I have a lot of time for people who up and leave their countries of birth and who choose to relocate to mine. And by ‘time’ I mean a mixture of curiosity, a great deal of interest and a formidable respect. I’m always interested to know what draws people to my country, what repels them and why indeed they have chosen to leave behind the security of a life and world they know to start anew in Malta.

Contrary to many Maltese I know, who seem to employ a Victorian mindset that foreigners, like children, should be seen and not heard, I’m happy to listen. In fact, I’m far more interested in what foreigners have to say about my island than the mantras of my own country folk.

And given the very bisected nature of the Maltese population who are wont to see everything as an extension of one or other of the two political parties, that’s not surprising. The likelihood of ever receiving an objective and untainted analysis of Malta is more likely from a foreigner with a fresh viewpoint, a mind of his own and no political baggage, let alone a North/South prejudice in tow.

I struck up a friendship with a foreign gentleman some months ago. He e-mailed me à propos of one of my articles and we’ve been e-mailing ever since. He’s a retired Englishman who, together with his wife, is on the verge of leaving London with the intention of moving to Malta permanently. They’ve bought a run-down ‘palazzo’ in one of the Three Cities, which they are slowly restoring to its former glory. It’s not a speculation or a base for ‘tax efficiency’ nor is it a second home. It’s a new home: safer than Italy he is sure, conveniently English-speaking, often disarmingly welcoming and infinitely more spacious than their one-bed London flat. It was apparently on the market for many years and they’ve ‘rescued’ it.

I have learned so much about my country – especially the Three Cities – from him. I am pretty sure he is more knowledgeable than most Maltese when it comes to many aspects of our history and heritage. That in itself makes me proud: not merely his moving to Malta in pursuit of some so-called sybaritic (his word) ‘lifestyle’. It’s in the way he speaks of Malta’s charm, her wonderful and intricate past and still viable potential, and the genuine warmth of some of her people.

But – and there is always a but – he is also painfully aware of Malta’s defects and flaws and its inherent contradictions. That life here can be as difficult as it can be easy. You may not have to commute for hours by train from a distant suburb, shovel snow from your porch or always calculate the chances of terrorism or a mugging, but you may wait weeks for a workman to show up or suffer the frustrations of an inefficient and sometimes rude public transport system.

Have an American University by all means, but do it on our terms, without destroying our land and coastline in the process

A country where air and noise pollution reign supreme; where development is nomadic and sporadic, and never-ending; where enforcement is often non-existent; where construction is rampant and inconsiderate; where degeneration takes priority over regeneration; and where what remains of agricultural land is swallowed up by unsightly development.

The other day he said something which struck a chord. That he’d “never come across a country where there is so much superb commentary in the media and so little accountability or response from those solemnly charged with listening to those comments and taking action”. And this from a man who has many more critical things to say about his own country.

He has long asked me to write about a privately owned building of great architectural merit – the 18th century palazzo in Cospicua which can be found at 35-38 Fuq San Pawl, the once proud street connecting Cospicua with Senglea – not his part of town, incidentally.

A building which he reckons has been ignored and neglected far too long, both by Mepa and, more obviously, by the owners.

Are they unwilling or perhaps unable to give this building the attention it deserves? He tells me the palazzo is a case study involving practically every heritage and environmental issue on Malta you can think of. Leaving aside for a moment the danger of a neglected building and the resulting stress on neighbouring families, it is a shame that such a beautiful architecture is left to rot.

It was recently awarded Grade 2 listing by Mepa – a long overdue move – which one hopes is not a token gesture but a serious attempt to set some sort of restoration – as opposed to demolition – ball rolling.

There are so many more stories where that comes from. So many fine buildings of huge historical value and importance some countries can’t even dream of.

That’s one thing about America you see – a country recently in the news here on account of the prospective ‘American University’. America’s got a surplus of land but not much concentrated history, whereas we make up in history what we lack in land.

Sadly, when it comes to the important conservation, environmental and heritage issues, neither one of the two main political parties ‘get it’ – it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.

The number one priority in this country should be regeneration, restoration and conservation. Valletta and the Three Cities could easily be turned into University Towns, so spectacular that perhaps Stanford and Princeton would be clamouring for our attention. The Americans have always been in awe of Europe, but sadly we are oblivious to all that is indeed awe-inspiring on this magical island of ours. We have always been a nation hell bent on making the extraordinary ordinary.

It’s high time we stopped destroying all that is charming and what attracts foreigners here in the first place. Have an American University by all means, but do it on our terms, without destroying our land and coastline in the process.

michelaspiteri@gmail.com