Maltese reflections from Australia

Stuart Fenech, who blogs in Queensland - Australia and to whom I linked in March, has posted some fascinating reflections about his Maltese identity and the story of his family's emigration fifty years ago. From Suburban crawl:

..It is a little difficult to gauge how much of the Maltese culture lives on in the family, fifty years after the original immigration. I am personally a fairly 'typical' Australian in appearance, speech and behaviour. I have brown eyes, brown hair and olive skin, but do not get enough sun for the olive skin to darken. I have many behavioural attributes common to the family, but I am not sure if these are characteristics of the family or the Maltese.

All of the original family immigrants can decipher Maltese but I am not sure if they can fluently speak the language. Only a limited amount of the 'traditional' food survives, with a very heavy beautiful pasta bake being very popular. Most of us love a good piece of Halva, which you can find hidden away in some local stores. The food we enjoy now is significantly healthier than the food Grandma used to cook, in that we use less oil and fat.

We all have Maltese crosses around somewhere, in the form of clocks, placemats, tables and necklaces. At the recent family gathering, my cousin John and his wife arrived in a car with an Australian flag on one side and a Maltese cross flag on the other. My father engraved a Maltese cross into one of his most treasured possessions, his letterbox..

The initial years in Australia were difficult as the family struggled to work in with a new country. Kind Australians helped out immeasurably in integrating the family Australian culture. Some initial racism faded remarkably as time went by and views modernised. The family has done fairly well, as have most hardworking immigrant families from the post World War 2 immigration boom.

In 2006 I hope to spend some time in Malta, along with a strong contingent of family. I have never been to Malta and look forward to it, particularly to meet distant relatives and soak in the local culture. I think it is then that I will get a true feeling for how much of the Maltese culture has survived. I wonder if the Maltese in general are energetic, excitable, lively and opinionated yet open minded, like the Australian Maltese I have known...

Read the whole posting here