From meeting the one to a first-born’s birth, handwritten letters and memorable toys, some personalities share the Christmas gift that has meant the most with Ariadne Massa.

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca

My best Christmas present are the memories going back to when my siblings and I were younger. We always started off Christmas by attending Midnight Mass. Afterwards, we would go home to find an array of treats prepared by my mother, such as Christmas cake, qagħaq tal-għasel (honey rings), and imbuljuta (a traditional Maltese drink made from cocoa and chestnuts). We would eat the treats, go to sleep, then wake up on Christmas morning to open our gifts.

Every year, my father asked each of us to pick out one gift from those we received. This would be the one we would get to keep. Then he would bundle us into the family car, put the rest of the gifts in it, and drive us to Fra Diegu Home.

My siblings and I used to be upset during the drive there because we wanted to keep all the gifts. However, we would leave there elated. It always felt good to see all those children enjoying the presents we had just given them. We then returned home, and had lunch together as a family.

Christmas, for us, was, and still is, all about love. Getting together as a family, and having the opportunity to share that happiness, is by far the best thing about Christmas.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat

Without a doubt, I consider the Christmas of 2007, the first spent with our twin daughters, to have been the best ever. In itself, it was a gift; the best ever gift.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil

As it happens, Christmas Day is a very special day because it is Kristina’s (Chetcuti) and my ‘anniversary’. Our first date was on Christmas Day, two years ago. We went to the cinema and watched Captain Phillips, which was mostly shot in Malta and starred Tom Hanks. It was a good film based on a true story about piracy off the coast of Somalia and we had a great time. So I suppose the answer to the question is self-evident!

Archbishop Charles Scicluna

This has been perhaps the most difficult question I have had to face this year. You may ask, but why?

The honest answer is that in our family Christmas has never been about presents. I have the fondest of memories of Christmas past with dear Papa putting up the Christmas tree, the crib and Baby Jesus in the days leading up to Christmas. What wonder! What true joy!

In more recent years all the siblings would pool together and every member of the family would get one present from the whole family. It is usually something useful, and clothing is always welcome. My two sisters and my brother’s wife would get together and act as Santa Claus’s agents.

They would buy presents, wrap them in the same type of wrapping paper, preferably in shades of red, green and gold, and then come to my parents’ home and place them under the tree.

On Christmas Day, towards tea time, Papa would pick up the presents one by one and solemnly and jovially announce the name on the label. The children in the family and Chubby the dog, when he was around, always got very excited with the riotous feast of wrapping paper and boxes strewn around the cosy sitting room in Lija.

This Christmas we will miss Papa immensely. There will be no Christmas tree. No presents. Only Baby Jesus and the family cherishing the fondest of Christmas memories in between a tear and a laugh.

Actress and TV producer Clare Agius

I’ve always enjoyed buying presents, more than receiving them. And while I appreciate the thoughts of my close family members and friends when buying me a gift, the answer to your question will definitely have to be a happy moment, rather than a material present.

I would say the best Christmas present for me was the contentment and feeling of fulfilment I experienced in December 2011, when I was pregnant with my boy.

The following Christmases were then all the more special – the first year when I read him his first Christmas stories; the following year when he was dazzled with the lights. It just gets better and better to be able to experience Christmas through a child’s eye and God willing I look forward to many more.

Ira Losco

I am not materialistic at all and would prefer knowing I’m going to be surrounded by my family and loved ones during Christmas, rather than receiving gifts from them. However, if I really had to choose, I would say that the best Christmas present I’ve ever received was a microphone and little amp which my parents gave me when I was seven years old. No other present has come close to this very day! I pretty much thought I was up there with the pros with my blue and yellow set-up!

Joseph Calleja

The best Christmas present was a beautiful letter I received a year ago, handwritten on parchment from someone very important to me at the time. In an era of impersonal texts and e-mails, it was all the more unique.

Another is a painting by Pawl Carbonaro – one of my favorite artists in Malta – given to me by a group of close friends who are like family.

It’s particularly special because it depicts Marsalforn – and Gozo holds a significant meaning for me.

TV presenter Moira Delia

From as far back as I remember, while growing up, and even as a little child, I always preferred boys’ toys. Despite my parents’ dismay, their little blond haired girl preferred toy cars to girly dolls.

While my sister revelled in pushing a toy pushchair, I would be found kicking a ball around with the boys next door... I simply wanted to be one of the boys and enjoyed every minute of it.

My parents eventually gave in and addressed this ‘problem’ by buying me a bicycle. It was the best Christmas present I could have been given and it still makes me smile when I think about it. It was a beautiful, electric blue colour and had a shiny white seat with matching handle bars. It was my pride and joy and it made me feel very special.

More recently, I received another very special Christmas present. My love for animals is no secret and I had been trying to create a better quality shelter for the dogs in the AAA sanctuary, as it is in bad need of repair. The AAA didn’t have sufficient funds to carry out the works but thanks to the generosity of Joe Schranz (Schranz Ltd) and Andrew Vassallo the work is now going to be done – their offer to do this for free is the best Christmas present I could have received this year.