In much the same way as the German and British soldiers called an unofficial and temporary truce during Christmas 1914 and played football in the no-man’s land between the trenches, Labour and Nationalist MPs are respecting a ceasefire of sorts. Yes, our parliamentarians are finally taking the ‘Make love, not war’ 1960s slogan and adapting it to ‘Make laws, not war’.

This sudden bout of agreement came about during the second reading of the Healthy Lifestyle (Reducing Obesity) Bill, a Private Member’s Bill moved by Opposition MP Robert Cutajar.

Having realised that many Maltese people are waddling their way to an obesity-related death (Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said 58 per cent of the Maltese population is either overweight or obese) our MPs have decided to try to stop us behaving like lardy lemmings eating our way to our demise. Hence the Bill.

As much as legislation can have any effect, it is a good start. It aims to prohibit the selling of junk foods within school grounds and in the vicinity and to promote healthy fruit and vegetable school lunches.

Besides that, local councils must try to provide for physical educational activities and areas where these activities may be carried out.

There are also plans for proper nutritional plans at old peoples’ homes and all sorts of healthy eating promotions.

All very well and good. As the saying goes ‘Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness’.

So top marks for good intentions, but as is always the case here, those good intentions are going to be pretty useless without any enforcement or follow-up.

As a cursory look around will show, we have no enforcement to speak of in any area. For example there are already laws regulating the distance of mobile traders from each other, a plethora of rules and regulations about construction, littering, traffic offences and safety. And they are disregarded in their entirety. In the construction sector, the authorities have practically (and visibly) given up trying to make any headway. Ditto in the littering department.

So although it is heartening to see MPs from both sides of the political divide, coming together to wage war on greasy nuggets and junk food, I wonder what their position will be, when it comes to enforcing this law.

We are giving the impression that we consider wealth as being of paramount importance

Will they really stop the sale of unhealthy foods in the vicinity of schools? Will they insist on the closure of the fast food franchises or their conversion to salad bars? We’ll just have to wait and see if this law goes down the route of other, equally well-intentioned laws – dead letters in the statute book.

• Eyebrows have been raised because Saudi business magnate Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud was among the recipients of the Gieħ ir-Repubblika awards during the Republic Day ceremony. The official reason for this is his contribution towards strengthening friendship between Malta and Saudi Arabia.

The extent and nature of this “contribution” is not clear. It’s beginning to look too much as if we’re sucking up to billionaires from countries with dodgy human rights records in the hope of a hand-out.

Granted – it will be small change for someone who has more than $27 billion to his name, bathrooms with gold fixtures, a 280-foot yacht and a Boeing 747 predictably outfitted with a gold throne, but we are paying a price of another sort for these kinds of decisions.

We are giving the impression we consider wealth as being of paramount importance, and we are so blinded by gold thrones, that we will cheerfully ignore human rights abuses and questionable treatment of women.

• In the run-up to Christmas, it feels as if we’re constantly being egged on to buy more, do more, eat more. It all gets to be too much sometimes. I find the perfect antidote to the mad rush is to stay in and re-read a Christmas classic or the utterly enchanting The Lion, the Unicorn and Me by Jeannette Winterson. It’s a magical retelling of the nativity story from a donkey’s point of view.

Although it’s a children’s book, I have yet to meet one adult who hasn’t been enchanted by the beautiful prose, with the animal narrator remembering, “I looked up and saw the angels’ feet pushed through the sagging roof and their bodies taut on the ridge-line, heralding the beginning of something, the end of something, I don’t know what words to say, but beginnings and ends are hinged together and folded against each other, like angels’ wings.”

Words like that encapsulate what this time should be about – hope and simplicity. I wish for both for all readers this Christmas.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt