Ping! “Get Lost mind you we are Proud Maltese & our Govt + 75000 more votes For Now Bye till next Election 5 years more.”

I got this brief e-mail in my inbox last Monday. As this is very typical of several other e-mails that I receive, I am sharing it here so that people who intend sending similar messages in future, might want to revise theirs before pressing the send button.

First of all, I would like to kindly ask e-mail writers if they could please mind their manners. Has life become so terribly stressful and so taxing that no one can spare a simple address when you’re e-mailing someone whom you’ve never met? I am not expecting a ‘Dear Kristina’ – I understand that some people would have a hard time with that ‘dear’, but a simple ‘Kristina’ would suffice. And is it too much to ask of people to sign off? There is no need for ‘Kind regards’ or even ‘Best wishes’ – the name of the person who pens the message would suffice. I fear that people take to electronic messaging thinking they are on Xarabank, grabbing the microphone and without introducing themselves, proceed into a verbal rant, with no pauses except at the end.

Which brings me to the second point. Would it be too much trouble to use punctuation in written sentences? I very happily recommend Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, a delightful book which makes all the tedious nitty-gritty of punctuation great fun. It’s amazing how, when you add a comma here, a semi-colon and the right capital letters in their proper space, a sentence suddenly flows more.

Thirdly, how possible is it to be more articulate when writing? Obviously I have no problem with people disagreeing with my line of thought, and in whichever language, but it would help im­mensely if that disagreeing line of thought is coherent. Perhaps you may want to consider, if you’re going to write to someone, to take at least five minutes of the day to first think clearly what you want to say, then type it out, and then re-read it to make sure that you have expressed yourself in a comprehensible manner.

To those who might take offence at this rogue request for readable sentences, and might be tempted to send in a memo – “snob & Classist for Now insulting poor people who not write get Lost” – please note that clarity of thought is not taught at any university but at home.

For bizarrely, in these warped times, we are happier promoting scattered chatter on the premise of “Għid li trid, mhux xorta” (say whatever you want to say, it doesn’t make a difference) than encouraging logical arguments. It is, sadly, the era where we are delegitimising education.

Tragically, justice is the last thing on the Prime Minister’s mind because running a football club is not about justice, but only about winning

But let’s not digress. Now that we had a look at the aesthetics of the e-mail, let’s take a look at the content. This e-mail writer seems to believe that everyone lives for election results and that all that matters in life are political parties, which are akin to football clubs. “Hurrah! My club won, yours didn’t!”; “We’re better than you lo-oo-oo-oo-sers!”; “Let’s sing Għax għandna ’l Pietru magħna, aħna magħqudin…”.

I don’t happen to care who wins elections; what I care about is that whoever is in government has a sound sense of moral authority. Is it too much to ask for country leaders to lead by example? Is it too much to have leaders who pay their taxes; who are not surrounded by corrupt best buddies; who do not appoint inarticulate and incompetent puppets to run the country’s police force? It looks like it is.

So do I blame my e-mail corres­pondent for writing in such a manner? No, because the top people in government also happen to think that they are running a football club. Take Kurt Farrugia, the government’s head of communications and official spokesman of the Prime Minister. He tweets about “victories” and “defeats”, calls people “bitter” and “sour grapes”, and taunts and insults and vilifies, in the name of his – and our – Prime Minister. When he speaks, let’s remember, it is the Prime Minister himself speaking.

Of course, this is not normal. In normal, democratic societies, government spokespersons are ex­tremely measured, prudent and cautious in their words. I encourage you to follow the dignified tweets of Bruno Roger Petit, the spokesman of French President Macron, or Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s press secretary, for a proper example of work ethic. Petit and Seibert would be fired on the spot and subject to trial-by-media if they overstepped the line and started behaving like vulgar hooligans at a football match.

Sadly, our sense of ethics is gone and we don’t even realise how dangerous this has become. A case in point is the fact that the Caruana Galizia family had to actually file a request in court to remove Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta from investigating the case of their slain wife and mother. Mr Valletta is the husband of a Cabinet minister – both of whom had been criticised by Mrs Caruana Galizia – and logic tells us all that his presence would obviously not make for a fair hearing.

But we’re not doing logic anymore – and that’s at the expense of justice. In fact, while we fudge in this burning mess, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra fiddles with plans for a February concert to play none other than the Prime Minister’s very own favourite ditties. It will be nothing but a posher version of “Għax għandna ’l Joseph magħna” football ground chanting and adulation.

The person responsible for this football club mindset, this unethical behaviour and this lawlessness is none other than the Prime Mini­s­­ter. But tragically, justice is the last thing on his mind, because running a football club is not about justice, but only about winning.

krischetcuti@gmail.com
Twitter: @krischetcuti