When so many people are still preoccupied over the steep rise in the water and energy rates, a survey showing that Malta is getting wealthier may have raised eyebrows. Others may feel the survey has just been released in time to sugar the pill, as it were. The truth is that, in the wake of the avalanche of reports forecasting greater financial difficulties and the impact the recession is already having on the local economy, few may care to reflect on the actual situation, overburdened as they are by the weight of bad news. But, insofar as Malta goes, it is not all that bad... at least so far.
Taking attention off the bad news for a moment, the EU survey finding that Malta is getting richer provides food for thought and ought to make us count our blessings, something we rarely ever seem prepared to do. Yes, as we so often admit ourselves, we still largely live in a world of Don Camillo; we simply thrive on controversies, make fun of our antics and still have a tendency to think that the island is the centre of the universe.
It is not just birds that we love shooting down; practically any proposal is bound to face a barrage of arrows, or shotgun pellets as soon as it is off the drawing board.
As for the weather, well, we may have had some rainy days, and it has been cold of late, too, but next to what other people in so many other places have had to endure these past weeks, ours is not bad; indeed, not bad at all.
Recession or no recession, many are still eating out on Saturday or Sunday. Just check out favourite restaurants. We are travelling more and generally spend more on entertainment. We drive better cars and, generally speaking, living standards have improved. True, many have had to take out loans to be able to build their homes and buy appliances, requiring couples to forget about the kind of family life the older generation enjoyed as financial pressures extend the time they spend at work, out of home, in order to be able to pay off the interest on their loans. In this respect, life as lived by many in Malta today is not very much different to that of others in other countries.
The survey, which covered 2006, found that, although the island is still a long way off from achieving the average level of prosperity reached in the European Union, Malta's economy is in a better shape than that of many other regions both in the "old" and "new" member states. Malta has been found to be only slightly less welloff than the average throughout Italy but better off than Sicily or the southern Italian regions. This held true also in the past but there have been times when we thought we were overtaken by our neighbours. Judging by this latest survey, it looks as if the island is moving ahead again. According to the survey, the same holds true when Malta is compared to some regions in Spain, Greece and Portugal.
Can Malta sustain this forward movement? Had the world economic situation not been buffeted by one crisis after another, the chances of keeping the momentum would have been greater than they are now. Even so, despite all the negative factors in Malta's way, it pays to look at the bright side sometimes and count our blessings without, however, sitting on our laurels.