockyard in Malta, many wooden balconies of houses in surrounding areas would invariably sport a new coat of paint, the same kind used on the ship.
Former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff did his utmost to change the ‘colonial’ mentality of the dockyard worker but did not succeed.
Mgr Scicluna remarked: “We achieve true independence when there is no dichotomy in our civic sense between the citizen and the State but, rather, when our civic sense leads us to behave more responsibly with respect to the State. This is the true expression of an independent mentality and not of a post-colonial mentality.”
An administration does not help in promoting civic sense every time it attempts to pardon or, worse, legalise wrongdoing on some pretext or other. Every time it does this, it is directly rewarding selfishness.
The pride so often shown in the country at national events is false if it is not backed by civic sense.