There is something in common between the defacing of historical monuments, the litter that is thrown in the streets, the verbal and physical violence being used against teachers by students and parents and the economy. At first glance they may seem to be unconnected events. I believe they should be connected because when one throws rubbish in the street in total disregard of fellow Maltese and tourists who visit us, when one causes wilful damage to monuments or sites that form part of our heritage and when one uses violence to make a point when reason should prevail, the indication that one obtains is that there is an underlying dysfunction in society.

That dysfunction then leads to economic disaster. This country has already been through this experience once before in the first half of the 1980s. That was a much worse situation because that dysfunction came about from an attempt to weaken the country's institutions that safeguard freedom and democracy, so necessary for economic well-being. This time round the dysfunction is arising from the behaviour of what are probably a few individuals who are leaving a sense of malaise in the rest of the country and, therefore, the economy.

We have always prided ourselves as a country to have maintained over the years a very strong element of social cohesion. This does not mean that we have not had and continue to have our fair share of social problems. However, solidarity with those less fortunate seems to come easier to us, as does the belief that generally the common good takes precedence over sectorial interests. Whether this is followed up by actions is not always so evident but, by and large, this has been our experience over the years.

Thus, when we are faced with the type of actions that I have referred to previously, it comes as a bit of a shock. It needs to shock us even more as, in the long run, the economy shall suffer because of these occurrences.

The rationale is fairly easy to understand. When someone defaces a historical monument, one is sending a most explicit message that he or she cares little for the heritage of the country and as such we do not welcome tourists, who pour money into our economy to be able to appreciate and enjoy viewing those same monuments.

Equally, when a person litters the streets, one is sending an unequivocal message that he or she cares very little about the quality of the environment one is living in. The implication for the economy is that, if we do not care about the environment in which we live, why should we bother about the quality of goods and services that we produce. Why does Singapore have an image of good quality? One of the reasons is that you do not see persons littering the streets.

We could touch upon the verbal and physical violence that has been used and continues to be used (probably at an increasing rate) against teachers. What is the message that is given here? Violence is becoming a way of life and this scares investors away because they fear that eventually the use of violence in its various forms starts to creep into their businesses. This is why we need to show a large dose of good will towards each other; and not just during the Christmas festivities.

Unfortunately, this is what was missing during the Sea Malta issue. One will never really find out who called the shots when it was reported that the General Workers Union turned down the offer by Grimaldi. I am certain that there were those on the General Workers Union side who had the good will to come to an agreement for the benefit of the employees, the company, the country and even the union itself. Others from the same union side behaved in a manner that, in the end, destroyed a number of jobs.

Fortunately, we had a different situation with regard to the Denim Services Ltd issue. The good will shown by all around, the former and the new investors, the government and those appointed by the government to manage the process has saved over 400 jobs. The attitude displayed is the exact opposite of that displayed in the instances referred to above.

It is this "can do and want to do" attitude (because a "can do" attitude alone gets us nowhere if there is not the willingness to deliver) that our economy requires such that firms operating in Malta maintain their competitiveness. It is this "can do and want to do" attitude that is expected from the public sector to facilitate the growth of business in Malta and as a consequence the growth in jobs.

It is very often that what may seem to be unrelated events eventually take their toll on the economy. This seems to be happening in Malta at present. We need everyone's good will to eradicate unacceptable behaviour and intransigent attitudes that do nothing but harm.