Around a fifth of this website’s readership is from outside Malta. Most of those readers are Maltese people who made a home elsewhere. Their affection for the home country is tied to the memories of when they left it and they read of what is happening here now with a mix of fascination, horror, guilt, disgust and disappointment.
Adam Zarb-Cousin put his thoughts down in appropriate code-switching of a Maltese migrant:
Id-Demm Malti
A place I once knew,
A safety I didn’t know I needed.
A young happy boy,
Skipping up and down Triq Melita.
To Pietà in the morning,
8 cents for a ride.
2 Lira a week from Nanna,
Everything was alright.
Strawberry milk at the kiosk,
Climb in the bus that was green.
Knocked about as we traveled,
To St. Augustine.
Maths and science,
And history of Malta,
The hardest decision,
Tal-piżelli jew irkotta?
Friday in a rush,
Floriana basketball practice.
U ejja Nanna,
Irrid immur l-Axis!
Thunderous bass
Sweaty and dirty,
Heart almost stops,
It’s nearly 10:30!
Race to the stop,
To catch the last bus,
Laughing and joking,
This was all of us.
A time so precious,
Naive and free,
No thought of PN,
Or Labour Party.
Just Juventus, Liverpool,
The sea and some snooker.
O-Levels, confession,
U dik it-tfajla the looker.
What happened to MY Malta,
The one that I knew?
Maybe I have changed,
And have a new view.
Malta tagħna ta’ ferħ,
Malta tagħna ta’ paċi,
Malta tagħna meta
L-unika frustrazzjoni tiegħi: Schillaci.
Now it’s all changed
It’s not just the years.
The spirit is altered,
Anxiety nears.
Identity is special,
It makes you, you,
The same for our island,
But now who is who?
Known for our kindness?
Or more for our banks?
For beautiful views?
Or for cranes? No thanks.
Prosperity is a blessing,
Ġesù qal jgħodd l-ispiża
Don’t lose your soul,
Don’t get amnesia.
Remember what’s first,
Love and family.
We all have the same blood,
Id-demm speċjali tal-Malti.
Special because
Of everything we know,
Santa Marija and The Ohio.
Never give up,
Never surrender,
When under siege,
Kuraġġ we engender.
Din mhix dwar il-politika,
Mhux dwar l-ekonomija
Imma huwa dwar l-ispirtu tal-jum,
Ta’ Santa Maria.
We are a people so strong,
In so many ways.
Don’t allow our strength,
To number our days.
Don’t be strong against,
Be strong with.
Let history unite us,
Not drive us to split.
Hija qawijja,
Oħti sabiħa.
Minn Għawdex sal-Belt,
Miż-Żurrieq sal-Mellieħa.
Abroad, nothing else,
I am only Maltese,
Mhux tal-PN
Jew Laburist.
I am from a small island,
Rich in history,
Whose story is changing,
For others to see.
We must not ignore,
And turn a blind eye,
But be sure to uphold,
Our tradition up high.
Together strong,
Meta tkun tajba u ħażina
Kemm jekk morr bħall-Kinnie
Jew ħelwa bħal pudina.
Għax għandna xi ħaġa
Ħafna speċjali,
Għandna id-demm,
Id-demm prezzjuż ta’ Malti.