The following is the speech by Petra Caruana delivered at yesterday’s vigil in Valletta:

Good evening everyone, my name is Petra I was a friend and great admirer of Daphne. Through her courage, integrity, work and stories, Daphne has taught me many lessons.

One of my fondest memories of Daphne is sitting in her living room, overlooking her garden and talking about how nature – particularly gardens – are most beautiful when they are left free, not with hedges trimmed into cubes and flowers planted in perfect rows. We agreed that similarly, Malta would be more beautiful if we stopped meddling with nature and stopped feeling the need to shape it or even worse, remove it. Which is why at times like this it saddens me to think about how Daphne would feel, or write, about this latest tree serial killing epidemic.

She always spoke her mind which I always found very admirable especially when people tried to silence her through various threats. Like many of you, she didn’t have the easiest of childhoods due to the political situation at the time. The 80s were troubled times. At that time, if you tried to voice your opinion you could end up in a lot of trouble and in a lot of pain. This, however, did not stop Daphne from taking to the streets and protest for a better Malta. She did suffer consequences but grew from it and it helped make her who she is today which is probably one of the main reasons I call her my hero. However, what I have to say goes beyond Daphne. Malta is going through a similar time to the 80s however this time there is a lot more passivity.

The people of Malta, more specifically Maltese youths, like me, seem to believe that passivism will receive the same results as activism. We believe that liking a post on Facebook or sharing an article is just as effective as going out and being present at vigils and demonstrations and vocally voicing your opinion. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. If we remain passive, and we don’t tell our country what we have to say, our rights may be at stake. Everything that we love, all of our hard work to make it through school or university, everything from our freedom to a sense of safety may be taken away from us.

We may be in denial because we are a European country but given past events is that even a valid argument anymore?  We all need to be active before that is no longer an option. A lot of youths believe that they will not be affected by our country’s wrongdoings. They believe that having no division between the judiciary, executive, and legislature power won’t affect their rights and the way their own country treats them. Well, the truth is it does. No division between the three powers of a democracy will lead to our country turning on us and put us in a situation where if we need justice- we just won’t get any because of all the corruption. Just think about it, if there was a division between the three powers wouldn’t we have justice for Daphne by now?

Allowing the government and others to get away with their wrongdoings is the biggest disfavour we can do for ourselves and for the country we call home. It pains me no end to watch criminals take over the system and drive our country straight into the ground.

Malta deserves better, our home deserves better. Being passive is almost as bad as committing the crimes itself. We need to come together and stand up for what we believe in before it’s too late, before the Malta we all know and love, the one with breathable air and a high sense of security is butchered to a point of no return. A lot may feel like it is too late, but it isn’t, not yet! We can still change, we just need to act upon it first.

Thank you.