This column first appeared in Malta Today

After years of nothing much to celebrate since Trump took over, the US is rekindling its joy as a result of two momentous sporting events.

First, the New York Knicks won the NBA for the first time in 53 years and, understandably, the city went with wild with excitement. Grown men broke down in tears, and everyone, from adults to little kids, was jumping up and down in pure, unadulterated happiness. The vibe was infectious and even for someone like me who does not know much about basketball, watching those reels brings a smile to my face each time. There is something about watching passionate sports fans celebrate a win which is hard to beat.

On Thursday, New Yorkers all turned out for the massive celebration parade with Alicia Keys belting out her iconic anthem “Empire State of Mind” and everyone singing along to the famous lyrics, including the Mayor of New York himself. The best thing to watch were the Knicks’ smallest fans, the kids, who are so lucky to have experienced this in their lifetime. Children need heroes and it is indescribably touching to see them being so ecstatically happy and cheering for their favourite players.

The second event is, of course, the FIFA World Cup. As football fans from all over the world descended en masse on to the United States, sporting their team colours and inimitable football chants, Americans have embraced them wholeheartedly and the feeling seems to be mutual. The Scots have basically taken over Boston with their “Super John McGinn” and “No Scotland, no party” chants and the song which they have made their own “Freed from Desire”. Meanwhile, the Dutch, dressed in a sea of orange have their own pre-game traditions and chants as they move in unison from left to right. Obviously, there are so many other nations with their football rituals but these two in particular seem to be all over my feed; it’s simply impossible to watch these scenes without feeling happy. With so much depressing news all the time, for once the stories were uplifting and positive.

We definitely need some more happiness in this world and it’s a relief to see sports unifying different cultures when so many other forces are determined to try and tear us apart. Of course, this comes with a caveat: nations competing against each other can break down divisive barriers but only as long as order is maintained. When hooligans spoil it all as they did in Paris when Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League and yet hundreds of supporters rioted anyway, that speaks of an underlying unrest and a phenomenon which is inexplicable to me.

This week we also witnessed people of different political ideologies coming together with mutual respect during the inauguration of the Obama Presidential Centre. The image of four former Presidents, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton standing along side each other, so dignified and poised, represented something which has been sorely lacking in American politics for the last few years: decorum. The presidential office deserves gravitas and these men, together with their wives who were an essential driving force behind their careers, showed the American people, and the world, that it is possible to not agree on many issues and still behave with grace.

We should not under-estimate the strong symbolism of seeing leaders who behave appropriately and respectfully; the very fact that we even have to draw attention to it signals just how much we have veered away from proper conduct. It is so easy to fall into a nonchalant way of doing things, where rules are there to be broken, ethics fly out the window and laws are simply something scribbled on a worthless piece of paper – an attitude which we unfortunately live with every day of our lives here in Malta.

On the local front

Meanwhile, speaking of proper conduct why do prominent figures linked to the Labour Party insist on trying to discredit Alex Borg and Sarah Bajada? One would think that after a fourth electoral victory, they would be happy with the outcome and continue to live their lives. And yet, I keep reading posts which make me wonder if the aim is simply to topple the PN leader because they are afraid of him since he is the only real threat to Labour. I doubt they would exert so much energy on someone who is not a serious rival. It is all so unnecessary and when you drag personal issues into the mix, it becomes an unkind and cruel approach which the electorate on the whole has rejected. Let’s not forget that this is a tactic which the PN has often tried to use in the past and which has always backfired miserably.

Government ban vs parental responsibility

This week the UK Prime Minister announced that social media would be banned for those aged under 16s. Inevitably this led to two questions: how will it be enforced and is it really the Government which should be dictating what children have access to?

The first question is still being debated especially since Australia imposed this ban 6 months ago and the jury is still out as to whether it is working or whether those under 16 have simply found a loophole to get around it.

The second question is more problematic. Ideally, of course, it is parents who should be taking the reins by controlling and supervising their children’s online access. After all, they are the adults and that is the role of a parent until the children reach 18: to keep them safe, teach them right from wrong, and guide them to make the right choices. I find myself writing this and wondering, do these duties and obligations really need to be stated? Shouldn’t it be obvious that when you bring a tiny, defenceless baby into the world it is you, the parent, who has to be their guardian and guiding light as they grow up and make their way into the great unknown?

Well, sometimes I guess what is obvious for one person is not so obvious for the other. We can see the fallout all around us of adolescents who have not had the fortune of being born into a family where people care enough about their wellbeing to enforce discipline and rules. It is because of these types of parents who abdicate their responsibility that sometimes the Nanny state has to step in and do their job for them.

The British government took this draconian step after considerable pressure from the majority of parents themselves. The social media platforms include TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X. YouTube Kids however is exempt from the ban as is What’s App. It remains to be seen whether this ban will have the desired result and give parents more peace of mind about what their children are being exposed to. Perhaps it could also encourage this generation of parents to be ‘braver’ and realise that it never killed anyone to be told “no, you can’t have that.”