The Maltese Equation

Reading his series of articles hosted on aboutmalta, it is evident that Joseph Vella in California is fascinated by the contrasts, charm and landscapes of Malta. In this article he describes it as an "intense conglomeration of European history" whose people display black and white attitudes that are "symptomatic of the great divide which pervades the Maltese collective psyche". From The Maltese Equation:

In a land of perpetual sunshine and ready smiles, where every other self-respecting person calls himself a honorific doctor of one kind or another, the charm that is Malta takes on different forms for people of various tastes and inclinations. There is a morsel of exuberance not only in the ways the Maltese see themselves in peacock feathers, but also in the manner others view them. The Maltese are clearly a bundle of contradictions. They are as complex as they are simple, as charming as they are abrupt, as cosmopolitan as they are parochial, all depending on the mood of the moment. As such they are no different than people of other nationalities, yet in a certain narrowly focused aspect their national profile is indeed unique.

It is often remarked by visitors to Malta that the local people are amongst the warmest, most gregarious and cordial, a fortunate stranger can ever run across. Seemingly once a visitor always a friend. Their love of extended family and children is equally legend. Yet Mario Cutajar, an expatriate Maltese, recently wrote an excellent article in an American national travelogue magazine titled "Carved In History", in which he shrewdly concluded that Malta has always had a dual character for him, sheltering and nurturing on the one hand, insular and confining on the other. Indeed Malta afforded the author a sharp study in contrasts...

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