I wonder sometimes what it is that makes us take such pleasure in nitpicking and amplifying what goes wrong, rather than what goes right, when Malta hosts something on an international scale.

Some of it, let’s face it, is purely due to petty partisan politics. There are those who simply shiver with Schadenfreuden delight any time the Muscat administration gets something wrong so that they can point their fingers with unabashed glee and say, “you see, you see, I told you so!”.

Now, I have often criticised where I felt criticism was due, but the Valletta summit, in my opinion, could not be faulted. I hardly think that someone’s laundry hanging from a balcony can be considered a diplomatic incident. And while I doubt that the cringeworthy, hopeless interpreter heard translating Muscat’s speech for a few minutes will ever work again, in the grand scheme of things, life will go on. As for the prediction of traffic chaos and mayhem because of road closures, all I can say is: may the same panic grip everyone, every day, because somehow people managed to find alternative means of transport and the roads were pleasantly free of traffic jams. Come on, let’s face it, even Mother Nature was on our side with this gorgeous weather.

And yet there were so many who seemed to be waiting with bated breath to see the PM fall flat on his face in front of the whole world during these two days. Or for some huge cock-up which would make us the laughing stock of the foreign media. That kind of perverse pleasure in seeing the name of our country being ridiculed can only be described as masochistic. For, do these political fanatics think for a moment that if Malta is mocked,it will be a Labour government which will be mentioned? Erm, no that’s not how it works. If Malta is derided and laughed at by other nationalities it will be “Malta” as a whole, and that means them, too.

Trust me: no one else really cares that much about which political party is in government on our tiny island. The gnawing, aggravating thought that the Labour party is in power only consumes every waking second of people who are utterly, pathetically and rather psychotically, obsessed with politics. They tend to be people who have bitten their nails to the quick as they agonise over how long it will take to see their beloved PN back in the hot seat.

Or maybe it has nothing to do with politics at all and we just enjoy tearing our own country down and get spiteful pleasure out of doing so because we have massive, huge chips on our shoulders and cannot get over the brainwashing of hundreds of years that we are somehow “inferior” to others. Instead of pulling together as a nation we get stuck in this derogatory mindset of sneering at everything.

I’m not speaking about aspects of living here which I, too, have gently poked fun at, like bus drivers stopping in the middle of the road to buy pastizzi …these are things which we put up with in fond, affectionate exasperation and which are rather endearing. That is why I feel that when foreigners point them out we do not need to get upset, because they are true.

No, what I am talking about is the constant bashing and beating up of ourselves as a country in a sort of collective self-flagellation. It is one of the things which I will never quite understand, especially when it is juxtaposed against the over-reaction of super sensitive touchiness some people display when a “foreigner” dares to point something out. So, on the one hand we are scathing and speak of Malta in tones of shriveling contempt – and the next minute, it’s “oh no, you didn’t!” outrage when a non-Maltese person says something. Honestly, how can we expect other people to love and show respect for our country if we don’t exhibit that same respect ourselves?

We really need to get to the point where we can be confidently proud of our country when the situation calls for it, while setting aside all the hang-ups and insecurity complexes which sometimes rattle our brains.

As for those who will always bring partisan politics into the fray, I’m afraid for that there really is no cure known to man.