Conclusions published from a recent survey state that half those employed in restaurants in Malta and Gozo are foreigners. I am surprised at that figure. I was under the impression that the percentage was much higher. In most of the restaurants that I visit I find it hard to come across a Maltese serving at the tables, or even in the kitchens.
I am now seeing people from Nepal working in catering here in Malta. I can imagine people living among the Himalayas saying to themselves: “Where shall I go to work to earn some extra money? I know. I will go to Malta”!
How on earth would they know that Malta actually exists? Some people in Europe don’t even know that Malta exists. But they are here, and they are sweet, polite, and very efficient.
Having said that, I also see a great improvement in the standard of food, standard of service and also the standard of cleanliness in our catering establishments. The food has changed from very English to very Italian, with a scattering of Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Spanish and Maltese, but the food is very much more Mediterranean and people seem to like that a lot.
An improvement I would say. In fact the standard of many things has improved in Malta over the last few years.
The other day I saw an amateur film of Malta taken in the late 1950s. It shows you how much Malta has changed since that time. It also shows you how Malta was neglected at that time, very old-fashioned, sad-looking, and quite honestly very Third World in quality. There were plenty of open spaces, but that was it.
The population of Malta in 1950 was 311,997. The population of Malta in 2017 was 460,297. That is 148,300 more Maltese people. Plus all the tourists visiting and the foreigners working here. No wonder the open spaces were filled up.
Neglected and crumbling buildings were everywhere. Abandoned and overgrown bastions. Very bad roads. (If we think that the majority of our minor roads today are bad, which they are, you should see the roads in the 1950s.).
Newer buildings that are very badly maintained were all over the place. Before people criticise what I am saying, I suggest they look closely at this video. It was on Facebook.
We have made many mistakes since the 1950s and especially built too many, very bad and very ordinary and ugly buildings, but we have also achieved many very good things that reflect all over the islands.
We are still not very great but we have definitely left behind the status of a Third World country, except in some areas.
In the past, we Maltese were quite happy to purchase products known as ‘seconds’. We tiled our bathrooms with second-quality tiles, we bought second-quality locally-made furniture. We were so used to seconds that our factories even produced seconds, thinking they were first-quality.
This of course had to stop, and stop it did. At the forefront of this change was Joinwell, a local furniture company. Their products were first-class and their factory was a pleasure to see. Neat, tidy and efficient. Others followed and today we have a large selection of businesses giving us a very good service, and very fine products.
Perhaps we should ask why most places run by Italians are always very well frequented?
It is a shame but one of the things that progress has caused is the disappearance of our local builders. Our local masons and stone cutters. All their work used to be done on site and it was craftsmanship of the highest order. Today that has disappeared and replaced by machinery. A pity.
In the 1950s we had all the beautiful old buildings in Malta and Gozo that are still standing today. They were just neglected and falling to pieces. This is where I have confidence in the future of our country.
Today, so many of our lovely old buildings are very well-cared-for and have been restored to their former glory. Examples: Fort St Elmo, Fort St Angelo, Mdina, the Ċittadella in Gozo, our unique Neolithic temples, our museums, St John’s Co-Cathedral, Auberge de Castille, many majestic auberges in Valletta, the bastions surrounding Valletta and Mdina, the Valletta Waterfront, to name just a few. Hopefully now these will be regularly maintained.
Our new modern buildingsare looking good, like the award winning Hilton Hotel and the Portomaso marina, the new Parliament building, our International Airport and the Westin Dragonara Hotel. Not quite so many beautiful new buildings, but there may be some more in the pipeline. I hope so. Maybe it’s just a matter of taste.
Back to Italian restaurants. Where have they all come from? I think a large percentage of restaurants in Sicily must have closed down and relocated to Malta. Why do they come here? They come because there is business here and money to be made. They are definitely helping out our tourist image and product. They are feeding the huge number of people coming to work in our country, and quite honestly they are doing a good job.
When I was young I used to work in a restaurant to earn extra pocket money, and when I travel to Lourdes with the Knights of Malta I normally help out in the canteen. Believe me, it is not an easy job.
Apart from working at times when other people are relaxing and eating, you have to be polite and courteous to the patrons all the time. Dealing with people, who are by nature difficult and complain, even if they have no reason to, is not something many of us are capable of.
It takes a lot to keep smiling and treating the client as if he/she was always right. More often than not, patrons take out their anger on the poor waiter or waitress when it’s not his/her fault that the kitchen is understaffed or the restaurant poorly managed.
We are lucky to have attracted enough people from abroad to do the job for us, because we Maltese may not have the right disposition for that type of work.
Perhaps we should ask why most places run by Italians are always very well frequented? Certainly, the first choice for any Italian citizen on the island is always a restaurant run by their own co-nationals. Could it be related to the way they serve the dishes, what they charge, or perhaps because all the products they use are Italian goods brought over directly to Malta?
The great pity about this practice is that they do not help our economy and there is no valid reason for this practice since some of our products are of the same high standards as any Italian produce. Whatever the reason for successfully luring customers to their restaurants, my impression is that most of these restaurants thrive.
So more and more Italian restaurants are sprouting up all over the island. Lots of Italian people or other foreigners working in the restaurants. Lots of appetising food prepared at the Italian restaurants. Lots of people eating in the Italian restaurants. It looks and tastes good to me.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece