Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1170309
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 SEPTEMBER 2019 NEWS INDEPENDENCE DAY The Skinny Malta, shrunk down No 2. End of Summer What are we skinning? The end of summer in Malta, officially scheduled for September 23. So, what's the skinny? Summer, a particularly sweltering time of year when Malta's heat and humidity levels reach fever pitch and the island's already swollen population doubles by what feels like 200% due to tourist arrivals, has hit that awkward tapering stage where it looks like it's just about to call it quits for the year. Why are we giving undue importance to basic climatic routine? First of all... the onset of climate change is here to remind us that none of these things are 'basic'... Way to be a downer. I'm already depressed about summer being almost over. Why? Arguably, it's only at the end of summer that Malta's warmer months can be truly enjoyed. How do you mean? Well, think about it. Leaving the house/office/ your designated air conditioned bunker no longer feels like stepping into a furnace powered by Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The tourist hordes have started to thin out just a little bit. You can actually ENJOY that trip to the beach and seaside stroll. That pint of beer or glass of Aperol Spritz actually does what it intends to and cools you down. Okay, fair point. But what about the rain? Our ecosystem kinda needs it. Also, you can finally not feel guilty about being holed up indoors watching Netflix when you should be scoffing Dew Fresh sausages at some (doubtlessly illegal) sunset BBQ with your friends... Hmm, true enough. I really should get to Season 2 of Mindhunter... Right?! Nothing ushers in the first hints of autumn like a slow- burning exploration of the birth of forensic psycho-analysis, with a little help from America's most notable serial killers. There you go, being a downer again. *sigh* Look. The fact is that summer never really ends in Malta. Go swimming. Go al fresco dining. Go hiking. Go exploring ancient cultural sites, and hide under the shade of the trees before they inevitably get the chop. Go SEE the island in all its glory now, when you don't have to drown in a puddle of your own sweat and/or the torrential, tropical rainstorms we'll start getting soon enough. So you're saying... live? Yes. Please. Now go. Mindhunter needs finishing. Do say: "Let's pretend Malta actually does have a clear separation between seasons and enjoy the annual ushering in of a new one." Don't say: "Now that school's starting up again, any goodwill towards the end of summer will be squashed by traffic congestion." MATTHEW VELLA MALTA'S archbishop Charles J. Scicluna sent polit- ical leaders a timely warning as part of his Independence Day homily, demanding that they no longer treat the State as a 'Big Brother' to its elec- tors. Scicluna, never one to shy away from speaking his mind on national occasions, marked Malta's 55th anniver- sary of Independence by call- ing on its "stewards" to take care of their household and not abuse it at will. "He is a servant and is called to serve and not to be served. He is called to dedicate his life for the good of others and will shun any temptation to abuse his authority for per- sonal gain, profit or advan- tage," Scicluna pointedly said of the country's leadership. "Accountability requires leadership to be open to pub- lic scrutiny and censure. Ac- countability is the antidote to that sense of impunity that makes a mockery of leader- ship as service and of democ- racy as an expression of the rule of law. "The steward leader, in a de- mocracy worthy of the name, knows too well that he is ac- countable to the people he serves both politically and legally. He will embrace poli- tics as a service to the com- mon good and will respect the fact that he is not above the law." Scicluna gave an even more critical assessment of Mal- ta's state of democracy, say- ing the island-nation had to "move from the passive qua- si-parasitic dependence on the State as the Big Brother of Orwellian fame to a pro- active co-ownership of the instruments of the State". Scicluna said Independence Day should challenge Mal- tese citizens to develop "a true sense of the state" and for voters to grow out of what he called the "atavistic sense of entitlement at the hand of a benevolent despot" – a reference to Malta's colonial past – and instead take up the challenge to be co-stewards in the running of the state. "This place is uncomfort- able because, to paraphrase the wisdom of US President John F. Kennedy, being true and loyal citizens of an inde- pendent country means that we ask ourselves first and foremost what we need to do for our country rather than what our country needs to do for us," Scicluna said. The archbishop also said Independence Day should instigate Malta to account as to how it fulfilled its call to stewardship, or better gov- ernance, on the international level. "The globalisation of challenges on the econom- ic and environmental level calls for a globalisation of stewardship that runs coun- ter to the petty narrow-mind- ed populist rhetoric that puts the interest of the individual states above the well-being of the human family," he said, citing as an example Malta's role in promoting the 1967 Law of the Sea Convention. "This globalisation of care should encourage us to play an active part on the interna- tional stage to promote a true sense of fraternity among na- tions," he said, in a reference to the phenomenon of irregu- lar migration in the Mediter- ranean. "We are right in expecting that other European coun- tries share the responsibil- ity derived from the influx of migrants from the South- ern Mediterranean shores that poses a disproportionate strain on our resources and territory, limited as they are. "On the other hand, we owe it to the family of nations, not least to the other members of the European Union, to the Commonwealth family of nations, and to the inter- national community, that our instruments of state and sovereign status re- main at the service of the rule of law, the full re- spect of human rights and the stewardship of the global com- munity." Lose dependence to 'benevolent despot': Archbishop's homily Archbishop Charles Scicluna: Malta has to move from 'passive quasi-parasitic dependence on the State as Big Brother'