HOME SWEET HOME
By VICTOR A. VELLA
Upon his retirement in 1947, my father unilaterally decided to relocate the family to London, England to better afford his children’s career and education prospects. With the possible exception of mother, no other family member was consulted in the matter as father's edict was law. This was the time when the official Malta Government policy was to encourage and subsidize emigration to ease the population and unemployment problems in Malta after World War II. To father’s credit we left the island without benefit of government’s assistance. Together with my twin brother, I left Malta at the ripe old age of 17, in 1947 bound for London, England.My first return trip to Malta, was in 1953, at which time I fell in love with a beautiful and vivacious olive skin brunette whom I married in 1954, at Saint Ignatius Church, Sliema. Four years later in 1958, my wife and I vacationed in Malta. Being back with family and friends reinforced our sense of identity, and belonging. We were naturalized Americans, but forever Maltese and very much part of the local scene. Malta our motherland was forever in our heart no matter the circumstance. From 1947 through 1958, I noticed little discernible change in the way Malta looked. There was considerable improvement in the reconstruction of war damage. The traffic was a little heavier, but most everything else was static. The beautiful Sliema front still stood in its splendor. Dingli Circus was quiet, with an occasional car or two breaking its tranquillity. Dingli Street had not as yet fallen prey to the developer’' rape. It sported a handsome assortment of well-kept single double-story homes. The Imperial and the Metropole were the hotels of choice in Sliema. Life was slow but comfortable with nary a worry. All told, the colonial government was doing a fairly good job at education, employment and at maintaining the infrastructure. This was Malta at the apex of British rule … at the age of innocence before re-inventing itself to the hustle-bustle country which it has become.
It was not until twenty-three years later that I was afforded the opportunity to revisit the island. The intervening years were spent on raising a family and following a productive and fruitful career. As I advanced up the corporate ladder, I could not help thinking that at least on the issue of employment opportunity, dad was right. The United States was more than fair and generous to me. My childhood disciplines, family values and upbringing together with my propensity for hard and honest work, paid off. Had I remained in Malta, my business opportunities outside of the professional ranks would have been very limited. It was now 1981, when all three children were out of high school that my homing instinct once more lead me to Malta. I brought the kids along as I wanted them to discover their rich heritage and culture. They had heard me talk often and dearly about my home, and now they were about to experience first-hand the meaning of family, the importance of belonging, the warmth of friendship, and the culinary delights of the Maltese kitchen, … and much more. They took to the island like fish take to water. They noted how fun-loving and warm their new found friends were. My daughters admired the natural beauty of their competition. My son was deeply enamored with the local lasses. They loved the experience so much that all three have paid many a return visit through the 90’s.
I had mixed emotions. By 1981, Malta had long shed British rule for self-government. Tourism was increasingly becoming the mainstay industry. Politics was an all-consuming passion between the then ruling socialist Labor Party and the conservative Nationalist Party in opposition. As a disenfranchised Maltese citizen, denied the politically process I offered no opinions or sentiment on the subject but still felt robbed of my constitutional rights. Still, I was no ordinary tourist. As I walked the streets I felt a great affinity to the community. I retraced the very same pavements which I walked upon as a child. I returned to our family home on Depiro Street, half expecting mum to come out and call us to dinner. I sat on the outside door steps as I had done a hundred times before, to enjoy the summer breeze. How could thirty-four years have gone by so fast! I was seventeen one moment and fifty-one the next.
I was no stranger. This was home sweet home, my birthright, a land where my roots and heritage dated back many centuries. I had family and friends. The intervening years overseas, further heightened my nostalgia for assimilation with my past. I was as Maltese as ever, albeit somewhat American. I had changed, and so had Malta. The little genteel island I left behind was fast transforming its face and image. In 1981, new structures and towns were starting to dot the island. The natural beauty of Maltese stone was being replaced by the less esthetic cement block. The once beautiful Sliema front was starting to look like Costa Del Sol, or any other place on the Mediterranean rim. Malta was losing its soul and character to urban sprawl, and becoming a concrete jungle. The growth in tourism further strained the country’s infrastructure resulting in a serious fresh water shortage and frequent power blackouts. My children and I were at the mercy of a bowser for lack of running water during the better part of the day. Were it not for the generosity of a best friend who invited us to his villa where water was readily available, we would have been pressed to return to California sooner than expected.
I have been to Malta ten more times since 1981. With the exception of runaway construction, I have noticed significant improvements in the standard of living. Creature comforts are more pronounced. Water, telephone, power supply facilities are readily available. The easing of import restrictions has resulted in a great variety of food and merchandise from overseas. Tourism has peaked and is hopefully heading in the direction of upper-scale visitors. Environmental issues are starting to draw public interest and attention. Attempts are being made to beautify and landscape the island. Road maintenance is improving, with further need of attention. Five-star hotels are replacing the older run-of-the-mill variety. Restaurants are diverse, and plentiful a few of which are of very high quality and up to international standards. Public transportation is extensive but badly in need of modernizing and improved public relations. The most striking and noticeable change in Malta during the last few years is the high satisfaction of the people with their lot. Unlike the 80’s, the public is more conscious, of its freedom, more relaxed and more cognizant of individual and collective liberty. Most Maltese are comfortable with their European heritage and their very special place in the sun. History is on their side. Malta has always played an integral part in world affairs disproportionate to its diminutive size. I share in that pride. I plan to continue to visit Malta as often as my health permits. I want to be part of it as I will always be, regardless of political dictum. I want to partake in its joys and aspirations as it enters the twenty-first century as a full fledged member of the European community.
I have but one regret and it involves my offspring. With each passing generation the Maltese identity along with the affinity of all things Maltese will fade into gradual oblivion. My children and grand-children will never fully understand my love and loyalty to my homeland … a small rock in the middle of a vast sea, but at the center of my heart. Malta, my Malta.
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E-mail to Victor A. Vella.