We in the west are not accustomed with these things. It is only in other places that children are directed like this. Who knows…future placements?

So my advice for next year is for you and your neighbours to stay out of that scene – it’s not yours. You are not government workers but independent people who have come a long way to generate income.

Keep it that way.

Why on earth did you invite the prime minister? He’s not a unifying figure, knows eff-all about business, and doesn’t do any shopping in Sliema himself, or anywhere else, as far as I can gather.

His presence is more likely to alienate than to attract shoppers.

I’m sorry for your circumstances, Shopkeeper, but you really need to think outside the box.

Why are you and your neighbours in the situation you are in?

The general situation is slow: the economy is slow, the job situation is slow, overtime hours have been cut and replaced with time-off.

Job opportunities are, at the moment, nonexistent and the part-time work offered is the kind nobody wants to do – this leaves the customers you ‘need’ with less earning power thus less spending power.

It’s not the few who are here discussing things who are interrupting your reputation (God forbid Malta’s economy was controlled by a few commenters) but the overall situation.

If I need socks and you sell them, I don’t care, I’m going to make you my regular outlet but if I am not earning like I used to and I know that job security, my job’s peace of mind, are threatened, I’m going to eat, sleep and live in the same socks. And the same theory applies to whatever I may need.

So you really must ask yourself, why has there been a sudden change of scene? People are either falling short of money or are feeling threatened financially so the only security they have left is the knowledge that if they save their money and scrounge and buy less, even if it changes their standard of living, at least they know they have something to rely on if things get worse and I don’t blame them for creating their own ways for peace of mind because at present, the county has not got any.

We had peace of mind before because the country was controlled by effective strategies and a vision that competed with European standards of politics but now who knows?

Do you? I don’t!

They can’t leave an open space alone, it riddles their brains.

Brace for the stalls with their closed tarpaulins set against Palazzo Ferreria and resign yourselves to the cheap aluminium shacks outside the ditch.

The ditch will be filled with a freestanding concrete spaceframe with cars on top. Nice.

The upper part of Merchants Street has been reclaimed for parking, the entrance itself will be taken up by GM plates as soon as parliament is transferred.

Then the purveyors of the baroque will cry foul if an overgrown tree, totally out of place, is trimmed to size.

We’ll never see the wood for the trees, that’s their eternal agenda. When your soul’s empty, metaphysics and the power of geometry become taboo.

Why are you faced with a double edged sword? Last time I looked we were not living in North Korea …yet.

Again this is a surreal throwback to the early eighties. Surely you could all have sat down and addressed the issue with whoever was responsible. Surely someone sane would realise that it is just not done for six year olds to be brandished around cutting ribbons and switching on lights.

Thank you, Joe. One commenter with a bit of sense between his ears.

Unfortunately laying off people is an unfortunate consequence of setting € x sales target and not getting there. You unfortunately again end up having to reduce your shopfloor personnel to make up for losses.

With regards to Muscat being asked to inaugurate the lights and the girls being sent in his stead, I personally still don’t agree on the girls being sent. But on the other hand we are faced with a double edged sword.

I know the comments above don’t reflect all and sundry but it’s extremely upsetting to see our livelihood being torn to shreds by a few pathetic naive diehards. Our business day does not start by turning on the shop lights at 9am and locking the door at 7pm. Far from it.

This morning I decided to go to Valletta and could not believe my eyes or ears. Near the beautiful new steps which lead to Hastings Gardens, buskers from Peru; further down on the right, slap bang in front of the new parliament building, Super One’s new Christmas toy truck complete with their own version of Tuba Santa spewing out how Joseph kept all his promises on meritocracy – oh the irony. And bringing up the rear on the corner of the new theatre, a popcorn stand!

To complete the picture, the area was filthy with dropped popcorn and food trays on the ground. The whole spectacle made me feel like I was in a surreal world, a throw back to my sixth form days in the early eighties. I just turned round and left, wishing I was 30 years younger and could leave this frikking rock forever as well.

PL ..Partit tal-Lanzit..kien, ghadu u jibqa.

That is the problem with this country and it is more so under Labour.

Principles have gone out of the window and if you keep to them you are branded an idiot.