Wednesday. January 25.

Hamburg. The feast of the Conversion of St Paul.

I am participating in a workshop which is part of a pan-European research project. Although the feast is of St Paul I thought that going to Santi Pauli would not be the best way to celebrate the feast of the great Apostle.

During dinner for the participants of the conference, conversation turned to the international economic crisis which was from time to time punctured by smses from Malta updating me with the speech of Dr Franco Debono in Parliament.

“The number of unemployed has reached 14% of the working population” said a Portuguese academic. The figure given for Spain was more awesome.

“What is the figure of unemployed in Malta?” someone asked me.

“We have one of the lowest figures in the European Union”, I said. “I think it is in the region of 6%.”

“Lucky you” was the reaction of several colleagues.

“We used to get fourteen months of wages instead of twelve months”, interjected the Portuguese. “Now that is a thing of the past. We get the wage for twelve months, now. This is quite a hefty decrease in our salaries.”

 “How much were salaries cut in Malta?” someone asked.

“Salaries were not decreased in any way. In fact an increase was just given because of the rise in the cost of living”, I said.

“What planet do you live on”, several asked, their eyes green with envy. “How could you not be suffering a crisis just as we are?” they asked.

“We have a crisis”, I said.

“Crisis?” they asked.

“Government has only a one seat majority. One of its members rebelled after he was not appointed a minister and has said that he lost all confidence in the Prime Minister. This created a crisis. The Opposition moved a motion of no confidence in government. The government  member has not ruled out voting against the government. If he does that the government would have to resign.”

People found it difficult to understand this crisis.

I accessed the smses from my smart phone updating me of the speech of Dr Debono. The honourable member professed that he is most loyal to the Prime Minister. My dictionary gave me a different definition of loyalty. What the heck. This is a postmodern culture. Everyone has his own personalised and individualised truth.

Thursday. Novmeber 26.

The great day came at last. The crisis unfolded like the dance of the seven veils. It now reached the stage where only one final veil remained. Most knew what lay under it; but expectations grew and speculation was rife.

In Hamburg no one was discussing this crisis. Jobs, the economy, the environment and other such totally unimportant stuff – compared to cassettes in court rooms, that is – were on their agenda.

An sms informed me that Dr Debono was going to abstain “for the glory of God.” He (Debono not God) must have picked the famous Ignatian dictum during his years of formation under the direction of the Jesuits. His mid-term Form 2 certificate, after all, proved that he was the bright student that he wanted us all to believe. He not only grasped the basics of arithmetic and writing but he also imbibed the core of Ignatian spirituality; though perhaps bar what it says about the terzo grado.

The Jesuits must be enthralled. Debono started the week hugging a Buddhist spirituality book but concluded it by giving the thumbs up to the great Ignatius of Loyola. This was another case of Jesuits uber alles, as the Germans would say.

The anglu tal-festa syndrome was then grossly manifested by some of the reactions publicly given.

Friday, 27 January

It snowed during the night. The trees and the streets are covered with snow. What a beautiful sight to behold. Alas it will not be for long. Cars and pedestrians quickly mutate the snow into sludge. The beautiful white covered street become an ugly sight to look at. However, the streets have had their few hours of glory. Others, similarly, may have had their few day of fame or infamy. Take your pick.

Sic transit gloria mundi.