I am a Maltese citizen and I have built FreeMalta here. I know how much this island can give a person: a familiar street, a sea that changes colour by the hour, a sense that another idea can still find room to grow. That affection is exactly why I refuse to pretend that daily life has become easy.
People can argue over the perfect measure of affordability. The experience behind the argument is simpler. A salary that once offered breathing room may no longer cover a home, bills and a little freedom at the end of the month. When someone asks whether Malta is still worth living in, that is not an insult to Malta. It is a question Malta should want to answer honestly.
A beautiful view is not a housing policy
Too often we discuss growth as though the only test is whether a new building opened or another company arrived. I want companies to succeed. I want people to find work. But I also want to know whether a nurse, a hospitality worker or a young family can build a life near that success.
The government should be judged not only by what it announces, but by how predictable and usable its support is. An entrepreneur cannot plan around silence. A worker cannot pay rent with a headline about national progress. Good policy reaches people in time to change a decision, not months after the decision has already become painful.
Criticism is a form of belonging
I am not writing Malta off. I am asking more of it. A country this small can see the consequences of its choices quickly. That should make us more ambitious about homes, wages, transport and public services, not more defensive when somebody points to a failure.
We can love the light on Valletta and still ask who can afford to stay. In fact, if we love it, we have to.
This column represents the author's view. It is separate from News Beast's automated, source-backed news reports.