Here are my very sincere New Year hopes/prayers/desires for the enhancement of Malta during 2012.

1) May our politicians return to the humility they first experienced when starting their political careers. Sadly, egos grow and personal selfish ambitions dominate regardless of religious convictions.

2) May these politicians unite, more so where common sense is required to keep Malta’s economy healthy in this very delicate world economic climate.

3) May corruption be weighed up against God’s perfection and condemnation. (Possibly not applicable to non-believers.)

4) May councils also keep to these principles and remember that they are only elected to serve their community. A bad apple affects the whole box.

5) May court sentences be meaningful and impartial in all aspects, especially as handed down by judges and magistrates whose reputation will rise or fall accordingly.

6) May suspended sentences be accompanied by supervised community service.

7) May the exceptional cleanliness of Maltese homes extend to external streets, roads, alley ways, etc.

8) May Maltese drivers be courteous (for example by acknowledging another driver giving way, as they do in other countries).

9) May character assassination be firstly questioned by the assailant (“There by the grace of God go I”).

10) May those who persistently assert their atheism question their obsession with doing so. Many have only done so previously at the last hours of their deaths.