In his first visit to the University of Malta as President, H.E. George Vella got the ball rolling on topical issues such as racism, Malta’s Built Environment, mental health and the late Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination.
The president took a step down from San Anton Palace on Monday morning to take part in an engaging discussion organized by KSU where he answered questions posed by university students which ignited a conversation on various heated topics.
A Nigerian UM student asked the president about racism in Malta in light of last April’s drive-by shooting in Ħal Far which saw an immigrant’s death.
“This is something very sensitive,” H.E. started off. He emphasised that this is not the mentality of the Maltese rather only one extremist with racist subversions is needed to cast a negative shadow over a whole nationality.
“Be careful with social media and not to fall into the trap of exchanging what could be light remarks about foreigners and refugees,” he continued as he addressed the youths present, “these messages could be what fuels the racist sentiments within those few extremists that are out there.”
With regards to what can be misconstrued as xenphobic sentinments directed towards incoming immigrants, H.E. suggested that perhaps the case of not being willing to accept anymore people is not a case of racism but a question of not having enough space for them.
Taking the issue on a larger scale the president continued saying that he is worried because these racist sentiments and xenophobia could actually link up with the movement in the European Union of extremist parties. “A big block is uniting to be an effective political force in the next European election,” he concluded, “This grouping will definitely have its own voice in the EU Parliament.”
President Vella was also appraoched with a question on the current and future state of the built environment in Malta, a heated issue which has become increasingly topical over the past year especially.
“In Malta there is a very delicate balance between the rural and urban environment,” H.E. said, “At the very least one should see that the pertinent laws be applied [regarding planning and land regulation].” The situation presents a constant tug of war between developers and environmentalists where the government is posed right in the middle – in this case the government’s most important duty remains to make sure that laws are followed.
I personally don’t like the current quality of the built environment … It is featureless and flat with no redeeming factors, all concrete and glass.
I don’t know what we’ll be leaving the future generations. What we’re building is absolutely nothing to look forward to in the coming years.
Our quality of life will deteriorate, he pressed on, if we continue in this direction. H.E. urged students to be more active regarding this issue as he reminisced to the organisation he was part of during his time at UM called ‘Friends of the Earth’.
He finished off jokingly that if Malta were a dictatorship it would have been better since the built environment would be a lot more uniform and regulated better.
On the note of mental health H.E. expressed how the topic is close to heart to the extent that he has already started working on it despite having held office for a little over a month.
He stressed that before we can tackle mental health tangibly we need to remove the stigma. This will come about by raising awareness.
President Vella also touched upon suicide rates in Malta which albeit are not alarming, are concerning, nonetheless. He noted how “we are all keeping hush so as not to promote it or influence people that are on the break,” however, the fact that these cases are kept away from the media is doing exactly that.
The session closed off with a question regarding the ongoing investigation about the assassination of the late Daphne Caruana Galizia whom H.E. had even mentioned in his inauguration speech.
Until we find out who commissioned the murderers we should not rest comfortable
“Up to now we have been playing the game according to the rules,” he burgeoned, but the regulations set in place are not always the optimal solution. This is why the government needs to consider the local circumstances and regulate accordingly, and regulations should be improved upon.
