It came somewhat as a shock to the system to note the results of the recent online poll (timesofmalta.com) to the question “Should Malta remain neutral in the military action authorised by the UN against Libya?”, to which only 27 per cent of respondents (including myself) answered no.

My initial question was, are we not a fully subscribed member of the UN? In any event, one wonders, if a poll had been taken back in 1939 under the exact same circumstances as today (i.e. in that we are an independent nation), what would the results have been? If the result would have been the same as now would this declaration of neutrality have been honoured or respected by the German and Italian (and possibly the Russian) armies, navies and air forces in the ensuing conflict?

The point I am trying to get across is the sheer futility and ineffectiveness of declaring any neutral stance which is akin to taking a seat on the fence, as in actuality not only is such a stance pointless but it ultimately alienates us from both the victor and the vanquished resulting from the conclusions of any conflict.

For the victor quite correctly would regard any neutral nation as being unreliable and non-committal while the defeated would invariably determine that this was an unsupportive, indeed cowardly, act. It’s a lose-lose situation, I would argue. For in this inglorious art of neutrality, innocent bystander or limited observer perhaps, one can never be seen in a positive light as we run the perilous and substantial risk of not only being perceived as sitting on the fence but rather, that we are the fence itself! For want of a better analogy, can we not be envisaged as making love for the benefit of chastity?

This shockingly indecisive stance of ours leads me to make further observations and reflections upon our modern-day perspectives and values.

The recent horrendous experiences caused by the disaster endured by Japan and which befell her people is a frightening reminder of just how fragile and unprepared we are when faced with nature’s savage fury being unreleased.

However, what struck me was although we are all basically the same (although surrounded very differently), how disparate we actually are when dealing with and reacting to such a disturbing situation. I could not help but admire and respect the immense stoicism, organisation and orderly manner with which the Japanese people confronted this impostor called tragedy within their midst. I am ashamed to say that I could not prevent myself from making vulgar comparisions as to how we as a people would possibly react and behave when tackling and reacting to such a natural disaster – heaven forfend we should ever have to confront or experience such! I am not referring to our marvellous emergency services and armed forces in whom I have every confidence but rather as to how we as a people would react to such massive shortages of basic needs and requirements, and while our past heroics and undoubted fortitude and bravery is unquestionable in times of adversity, we live now in different times and with vastly different perspectives and values as back then.

As I watched the Japanese people queue up for hours (in dreadful weather conditions) for such basic yet essential provisons in a calmly patient, orderly and organised manner, my mind wandered as to how we may react to similar tribulations.

One only has to think Lidl and their special offer Mondays and Thursdays to have some insight into my thought process for even in everyday circumstances, let alone times of great adversity, we invariably, and sadly in the vast majority, regard “queue” as being merely a letter in the alphabet and “order” as something we only do in a restaurant.

As stated, we have proven ourselves in the past but that was many years ago and we now live in different times as evidenced by our propensity to think “neutral” and thereby only of the purported needs of our immediate selves and family and not others’ or of our fellow citizens of the world.