I see that cynicism is back in fashion. Following a report that Malta was one of the most generous countries when it comes to donations to charity, there were a flurry of online comments and articles, stating that we should stop patting ourselves on the back and feeling smug about it.

Labour’s Falzon is acting as if having to pay the CVA charge on entry to Valletta is some form of personal slight- Claire Bonello

The Maltese may have raised a whopping €2.6 million duringL-Istrina, the wet blankets said, but we’re still a largely racist, homophobic, intolerant nation. And we’re cruel to animals, they continue, citing a couple of exceptional cases where animals were abandoned or hurt.

I can’t help feeling that in an attempt to appear blasé, these commentators are making irrelevant comparisons and putting a dampener on things.

Granted, there may have been cases of animal cruelty, intolerance and discrimination – but it does not mean we are a nation of gay-bashing, cat-killing xenophobes. Maybe the money raised in L-Istrina doesn’t mean that we qualify for a collective halo, but it’s definitely cheering to see the time and effort put in by the many volunteers to put up the event.

It’s definitely more inspiring than the armchair critics pontificating about salving one’s conscience by sending a donation, without sending any themselves.

• I sympathise with shop owners. I really do. It can’t be much fun having to operate in a small market and having to fend off competition from other establishments as well as the online threat.

The fear of impending economic woes are keeping customers away from shops, and other factors such as lack of accessibility don’t help either.

But I can’t agree with the suggestion of a women’s wear shop in Valletta, that the sales date should be stipulated by law so that sales would start in mid-January.

Although such legislation exists in some European countries and is probably intended to provide all retail outlets on the same balanced playing field, it won’t do much to stem the flow of customers to online sellers who are not regulated in the same manner.

• It has been reported that Labour MP Michael Falzon sent a self-pitying e-mail to the clerk of the house and other MPs, bemoaning his lot as a parliamentarian.

His whine was brought about because apparently parliamentarians are going to have to startpaying the CVA fee for parkingin Valletta. This prompted Falzon to pen a lengthy grouse about how he feels hard done by. Thefollowing is a loose translation of his e-mail:

“Good morning to all. I have no wish to enter into any polemics at this time of the year, but I feel I must react in the happy spirit of these festive times. If someone wants to remove the parking reserved for us MPs so be it. Maybe it’s not the same for those who have a chauffeur to drive them in. In any case, we are not a load of tattoo-covered lads and we cannot place cement-filled buckets and chairs where we want, as a good number of Valletta residents do.

“And we can’t make an ‘arrangement’ – as others do – to have a reserved parking place. We are nobodies – merely so-called ‘members of parliament’ of theso-called ‘highest institution of the land’ – looked upon as if we had the plague. When the Pope visits we have to ask to be accredited to be allowed to enter the parliament to which we have supposedly been elected by the people.

We are those MPs whose parking place is removed whenever a foreign delegation is in town – in many cases without prior warning. Otherwise there wouldn’t be enough sucking-up to foreigners. We are those MPs who – when travelling abroad on parliamentary business – are treated less well than some members of civil service. We are those MPs who have to pay the entertainment costs of the people we treat when on parliamentary business. We are those MPs who – when travelling abroad – are asked to leave certain meetings early, so that we will not incur accommodation expenses in some hotel. Never mind the fact that in other cases there is not much thought given to splurging.

“We are those MPs who are marked as absent when abroad on parliamentary business or carrying out our duties elsewhere, so that the newspapers can then make a meal out of this. We are those MPs who often find journalists lying in wait for us outside parliament, trying to ridicule us.

“We are those MPs who some members of the civil service enjoy trying to humiliate. There is nothing we can do about it – we are simply those members of the so-called highest institution of the land. Once again – a happy new year to all.”

I don’t know what you make of this missive, but I find it appalling. It encapsulates a great deal of what citizens find off-putting in politicians. In the first place there’s the sense of entitlement to privileges and perks not enjoyed by mere mortals who are not members of parliament.

Falzon is acting as if having to pay the CVA charge on entry to Valletta is some form of personal slight, instead of a charge imposed on all drivers entering the capital. He seems to think that parliamentarians should automatically have reserved parking slots, whereas the long-beleaguered Valletta residents should not.

The possibility of actually making his way to the House on foot – like the rest of us do – hasn’t crossed his mind. The Labour Party within which Falzon militates (rightly) makes much of the fact that the PN is a party of arrogant politicians who are far removed from the hardships of the common man.

The PL then has its efforts to identify itself with the man in the street, sabotaged, by one of its key exponents, who seems to have gone off into a massive sulk because he has to pay the CVA like everybody else.

He’s really not doing much to help the Labour cause, acting all precious. It’s as if the Labour Party’s theme song at the moment is Paul Young’s Love of the CommonPeople, whereas Dr Falzon wants to launch into If I Were a Rich Man. It doesn’t do much to endear him to the electorate or earn him the respect he feels he is owed.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt