Lino Bianco, University professor and environmentalist

The theme of this article is quite intriguing. It raises several questions. When one talks of Maltese society, of the typical characteristics of Maltese people, one would recall several historical and cultural anthropological sources to define, or at least, give a glimpse of these nationals, us. There is one primary axiom: the Maltese are the native survivors of the Maltese archipelago, a group of islands at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by the European continent to the north and Africa to the south. This physical location has dictated the fate of the islands not only geopolitically but it has also conditioned their history.

The Maltese people are Mediterranean; so are the Sicilians to the north and the Libyans to the south. The temperament is the reflection of the climate of the region from both a geophysical and a geocultural dimension. The Maltese language is a case in point: it is Semitic in origin but written in the Latin alphabet; it is the language of the south written in the alphabet of the north; it is in fact a development of medieval Siculo-Arabic. This vernacular expression of Arabic, which vanished in Sicily, has survived in Malta. Moreover, this Siculo-Arabic trait survives in other contexts; a case in point is the built-environs of the village cores. Consider a typical historical settlement in any part of the islands; it is made up of a vernacular widening organic urban texture and the residential units are typical of the southern Mediterranean basin with a baroque parish church, recalling the culture of the north, at the centre. Next to the parish church there was often, and there still is in some cases, the suq, the Maltese transliteration of the equivalent Arabic term.

A recent scientific paper entitled ‘Representations and social belonging: an idiographic approach to community and identity’ makes reference to perceptions which the Maltese have about themselves. The Maltese admit that they are loud. This conclusion is almost a foregone one. For most, the difference between talking and shouting is minimal. In friendly conversations, notably in vernacular neighbourhoods, the loud tone and engaging body language ranging from hand gestures to, though less pronounced nowadays, physical contact give the impression to an individual who is not familiar with the Maltese character that a quarrel is going on.

However, shouting at the top of one’s voice may not be an aggressive expressive behaviour but a mode of emotional, colourful and vivid talking. Andrew Borg Cardona sums it up as: “Yes – we’re loud… but it’s all rather harmless (most of the time).”

Shouting at the top of one’s voice may not be an aggressive, expressive behaviour but a mode of emotional, colourful and vivid talking

Legislation is introduced to regulate and organise society and ensure the protection of its citizens. It is an instrument available to governments since antiquity. It establishes the rights and obligations of the State and its subjects. But does it make sense to regulate an intrinsic harmless characteristic of a nation?

Locally, in the penal legislation there are provisions against loud singing  and/or shouting in street and/or shops: “No person shall sound or play on any musical or noisy instrument or sing, or for the purpose of hawking, selling, distributing or advertising any article, shout in any street, shop or other public place.” Such legislation, enacted at the time when Malta was still a colony of Britain, is taken lock, stock, and barrel from Anglo-Saxon legislation of the time.

One of the proverbs still taught at primary school level, recalling the significance of marketing in selling a product, is l-għajta nofs il-bejgħ. Should one remove such a linguistic legacy from the Maltese language? With the penal code in place, when the Maltese talk, they are generally loud. Should the Maltese be forced to change? Can a local harmless characteristic of a nation be considered a crime? The proverb id-drawwa tegħleb in-natura says it all. It will surely take more than a law to make the Maltese people less noisy.

Simone Aquilina, Nationalist Party candidate on the 11th and 12th electoral districts

If one could answer this question with a straight answer I would emphatically say no, it will not make us less noisy. However we need to understand why this may be the case and what needs to be done to bring about this change.

It’s not rocket science to realise that we Maltese are a noisy race. Nothing different to other southern Mediterranean people but the fact that we’re close to half a million people crammed on a small rock brings out a need to shout in order to make yourself heard, otherwise you pale into insignificance. Or so many seem to think.

Very recently our country has been ranked as the noisiest member state in the European Union according to Eurostat, although that is by no means any cause for rejoicing. I find all this noise extremely selfish at its roots. Construction work before the stipulated hours and on Sundays and public holidays, neighbours who decide they want to do their odd jobs at unearthly hours, cars revving on the roads – the list is never ending.

The shift in mentality or the acceptance of the law will ultimately work better if strong fines are dished out to those who break the law

But now according to the Environment Ministry we will have a comprehensive law to deal with noise. One might add that this announcement came conveniently right after Brussels had registered an infringement complaint against the Maltese government on noise levels. The Commission for Noise Pollution will be presenting a comprehensive Bill, which will include proposals by various entities. As yet though, we have no idea of what these proposals are.

So if I am a bit sceptical regarding this law, it is because this seems to be the order of the day on this island. A lot of fanfare when introducing new Bills or projects, but when we ask about substance, we never get a straightforward answer.

Another factor which makes me wonder as to the effectiveness of the law is the fact that the commission chairman of the Noise Pollution Unit, Francis Debono, insisted that the Bill was not an easy one to implement and that further long-term solutions were needed. I totally agree with the chairman on this point, however the track record of this government’s long-term solutions on environment, preservation of heritage and enforcement, among others, are all very lacking, hence my lack of belief in the effectiveness of the proposed law.

We can all see for ourselves the mad building spree that is going on and the ravages it is taking on our distinctive architectural heritage. We have historic buildings that are being demolished to make way for apartment units. And where are the authorities who should be ensuring the preservation of our history and the long-term planning of a sustainable future for our island in all of this?

The only way this law will be able to work is through a decisive shift in Maltese mentality and an effective and strong enforcement campaign from the authorities. If we want the Maltese to change their attitudes this will need to be supported by a robust educational and advertising campaign.

Education needs to start from the school desks and at an early age too. Then when it comes to enforcement, Debono makes a valid point when he talks about applying the law in practice. As it stands we have different entities which are responsible for different aspects of enforcement. This makes it doubly difficult, so if we really want to make this law effective government will need to create one specific enforcement unit answering to one entity.

The shift in mentality or the acceptance of the law will ultimately work better if strong fines are dished out to those who break the law. While our country does need progress, it has come to a point where we need to ask how much we value our peace and quiet.

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