Last week I was enjoying myself with some friends in one of the most enjoyable night spots on the islands but everything changed in a couple of minutes. It was all ruined by unprofessional security personnel. Anyone wanting to play the tough guy should not be allowed to work in such establishments.
Have you ever seen a security man punching and kicking girls? I have. I would have been equally disgusted had these girls been Maltese but in fact they were tourists. Where does this fit in with all the expensive advertising and marketing campaigns we pay from our taxes? This group of about 12 foreigners will become living and breathing billboards - giving our country a bad name.
The highly trained and competent horde of security attendants were at one point breaking glass bottles to throw them at these girls, their friends and those who were trying to convince them to run off because they might end up badly injured.
The Times had reported that club owners were calling on the authorities to allow them to arm their security personnel. These people do not need legislation to enable them to be more aggressive or to allow them to carry arms. I have seen them using pepper spray and some have seen them use extendable batons. They are this violent without the support of the law. What will they be like if they are allowed to carry arms?
It's painful that at times so few of us dare speak up to protect our country from the irresponsible actions of some. We deserve better.
Someone could have been killed that night. Let's get our priorities right. Let's regulate the security personnel industry in terms 77are found guilty of misconduct. We and our foreign guests need to feel safe and know that these people are there to protect us, not to throw broken bottles at us because we dare help two girls they knocked down to the floor.
When the skirmish came to an end I was so angry at the security personnel and the nightclub's owner for letting such a thing happen. We have to stop exploiting tourists. But I was equally angered by the passiveness and nonchalance of 50-odd locals who were on the scene. They watched the sorry spectacle without lifting a finger. No one called the police. No one tried to stop the bouncers. They just enjoyed the show. Have we become so dead inside?