Saviour Balzan | Sunday, 10 May 2009

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Malta’s prime ambassador

Saviour Balzan was fortunate enough to see Joseph Calleja at Vienna’s Opera house

Recently I was listening to a radio show, in which comment was being passed on the elections that had just passed. “Well, we all say exaggerated things during elections, we get carried away… and then after we come down to earth, we continue with our political work.”
It was Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi talking on a chat show on Radio 101. And though it could be considered as an honest declaration, it very much summed up the reality of politics in general. What Gonzi exposed could easily be applied to Joseph Muscat and any other political leader.
In politics and during elections, we observe and note the exaggerations. And more importantly, we note the twisting of the news and the amplification and emphasis of mistakes. It is a game best played by actors, but it is in fact replayed over and over again by politicians.
The recriminations from both sides about the state of play of many of the MEP candidates is depressing. The PM attempts to portray his candidates as the best grouping you could ever have and Muscat does the same with his. It turns sour, not sweet, when they talk about political issues. The migration issue is a case in point, with all parties attempting to score brownie points and saying things we would not say if we were truly European Union members. Once again, with Berlusconi’s maverick politics, we should not be too surprised with the performance of our politicos.
It goes on, with hand on heart declarations about how much Dr Gonzi is trying to save hunting in spring at the European Court of Justice. Wishful thinking – and that’s not based on some reality check, but rather on an attempt to stop the haemorrhage of hunters’ and trappers’ votes. Spring hunting is over Dr Gonzi – if you have the gall, you should take Simon and David and together pronounce these words to the public.
Yet, all this seems to have little relevance here in Vienna as I sat down in one of those pleasant moments when culture takes over. Seated in the opera house listening to and watching Joseph Calleja was more than a delight. It was just super.
A sense of pride is what we felt when Calleja as Alfredo in La Traviata performed to a rapturous applause in the Vienna State Opera. I cannot recall the curtain calls, but they must have been more than 12.
It was a double surprise for us. For one, we had booked an opera ticket without knowing that Calleja was the tenor. It was a sad reminder of how Air Malta and other Maltese tourist agencies, as well as the Malta Tourism Authority, do little to promote Malta’s prime ambassador. He is our ambassador indeed, unlike some other boring representatives with little to offer in flair and talent.
Listening to Calleja literally sent shivers down my spine, and strangely, brought tears to my eyes. It is one of those rare occasions that makes you so proud to be a Maltese. And whereas all nations large and small turn their stars into showpieces, here in Malta we continue to believe that our only icons are our saints and/or politicians.
In the intermission, I looked for other fellow Maltese and there were none, other than two Maltese women, one of them being Calleja’s humble mother. I cannot say that I missed seeing Maltese, but it would have been nice to share a glass of good Austrian white wine (priced at very much the same price as a wine at Manoel Theatre) with other more cultured Opera aficionados.
In Vienna, a city destroyed in the last war, there are dozens of reminders of great personalities. Coffee shops have little signs reminding guests of famous patrons who had honoured them with their patronage. It is city driven by a marketing desire to make tourists, local and foreign, feel they are truly in a special place surrounded by memories of great men and women.
All throughout you are greeted with a hello and a smile, and there are many more tourists than you could ever imagine. Their tourist board has a budget of €27 million and 107 employees. But Vienna attracts at least six times the number of tourists that visit Malta.
Compare that ratio with the MTA budget and staff complement and tourist numbers in Malta and you start to ask question: what is wrong? Malta boasts of antique and diverse architecture and a rich history, yet Vienna and the Viennese (like other European cities) have learned to capitalise on every little bit of their culture, be it a coffee house or a fountain or a local vineyard.
Yes, we will never match their central position and their music. But we could perhaps learn a lesson or too. The first could be to make the best in promoting our icons and reminding visitors of them. If Lord Byron walked the streets of Valletta, then let us have a neat, MEPA-approved signpost with some history and anecdotes about the poet in Valletta.
The same goes for the hundreds of characters from our history who walked the streets of our capital city and adjoining towns. Someone needs to think out of the box. Someone needs to bring to the fore the things that could make Malta more attractive.
And forget about the hotels – people sleep in hotels; they do not visit countries because of them. The real investment must take place in our towns and streets where educated and cultural driven tourists walk and stroll.
But back to Calleja. His work abroad can do more to help Malta’s image than the combined effort of all our politicians. It is high time we bring together all the agencies and merge their activities to promote Malta. It is high time we start thinking of MTA and Heritage Malta as agencies that serve the country.
The writing is on the wall – perhaps what is needed now is for someone to implement it and get it done. Who? I guess that is the question.

sbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt

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