One morning, an old man ‘stopped’ my friend and me in the street. You know, just a local shouting ‘Hello, where are you from?’ My friend being French instantly replied ‘France’, and I instead of shutting up and going along with it proudly announced ‘Malta!’.

This intrigued this man (who must have been about 60 going on 70) and he approached us going ‘Ah, Malta, Malta, beautiful!… But you don’t like foreigners, do you?!’. Not being too good at Italian, I turned to my friend and was like ‘What? What is he saying? Tell him we love foreigners!’

So she did, and the old man replied; ‘Ahhh, that’s not true. Everyone knows you want to send all your immigrants back! Malta is too small, isn’t it? So let’s send them all to Italy!’.

I was so taken aback I couldn’t think of anything else to say. All I could hear was my mother telling me ‘When Labour get elected you’re going to be ashamed to say you’re Maltese just like we were during the 80s’ and my colleague telling me ‘We used to tell people abroad we’re from the south of Italy’.

I never thought it would actually happen, but here we are: I am no longer Maltese.

Egypt’s sort of wobbly at the moment. Just what Libya needs.

If St Paul were to be shipwrecked in Malta today he would be pushed back.

‘Unused part of Africa’.

Yes, the Imperium will stretch from the Atlantic to Vladivostok and Norman will be the finest of the chosen ones who’ll lead us to ‘alta cultura’.

He can’t even get to terms with basic architectural posits.

And how is it his Annozero keeps getting postponed? 2010 and then 2012, u morru orqdu.

“Instead of giving them European residence on a silver plate it would be much better to give them the land, education and necessary support they need as the ‘tools’ for them to build and own something of their own.”

The British tried that with the Maltese and look where that got us.

Do you know the number of immigrants pre and post EU accession landing in Malta and how many have been repatriated or relocated?

[Daphne – EU accession has nothing to do with it.]

I don’t see why it would be so bad if managed PROPERLY.

Instead of giving them European residence on a silver plate it would be much better to give them the land, education and necessary support they need as the ‘tools’ for them to build and own something of their own.

The Australian (non-natives) did it around 200 years ago. I’m sure these people can do it too.

[Daphne – You know, Chris, the fantasies Lowell’s followers repeat among themselves in their internet groups and at moonlight gatherings, and which seem so obvious and like such a great idea, don’t quite translate into normal life outside.]