There are some people who are extremely diligent and precise in what they do and are also very concerned about what is happening around them. I used to be among them but, lately, I am a little more laid back, though I do observe and am still concerned about what is going on.

I was on an Air Malta flight from London the other day and when we were about to disembark in Malta, one of the crew asked passengers via the PA system whether they had recently visited any African country where there were outbreaks of Ebola. If so, could they please report to the authorities?

That is, of course, correct but, in my opinion, the announcement should have been made in Heathrow, before 150 or so passengers spent three hours in the confined space of a cabin.

Perhaps I have a problem in that I concern myself and observe too much. However, there is so much in this little country of ours, which we should really observe and worry about.

In the name of religion, nasty people are doing nasty things to other people. Big countries only look on and appear helpless in stopping the terrible things fellow human beings are facing.

Now, what has this got to do with Malta? We are small, neutral, safe and secure. We are thriving and business is doing very well.

We can carry on pretending that all that what is happening elsewhere will never affect us. Can it? Will it? And if it does, what can we do about it?

We had the part-time Malta Territorial Force in the past and we can have it again

Malta is neutral. Is this a good thing in this day and age?

We left Nato. Was that a good thing?

We are members of the European Union. Will they protect us if necessary? I would like to be assured of that. They haven’t exactly come running to help us with the problem of immigrants.

We have an agreement with Italy. I would like to be assured of that too.

What do we have to protect ourselves if we have to act alone? We have a small, albeit excellent, armed service. This comprises a land force, a marine division and an air wing. They do a wonderful job and we should all be very proud and grateful to them.

But is that enough if there is trouble? There are many problems that could materialise both outside and in our country. Will we be able to cope?

There are countries – Switzerland and Israel are two examples – that have many trained people who, at very short notice, can get together and form a large effective fighting force to protect their country, in whichever way is needed.

We could do the same in Malta. We had the part-time Malta Territorial Force in the past and we can have it again. I am sure there are many able-bodied young Maltese, male and female, who would like to join such an organisation. It could be voluntary or compulsory, depending on what the authorities would wish.

A few weeks and weekends of solid training and discipline each year, to get together a capable and coordinated group cannot be bad.

The idea would be to have thousands of young Maltese, trained and kept fit just in case of emergencies.

Another source of people able to do useful service would be the thousands of hunters who could be encouraged to do their bit.

Sounds far-fetched? I do not think so. I would be much happier if we could stand up for ourselves, especially in view of the type of troubles that are occurring practically everywhere today.

Security and peace of mind should be of paramount importance to everybody nowadays. Nobody wants trouble but trouble is everywhere and we should, like others, be prepared for it and stop it from affecting our way of life.

Nobody should imagine problems that could never emerge. But look around. You don’t need too much imagination to see what could happen.

Isn’t it worth thinking of the methods that we could employ to protect us? I think so.

Now I am not a scaremonger, quite the opposite. I am, in fact, a very optimistic person. But all my life I have always tried to be two, three, four paces ahead and made provisions for possible eventualities. That’s quite a sensible thing to do. So why do we not do it?

Frank Salt is a former chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority’s Planning and Product Directorate.