Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/497863
Opinion 21 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 APRIL 2015 JD Farrugia The five stages of referendum grief I f I took anything from my psychology degree it is the ability to conveniently fit my emotions and thought processes into over-used psychological theories. The same theories you hear being brandished about in pseudo-psychological articles written by know-it-alls on cheap magazines or self help blogs. It is now my turn to be the self righteous know-it-all with a psych degree. So before I begin I'd like to apologise in advance to Elizabeth Kübler-Ross and the residents in the vicinity of the Paradise Memorial Gardens Cemetery should any grave-rolling occur. As I lay in bed on the morning of Sunday, 19 April, f licking nervously through my news feed and conversations with friends and colleagues I was scraping against the walls of my better judgement, desperately trying to look for an excuse not to believe what I was reading. Surely the Maltese hadn't just voted to retain spring hunting. The Maltese couldn't have just given the thumbs up for people to keep blasting birds out of the sky which have a "depleted" and "unfavourable conservation status in Europe" (European Commission, 2009). That just didn't make sense to me. I refused to understand how my country is OK with killing animals in a way which can contribute to their disappearance as a species. I later realised that what I was experiencing was the first stage in Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief: denial. I refused to believe that this was actually happening. I was sure that there was a mistake and that, once all documents were counted, it would turn out that science and conservation triumphed over egoism and ignorance. After about an hour I pulled my face out of my pillow. I decided to treat myself to bacon for breakfast. At this point I remembered one of the many banal arguments put forward by the pro-hunting lobby. The one where killing wild birds experiencing a severe decline in population (European Commission, 2007) is somehow the same as eating domesticated, farmed animals which are reared (in the millions) for consumption. This is when my favourite stage of grief kicked in: anger. Anger is a beautiful thing, it's wildly therapeutic and satisfying. I was angry at the Maltese population for being so blinded and for giving in to scaremongering and intimidation. I was angry at the hunters; at the way hundreds of protected birds are killed every spring, at the stories of intimidation and violence I've heard from pretty much everyone I've spoken to, at how even the European Commission doesn't believe the reported number of turtle doves Maltese hunters claim to bag every year (European Commission, 2007). I was angry at the fact that 25% of the population didn't vote or couldn't vote, like those whose f lights were subsidised from my taxes even though they were landing too late to pick up their voting documents. I was angry at all the politicians over the years who have been too spineless to stop this unsustainable madness year in year out. So spineless in fact that the people had to go out and attempt to do their job for them. Finally though, I was angry at myself for not somehow doing more to make sure this didn't happen. Maybe I should have attended more press conferences, maybe I should have spoken out before, maybe I should have organised a big trip to Africa to build a few schools in the name of conservation. After a strong bout of anger, most people go through the bargaining phase where they attempt to plead for a more favourable outcome of their current predicament. In this case I was not really sure who or what to turn to. Some people try God or another metaphysical being, however this is not really my style. I considered the option of trying to fight for a separation from Gozo or maybe even convincing turtle doves not to f ly over Malta in spring. As you can imagine, I soon realised how pathetic this all was. The penultimate stage of grief is depression and, by this point, I was distraught and there was no silver lining in sight. I was ready to leave the country and all its problems behind. I couldn't picture myself living on a block of concrete void of bird song and surrounded by a barren sea. I considered locking myself in the house for a few weeks and spending my time reading philosophical books in between episodes of Game of Thrones. I even considered the drink-my- sorrows-away approach. In reality though I was honestly sad for the plight of the common quail that is being wiped out by unsustainable human activities such as hunting, "especially where it takes place in spring during migration and the reproductive period" (European Commission, 2009). I felt even more melancholy for the European turtle dove which is the EU species worst affected by hunting (Hill, 1992; Jarry, 1994; Tucker, 1996). The future for the birds and the environment was not looking bright. By the end of the day, as I surrounded myself with the people who fought hard to enlighten 49% of voters about the basic principles of sustainable and responsible hunting, it was time to embrace the final stage of grief. Acceptance. I had come to terms with everything that happened over the past few years. Over 40,000 signatures were collected by an enthusiastic group of people whose only motive was not personal gain or megalomania but an altruistic love for their country and the environment. Large and small NGOs joined forces, shared resources, and collaborated in a beautiful way to make this a possibility. The press was not afraid to openly support a cause fighting for the greater good. Some of Malta's best entertainers, musicians, sports men and women, artists and academic minds dedicated their time and effort to doing whatever they could to create a better future for our little island. Don't get me wrong, this is not a day the Maltese are going to want to remember a few years down the line. But I am encouraged by what I see; a large percentage of Maltese understand the need to protect the environment that they form part of and that civil society can stand up and say that they have done a hell of a lot more for the well being of this country than any politician has managed to do so far. That I can accept. JD Farrugia is project coordinator at TerraFirma Collective and part of the core Team at fish4tomorrow Turtle doves, allowed to be gunned down for pleasure in the breeding season