Kuntrast

Bejn sitwazzjoni fejn l-abort mitqies bħala dritt tal-bniedem u oħra fejn hu mitqies bħala abominazzjoni – diġà semmejt dal-kuntrast li kull ġimgħa ninduna bih meta ngħaddi minn Brussell jew Strasburgu għal Malta.

Fl-aħħar ġimagħtejn, kuntrast ieħor kien aktar evidenti. Bejn temp iffriżat, anqas miż-żero fi Brussell, u temp mieles f’Malta. Hawn, xemx fietla u fil-ġonna, gremxul li qed jistenbaħ mir-raqda tax-xitwa. Hemm… anqas minn sagħtejn u tliet kwarti bogħod bl-ajruplan… għadajjar iffriżati fil-ġonna, fejn jekk ma titkebbibx f’ħafna saffi ta’ lbies, tirżaħ għall-mewt. (Issa fi Brussell, it-temp kien anqas kiefer milli fl-ibliet tal-madwar.) Opportunità tad-deheb għall-publiċità turistika Maltija?

Dnub li bl-umdità tal-gżejjer Maltin u l-mod kif huma mibnija d-djar, ġieli tħoss aktar bard hawn milli fi Brussell.

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SE NIBQGĦU NTIRU?

Interessanti kif il-gvern f’medda ta’ tliet ijiem, ħass il-ħtieġa (permezz tal-ministru tal-Finanzi u wara tal-Prim Ministru nnifsu) li jisħaq kif it-tkabbir ekonomiku li jinsab għaddej mhuwiex xi “bużżieqa” li tista’ tinfaqa’ f’daqqa waħda. Il-Ministru Scicluna irrefera għall-ekonomija kollha kemm hi, il-Prim Ministru b’laqta l-aktar lejn l-industrija tal-bini.

Fil-verità l-qagħda tal-lum hi bla preċedent. Fis-snin twal li ili nsegwi l-iżviluppi tal-ekonomija Maltija ma niftakarhiex tiġri, la fir-rankatura ta’ żmien nofs is-snin sebgħin, lanqas wara l-1987, meta l-gvern ta’ Fenech Adami fetaħ il-vitien tal-konsumiżmu u telaq jonfoq il-fondi mfaddla mill-amministrazzjonijiet Laburisti ta’ qablu.

Għax ma teżistix tifkira ta’ rankatura qawwija daqs tal-lum, u li damet daqshekk, hu naturali li jqumu d-dubji dwar kemm tista’ tkompli fit-tul.

Hi ħafna aħjar il-qagħda tal-lum, mis-snin meta konna nistaqsu kemm se ndumu qabel in-nifs tar-rankatura ekonomika jitqawwa tassew.

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BEST SELLERS

Il-ktieb ta’ Michael Wolff “Fire and Fury”, suċċessun fl-Istati Uniti, qed jagħmel l-istess impatt fl-Ewropa. Matul l-aħħar ġimgħat, ħarġu fl-edikola fost oħrajn, traduzzjonijiet bil-Franċiż u t-Tedesk. Miktub b’ritmu mgħaġġel, fejn kollox jintqal (jew jidher li qed jintqal) bla kanutnieri, il-ktieb ikompli jsaħħaħ il-fehma Ewropea dwar kif Trump hu bniedem irrazzjonali li għal raġunijiet irrazzjonali rnexxielu jikseb l-aqwa post ta’ tmexxija fid-dinja.

Ktieb ieħor li fi Franza telaq ukoll biex jagħmel suċċess qawwi – għalkemm sa issa, ftit ġie nnotat barra – kien ta’ Jean-Marie Le Pen mil-lemin “estrem”, l-eks-mexxej tal-Front Nazzjonali. Fl-2002, ikkontesta l-elezzjoni presidenzjali Franċiża u wasal sat-tieni rawnd. F’“Iben in-Nazzjon”, Le Pen jirrakkonta ħajtu. Intqal kif l-ideat li jqanqal kienu jappellaw l-aktar lill-militanti leminin żgħażagħ tas-snin ħamsin fis-seklu l-ieħor.

Hu xinhu, il-bejgħ ta dawn iż-żewġ kotba juri dejjem aktar kif żdied sew l-interess fil-lemin “estrem”.

English Version – Contrasts

Between a situation where abortion is considered as a human right and another one where it is considered as an abomination – that is the contrast I note every week when transiting between Brussels or Strasbourg and Malta.

These past two weeks another contrast was just as glaring. Between a total freeze, less than zero temperatures in Brussels, and mild weather in Malta. Here, a warmish sun and in gardens, lizards coming to life after their winter sleep. There… that is, less than two hours and forty five minutes away by plane, frozen ponds in the middle of parks and where, unless you put on numerous layers of wool, you could freeze to death. (Yet, Brussels temperatures were less bleak than those experienced by neighbouring cities.) Was this a golden opportunity to publicize tourism to Malta?

The pity is that with the humidity that prevails in the Maltese islands and given the techniques used in constructing Maltese houses, one could still end up feeling colder here than in Brussels.

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Shall we keep flying?

Over three days, the government felt the need – via the finance minister and the PM himself – to insist on the point that the current strong economic growth is not some “bubble” that could burst overnight. This is most interesting. Minister Scicluna was referring to the economy as a whole, the Prime Minister focussed mainly on the construction industry.

To be sure, there is no precedent for the situation we are now in. In the very long time during which I have been following developments in the Maltese economy, I cannot remember that somethng similar to this ever happened – not in the momentum of the mid-seventies, nor in the post-1987 period when the Fenech Adami administration unleashed the forces of consumerism, and went on to spend the funds accumulated by the Labour administrations that preceded it.

No memory exists of an economic upswing that is as strong as today’s, or even one that has lasted for so long. So it is natural that some doubts will linger about for how much longer it can be sustained.

Certainly, the situation today is much better than during those years when we kept wondering how long it would take before strong economic growth really took off.

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Best sellers

Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury”, a huge best seller in the US, is having the same impact across Europe. These past weeks, translations into French and German (among others) were published. Written at a busy pace, where everything is told (or so it seems) straight in your face, the book continues to reinforce the European conviction about Trump, that he is an irrational man who for irrational reasons has managed to secure the most powerful station in the world’s affairs.

Another book which in France has been strongly launched on the bestseller path is one by Jean-Marie Le Pen, from the “extreme” right. He is the former leader of the National Front. However as of now, this success has hardly been noticed outside France. In “Son of the Nation” Le Pen tells his lifestory. It has been said that the ideas he rakes up were most appealing to the young militants of the right wing in the fifties decade of the previous century.

All in all, the remarkable sales of these two publications show how continuously, there has been a growing interest in the workings of the “extreme” right.