It is now public knowledge that the number of people of Maltese origin living overseas has overtaken the number actually living in Malta.

This has prompted the recommendation, made originally as long ago as 1938 by the well-known Maltese-French author, Laurent Ropa, that there should be a federation of all Maltese living overseas with a view to co-ordinate their activities, and in particular maintain Maltese language and culture.

This concept of a ‘Greater Malta’ has now been accepted by politicians on both sides of the great divide. Such a rare degree of unanimity was displayed at the recent convention held in Malta last March where several measures were announced to ensure greater cohesion, greater access to Malta’s cultural heritage, improvement in the means of teaching Maltese language and several other worthwhile and long-overdue processes to ensure that Maltese living abroad will feel that they still form an integral part of the Maltese community.

Resulting from the March convention was the resolution to revamp the Federation of Maltese Living Abroad (FMLA, formerly known as FOMA – Federation of Maltese Abroad). The result of an electoral process was recently announced, where 11 candidates were elected unopposed to the new committee.

One of the first tasks of this committee is to create a list of all Maltese organisations around the world to ensure that all Maltese are well represented and their views are heard. This is, moreover, one way of ensuring communications.

The alternative of having a membership consisting of several thousand individuals would prove too unwieldy to be a practical proposition.

A lot of discussion has taken place in the past as to the role of representation of Maltese living abroad within the parliamentary system. It has always been my view that importing party politics to places like Australia, Canada, and so on, would be too divisive of the community.

Moreover, the immense distances in these countries rules out of the question any scope for personal contact, and one has to rely on electronic means of communication (particularly e-mails), which, of course, make no distinction relating to the abode of the representative – one could be living in Malta and receive communications from Melbourne as easily as if s/he was living next door.

This does not mean representation is not essential if one’s views are to be heard. At the convention, several views were expressed as to the desirability of having a Member of Parliament, possibly as a parliamentary secretary, representing Maltese abroad.

The suggestion by the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time was that a specific committee be set up, comprising members appointed by him from people living overseas as well as those in Malta. Such a suggestion has merit only if the committee in question is in a position to ensure that action is taken as required.

This is only one issue that the new federation will have to deal with, namely to ensure that what was promised in March will not take years to be achieved.

Perhaps the average person in Malta might find it strange to understand why those who left Malta half a century ago are still hankering for stronger links with the mother country.

It is perhaps not so well appreciated that the vast majority of those who left Malta as migrants will maintain this wish till the end of their days.

Moreover, there is no denying the fact that the recent enlightened legislation allowing Maltese citizenship to second and subsequent generations have shown quite a substantial interest even in those who may have lost the language but not their wish to maintain links with Malta, as evidenced by the very considerable number of young people applying for Maltese citizenship.

It is considered to be the job of the federation to encourage Maltese language and culture maintenance among all those who have Maltese blood running in their veins.

Many Maltese associations around the world have made repeated requests to ensure that this happens. It is therefore very encouraging to witness the forward-looking approach taken by Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, and Education Minister Dolores Cristina in particular, who, at the convention held in March, promised considerable help in this direction.

The job of the federation is to ensure that these promises become an actuality.

Further information about the Federation of Maltese Living Overseas may be obtained from the secretary, Louis Vella, e-mail: lvella10@aol.com.