The post local elections statistics included a rather aggrieved comment that not many resident foreigners had voted.

My own experience as an expat was that after wading through all the freebie Vote For Me pamphlets and letters that arrived in my letterbox, only one message was partly written in English.

This is Malta’s second official language and if prospective candidates really want to reach everyone with the right to vote, it is high time they wrote their messages in both languages.

The party that canvassed in both languages – well, on the back page was a pleasant message from their leader, Joseph Muscat – was the Labour Party.

Believe me, I’ve tried to learn Maltese, paying more than €300 to attend various classes but the correct grammar and vocabulary one learns in the classroom is somewhat different from the language spoken in the street and on TV!