Upon reading Kristina Chetcuti’s column ‘The great detachment’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, November 5), my mind went back 80 years to my childhood.

I remember my father saying that Malta was a country of ‘u iva!’ meaning one that is lacking any real standards.

When I grew up I realised how right he had been. The ‘anything goes’ attitude noticeable in the first third of the 20th century became predominant by the end of the century.

The ruling mentality today is that everything is fine as long as I am okay. Why bother with concepts of honesty, correctness and respect for others? Of course, we continue to pay lip service to all of these: appearances are all important. In general, however, we have lost what little religious and ethical bearings we once had.

The rot can only be stopped (and reversed?) if the mentality of ‘I’m all right Jack’ is challenged every single minute of every single day. Otherwise I suggest changing our national anthem to the song ‘Anything Goes’.