Nonsense upon stilts

Wayne Koh, who blogs at Nonsense Upon Stilts, has posted an entry about his travels in Malta in which he compares it to his home country Singapore:

When Raffles founded Singapore, he had hoped that Singapore would one day be the Malta of the east. Indeed, both Singapore and Malta have much in common. Both are small islands (Malta is about half the size of Singapore), both are kinda flat with limited natural resources (Malta is a barren rock outcrop) and both were at some point in time of vital strategic importance to the British Empire...In other words, they have a much richer history than Singapore.

The Maltese are generally quite laid back. For the 400 000 of them, life mostly ambles around the seasonal tourism industry. Since joining the EU a couple of years ago and assisted no doubt by the advent of budget flights, this industry is now booming. Resorts are sprouting out everywhere, public amenities are being upgraded and even bus drivers are evolving to become de facto tour guides. After all, 80% of bus passengers are tourists...

..During the summer, Malta is overrun with tourists and it is not difficult to see why. The weather in Malta is fabulous. There are many scenic beaches, bays etc. Without a doubt, it's a great place for diving or snorkelling. Or just swimming in the sea or a pool by the waterfront. Or relaxing in a luxurious resort. The Mediterranean is indeed gorgeous. Little wonder there's a shade of blue named after it. Pity the weather wasn't warm enough for me to go swimming just yet..

The Maltese coastline is also quite spectacular. As you can probably tell from my photos, I'm quite a geography buff. Have always loved beach cusps, cliffs, wave-cut platforms, overhanging arches and the like. So I trekked to some of these places and was amply rewarded with some of the most fantastic sights I've ever seen. Notice there aren't any ships on the horizon?...I found Gozo itself to be quite barren and unremarkable. Perhaps because I didn't have time to make it into the main town or any of the actual sights like the Dwejra and Ta Cenc cliffs or the Ggantija temples. I went only as far as the Mgarr harbour. Which is quite sad really.

On the whole, Malta is a fantastic place and probably more amazing in summer. It has everything, from history and culture, to spectacular scenery and beautiful beaches. Simply ideal for a holiday. I started this post with a comparison between Malta and Singapore and I shall end with one. In many ways, post-colonial Malta is very different from post-colonial Singapore. Obviously, Singapore has surpassed Malta economically. But for its breathtaking scenery and laid back holidayish way of life, I'm glad that Malta is still the way it is and has no aspirations to become some lame "Singapore of the Mediterranean"...