Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1330252
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 JANUARY 2021 Julia Farrugia Portelli OPINION Beyond GDP to quality of life in Public Life to look into it for us (not sure why, but the theme-song of 'Il Mio Amico Arnold' just started playing in my head: 'Now the world don't move, to the beat of just one drum…') Hang on, must still be in a daze. Where was I? Ah, yes. Questions. Next up, there's the one about 'what the people want'. I may be wrong, of course… but I somehow doubt that the 2,216 voters who gave Gavin Gulia their No. 1 in 2017 – or the 1,416 whose votes he inherited in the by-election – voted for the privi- lege of observing Speedy Gulia spraying champagne bottles, as he celebrates his victory to tumultuous applause. No, I suspect they would have pre- ferred seeing his 'speediness' applied to other areas of public life: like, say, in a government ministry somewhere (let's face: there are a couple which could use a rocket up their backsides…). Which brings me to the most baffling question of them all. It's one thing, I sup- pose, if your resignation could be inter- preted as an 'early retirement', complete with 'golden handshake' (or 'kick up- stairs', if you prefer) … and another thing altogether, if it's because of corruption; or some scandal you may or may not have been embroiled in; or to clear your name of criminal allegations, etc… … but… resigning to resume your pre- vious role as Malta Tourism Authority CEO? At a time when global tourism is almost at a standstill – and, according to the most modest prognostics, will re- main so for at least two years – and most of Malta's tourism industry is on govern- ment (and EU) life-support? A damned waste of athletic potential, if you ask me. No, a man of Gavin Gulia's superhuman capabilities would be far better positioned elsewhere, I should think. Like, for instance… the law- courts. Just imagine, for a moment, how much more 'expeditious' the delivery of justice would be, with Speedy Gulia employed somewhere in the court registry. Why, if his resignation record were to repeated there… cases would be concluded before they were even filed (and who knows: with time briefly reversed, the court might even pay you E500 for filing one, instead of the other way round…). And that backlog, that no Chief Justice or Justice Minister has ever managed to shorten in the past? All gone, in the time it would take to say 'Andale! Andale! Ar- riba, Arriba, Arriba!'… … which reminds me: COVID-19. We could get Gavin Gulia to oversee the roll- out of the new vaccination. That way, we'd all get immunized against this dead- ly virus… before even getting ourselves inoculated at all…! Can you imagine the benefits for Mal- ta's health service: if not, to humanity as a whole? Heck, Gavin might even end up winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine. And besides: it would be worth it just for all the new conspiracy theories it would automatically create… But no. Speedy Gulia has decided to ap- ply his Superhero skills to the one area that arguably needs them least. Why? Is it because – as implied by the Opposition's doubts – Robert Abela wanted someone else in his Parliamentary group, at this particular time…? Nah, of course not. Bad sportsman- ship, that is. Personally, I reckon it's more the need for speed, as an end it- self: you know, that indescribable thrill of feeling – even for just one nanosec- ond – like Keanu Reeves, dodging bul- lets in 'The Matrix'… RECENTLY, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Maltese Catho- lic Church launched an initiative, inspired by the international event "The Economy of Francesco", call- ing on governments to measure the economy through socio-economic indicators as well as through eco- nomic growth. The "Beyond GDP" initiative encourages the use of the OECD Better Living Index in addi- tion to GDP when measuring quality of life. The report highlights six di- mensions index to reflect the local context, namely income, housing, education, jobs, health and lifestyle, and environmental quality. Malta is not a member of the Or- ganisation for Economic Co-Opera- tion and Development, and therefore unfortunately it is not possible to participate in the OECD Better Liv- ing Index, which is compiled for its members and is based on OECD de- tailed datasets that are not accessible to non-members. It is also pertinent to point out that many of the OECD indicators relate to averages and specific years which do not allow time-series compari- sons. Malta is already committed to measuring quality of life beyond the Gross Domestic Product. It does this through the EU and UN frameworks. We are very much aware that life satisfaction involves an evaluative subjective reflection on peoples' present and past experiences to take into account their diverse choic- es, priorities and values. Measuring subjective well-being, in addition to aggregating people's experiences of these objective dimensions by im- plicitly weighing their own prefer- ences, is vital. Yet, just using GDP for this purpose is very much sub-opti- mal. In 2017, the EU started delivering on its embedment of quality of life into its policy through the '8+1' qual- ity of life indicators framework. The first eight quality of life indicators fo- cused on various individual dimen- sions, such as productivity or main activity, education health, leisure and social interactions, economic and physical safety, governance and basic rights, and the natural and living en- vironment, which are often analysed from both an objective and a subjec- tive perspective. But the EU recognised that no as- sessment of quality of life can be complete without taking into ac- count the overall subjective well-be- ing of persons. That is why it added a ninth indi- cator to integrate the diversity of the experiences, choices, priorities and values of an individual through the overall experience of life. In 2018, Malta has earned a score of 75 percent on the Eurostat measure- ments for quality of life (EU: 73%). This is a considerable improvement on the score of 71 percent achieved in 2013 (EU: 70%). And the Maltese Government is constantly strength- ening its commitment towards providing a better quality of life for everyone. Further evidence to this is the set- ting up, for the very first time ever, of a Ministry specifically focusing on social well-being and inclusion. This Government's vision of economic success through good governance, education for a long-term healthy economy, the improvement of Mal- ta's infrastructure and the drive to- wards a better environment includ- ing good air quality and open spaces for everyone to enjoy all translate into a better quality of life. As Prime Minister Robert Abela clearly stated in his message for the new year, this government will be focusing of 3 pil- lars; environment, education and so- cial impetus. Despite the pandemic and its chal- lenges, the start of year 2021 is seeing thousands of pensioners benefitting from an increased pension. And we cannot forget to mention that the same pensioners are also benefitting from improved health- care services and free medicine where the previous so commonly heard 'out of stock' phrase has be- come obsolete. This is what reflects a good quality of life. As a ministry and as a government, we are committed to continue pro- viding a good quality of life to all Maltese citizens even in these diffi- cult pandemic conditions. I am honoured to be entrusted by the Prime Minister to actively work towards the attainment of this very important objective, together with the continuous strengthening of the rights of persons with disability and the promotion of active inclusion. Julia Farrugia Portelli is minister for inclusion and social wellbeing