One of the questions I find considerable difficulty in replying to has always been Minn fejn int? (where do you hail from?). I find it almost amusing that in a small country such as ours, there is a very strong sense of belonging to particular locations, even the tiniest. I could possibly understand that Gozitans, for example, would have a particular sense of belonging. There is a reason for this since Gozo and ‘the mainland’ are physically separated by the channel.
My difficulty in identifying the town or village I hail from is linked to the fact that I have had a somewhat nomadic experience, having moved from one place to another. Hence, I cannot really settle on which to call my ‘place of origin’.
When I was born, my family lived in Valletta. However, when I was seven, my parents decided to move to Birkirkara. Hence, my links with the city were more or less severed, apart from the fact that my grandmother lived in Valletta too and I would remain a regular visitor to her house in what I still think of as the most beautiful square in Valletta – Independence Square or Fuq il-Palma as it is sometimes referred to.
I still have distant memories of the summer evenings spent in Pjazza Reġina when Café Premier provided live entertainment or of the activity in St George’s Square particularly during carnival and in summer when I recall playing on the scaffolding going up possibly for Victory Day.
As a young child, there was something magical about the streets of Valletta, compounded by the stories my grandmother would tell us – almost fairy tales which I tend to recall even today when passing in front of certain landmarks.
Many of the problems Valletta faces are also due to flagrant contraventions by selfish and greedy individuals who don’t give a hoot about the city
The part of Birkirkara I grew up in was then a relatively new residential area bordering with Balzan. Being rather distant from the old part of Malta’s most populous town meant that much as I tried to become a Karkariż, it remained an uphill task.
This was not aided by the fact that the area we lived in formed part of the newly established vice-parish (and eventually parish) of St Joseph the Worker. Hence, I could never feel that great sense of affinity to the Basilica of St Helen, which is meant to be the hallmark of a true Karkariż.
However, I did have a sense of belonging to ‘our part’ of Birkirkara thanks mostly to the fact that as children and eventually as youths, a nucleus began to form in the new parish community. First it was the altar boys with my good friends that included Joe Galea Curmi, who is now vicar general, his brother Edgar who served as head of secretariat to Lawrence Gonzi as minister and eventually as prime minister and John Borg who is today permanent secretary in the Ministry for Gozo.
Eventually, we got involved in the parish feast, a very modest affair by Maltese festa standards, however, a festa we became proud of.
Belti or a Karkariż? Possibly neither or both! However, I love Valletta immensely. I spend most of my time there since, for the past eight years I have been working in offices situated bang in the centre of Republic Street.
Thankfully, the decline in the city’s fortunes that we witnessed in the 1970s and 1980s seems to have been reversed. Undoubtedly, the many restoration projects have given a new lease of life to the city.
Although not uncritical of some of its aspects, I love the new entrance designed by Renzo Piano. Besides ridding us of that horrible gate built in the 1960s and having a parking lot at the very entrance to the city, the new entrance is a statement of Valletta as a city that has a rich past but which is also open to the future.
Naturally, much more needs to be done. I still long to see the city’s bastions well lit up in the same way as Gozo’s citadel for example. I was told that this would be done once all the walls have been restored. I augur that by 2018, when Valletta will be European Capital of Culture, such a project would have been completed.
Unfortunately, many of the problems Valletta faces are also due to flagrant contraventions by selfish and greedy individuals who don’t give a hoot about the city and what it represents to most Maltese.
Some catering establishments occupy pavements, streets and squares and clutter them with tables and chairs. I can understand, for example, that catering establishments are allowed to set up tables and chairs in Republic Square (Pjazza Reġina). However, do they need to take up almost the entire square and, once an establishment closes for the day, should it not remove its furniture and allow us to enjoy the square as an open space?
The open air market is another issue. Following its recent move, the only thing I could say is that it complements the monstrous block of apartments in Freedom Square. I do hope that in the future, a decision is taken that can rid us once and for all of that eyesore.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that before you cross the bridge to enter Valletta, you are greeted by all sorts of vendors selling from stalls. One hopes that once the whole area is rehabilitated, such an abuse will be put to an end because it is really demeaning to our Citta’ Umilissima.
Incidentally, for how much longer do we need to bear with that horrible eyesore which is the crane adjacent to Ġilormu Cassar Avenue, put up to hoist diners ‘in the sky’? Valletta is not the place for such a business venture. It has more than enough of its own panoramic sites to offer.
Another aspect that I consider an eyesore is the amount of wires that clutter the streets. Not to mention the water tanks, TV antennas and satellite dishes and now the PV panels. This is a national scourge with regulations either not existing or, if they do exist, not being enforced.
Many of the ills are somehow self-inflicted by individuals who do not feel proud of their capital city. Just like what is happening in other parts of these islands, all they seem to care about is lining their pockets with no consideration whatsoever for the right of the public to enjoy public spaces for instance, or for safeguarding the environment or our cultural heritage.
It is these selfish individuals, people who grab whatever they can take, legitimately or not, who make many others lose hope that these islands of ours can truly become the paradise we sometimes illude ourselves that we are.
It is a pity because we have the capacity to make it but the will on its own is not enough. We need to instil in ourselves a sense of self-discipline and this will certainly not happen if people keep getting the impression that you can get away with murder.
Belti or Karkariz, I am a Maltese who would love to feel truly proud of his country.