Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542372
THE experience of attending my very first pantomime was familiar enough. A packed house, the obligatory knowing looks ex- changed between performers and audience when the 'political' sec- tion arrived. Everyone understood their role. Everyone laughed at the right moments. Nobody felt even mildly unsettled. And that, pre- cisely, was the problem. Out came the briefcase stuffed with fake money. In came the crane joke, obediently wheeled on like an old prop that smells faintly of mothballs. Someone de- livered a line about 'naqraw ktieb meta jinqata' d-dawl', and the audience responded on cue, clapping blandly, as they have done for the past two years when the joke was rolled out. The laughter was dutiful, man- agerial, safe. Nobody risked an- ything, not the performers, not the audience, and certainly not the people being mocked, except perhaps Tommy Cash's Espres- so Macchiato, endlessly reheated across Malta's pantomimes. This was not incompetence. The actors were good, the timing pro- fessional, the script efficient. Predictably, the blame is often shifted onto the satirists themselves. We are told Maltese comedians lack courage or imag- ination. This is nonsense. Satire does not die from cowardice alone. It dies when there is nothing left worth biting into. You cannot distort what is already hollow, and Mal- tese politics has perfected the art of hollowness. There was a time when this was not so. Dom Mintoff could be mocked because he was volcan- ic. Eddie Fenech Adami could be parodied because his solemnity bordered on the ecclesiastical. These men believed things, some- times the wrong things, and they believed them loudly. Satire thrives on that kind of certainty. It feeds on personal- ities that spill over their edges. Today we are left with silhouettes that are carefully lit, meticulously managed by PR departments of every party, and utterly empty. So, we laugh at the prime minister's jaw, because there is little else to laugh at. We laugh that the Oppo- sition leader is Gozitan, as though geography were a substitute for character. Our politicians now speak in soundbites and specialise in the appearance of sincerity without any of its risks. Satire, faced with this, has nothing to hold on to. This year's pantomime fixation on Ricky Caruana made that pain- fully clear. Flamboyance, theatricality, attention-seeking; supposedly perfect targets. And yet the jokes hovered around the spectacle without ever landing on anything of con- sequence. Ego, when detached from thought or belief, produces no tension. The audience laughs, but with the vague discomfort of people who sense they are watching mockery rather than critique. Underneath this failure lies something more troubling—a col- lective refusal to take public life seriously enough to make it worth mocking. Irony thrives in societies that can still feel embarrassment and instinctively recognise folly when confronted with it. Our culture has grown comfortable with medi- ocrity. We no longer gasp at the absurd; we scroll past it. If every scandal leads nowhere and every lie is met with indifference, what exactly is left for the satirist to ex- pose? So yes, Malta is full of perform- ers, but devoid of protagonists. The old satirists had the luxury of figures who demand- ed ridicule. Mocking them was a moral pleasure because it restored proportion. Now, when every- one insists on seeming ordinary, on blending in, on avoiding the slightest display of conviction, sat- ire has no foothold. You cannot lampoon the featureless. You can only mirror it, and mirrors be- come boring very quickly. Social media plays its part in this. Every post is tone-policed into meaninglessness. But fear is only part of the story. More insidious is complacency. We have trained ourselves to accept triviality as the natural state of public life. We no longer demand intellect from broadcasters, depth from leaders or boldness from satirists. The result is a culture of inoffensive mimicry in which no one dares to be interesting, even as a joke. It is tempting to believe this dull- ness is preferable to the excesses of the past. But dullness has its own pathology. As Hannah Arendt warned, the most dangerous thing in public life is not fanaticism but emptiness—the dull competence of people who do wrong because they no longer think. Our national disease is not cor- ruption alone, but boredom; the flattening of public life until noth- ing protrudes enough to offend or inspire. The failure is not one of humour but of spirit. Until our politics rediscovers belief, and the courage to risk being ridiculous, satire will remain what it has be- come—a sterile ritual performed out of habit. Monty Python could afford to whistle Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life because it was sung from the gallows. And nothing, in the end, is harder to laugh at than that; the joke, as usual, is on us. 6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 JANUARY 2026 OPINION Ħaley Xuereb Law student and court reporter MaltaToday A love letter to boredom Clint Camilleri Gozo and planning minister Gozo's next confident step forward AS we stand on the brink of 2026, it is natural to pause and reflect on the past year while keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead. For Gozo, the year that has just ended was one of resilience, steady progress and proof that our island can look to the future with confi- dence. Economically, Gozo has con- tinued to perform strongly de- spite an international environ- ment marked by uncertainty. Our small but dynamic business community has adapted to new realities, investing in innovation, digitalisation and quality ser- vice. The ministry has worked closely with the business com- munity and social partners to safeguard and create jobs and support and nurture new eco- nomic niches. The island's labour market re- mains equally robust. Registered unemployment in Gozo has re- mained low by historical stand- ards. Tourism has once again been a main pillar of our econo- my over the past year. NSO data confirms that visitor numbers have remained strong, surpass- ing pre-pandemic levels in key metrics. Between January and October 2025, tourists visiting Gozo and Comino totalled over 2 million, representing a 12.5% growth over the same period in 2024. More importantly, we are see- ing a gradual shift from volume to value. This critical transition is reflected in the 5.8% increase in overnight visitors in Gozo and the national trend showing per capita tourist expenditure rising to €993 for January–Oc- tober 2025. This demonstrates visitors are pursuing longer stays, higher-quality accommo- dation and authentic Gozitan experiences. Through target- ed promotion and events, im- proved connectivity and invest- ment in infrastructure, we have strengthened Gozo's position as a distinct destination. This has been matched by unprecedented momentum in capital projects. From road re- construction and safer junctions to upgraded village squares, this momentum is turning our long- term vision into reality. The on- going investment in transport infrastructure, particularly our sea links, is ensuring that Gozo's economic activity is not ham- pered by geographic separation. The Regional Development Strategy for Gozo, now being implemented, will continue to serve as our blueprint for work and enterprise, continued in- vestment in transport links and greener infrastructure, as well as support for education, skills and cultural initiatives. Our priority as a ministry will be to translate these measures from paper into tangible results on the ground. We will do this on time, within budget and with full transpar- ency. We will continue to en- gage with stakeholders, listen to communities and ensure that this investment leaves a lasting, visible impact on Gozo's social and economic fabric. The year ahead will undoubt- edly present its challenges. However, through careful plan- ning, adaptability, and collective effort, we can mitigate the im- pact of global economic pres- sures, a rapidly evolving labour market, and environmental de- mands. I am equally convinced that Gozo is better placed than ever to face these tests. I rest on our best asset, our people, who are resourceful and talented. Likewise, our institutions that are maturing, and our shared vision for a more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive island is clearer than before. Through careful planning, adaptability, and collective effort, we can mitigate the impact of global economic pressures, a rapidly evolving labour market, and environmental demands Our politicians now speak in soundbites and specialise in the appearance of sincerity without any of its risks. Satire, faced with this, has nothing to hold on to.