Malta: Mumbai with a Mediterranean Twist

So, picture this: I recently decided to dine at a traditional Maltese restaurant. You'd expect a cozy, authentic experience, right? Wrong. The waiters were Indian. Now, don't get me wrong, they were polite, well-spoken, and knew the menu inside out. But the food? It was as disappointing as a lukewarm cup of tea. Then I noticed the chef was Indian too. An Indian chef cooking Maltese dishes? It's like having a Yorkshireman prepare sushi. No wonder it tasted off.

My day continued with a standard-sized Maltese wedding gig. They had a charming Maltese bus for the wedding party, a real throwback. But guess who was driving? An Indian chap promptly scraped the side of the bus against the entrance pillar. It looked as out of place as a vegetarian in a steakhouse.

The wedding spread was brimming with Maltese dips and snacks, but every waiter was Indian. None of them had a clue what they were serving. Hearing them try to pronounce "pastizzi" was pure comedy. I've got a few food allergies, so I asked one of them, "What's in this?" He flashed a massive smile and said, "It's good, sir." I replied, "I know it's good, but what's in it?" He smiled again and said, "I'll go and ask, sir." I had to tell him to find out before he left the kitchen, otherwise, he could kill someone. He just smiled and thanked me, as if I’d complimented his shoes.

Let's be honest: Indian and especially Nepalese workers are lovely—always polite, always respectful, and always smiling. But they haven't got a clue what they’re doing. The icing on the cake? This morning, I saw Indians setting up festa lights and arranging Christian statues in a village piazza. We’ve lost our soul! We’ve lost our identity! And before anyone tells me that Maltese people don’t want these jobs anymore, try paying them a proper wage and see what happens. 

The reality is that we prefer to pay third-country workers peanuts to do our jobs. Tourists come to Malta to soak up our culture, our amazing history, and to see our nation. Right now, it’s like they’re visiting Mumbai. The quality of our tourist experience is being eroded. Call me a racist if you like, but I know I’m not. I’ve seen and experienced too much around the globe to be one. Most of these foreign workers are wonderful people just looking for a better life. It’s true. But at what cost to us? The money they earn goes back home, leaving nothing in our economy.

We’ve changed the face of our nation all for greed. Our roads have become a circus. As a biker, I have close calls every day with drivers who seem to have learned from Mario Kart. Does anyone care? Of course not. It's become impossible to live like this. Add to this mess the tens of corruption cases, hundreds of closed roads, thousands of building sites everywhere. We’re all getting sick, both mentally and physically. Our hospitals are way over capacity. And then you ask yourself, why the hell am I still living here?

Before anyone tells me to go back to my country—Malta is my country. No matter what, it will always be my home. And I’m not going anywhere.

#MaltaCrisis #CulturalIdentity #TourismQuality #LocalEconomy #WorkforceIssues #AuthenticExperience #MalteseHeritage #EconomicImpact #CulturalShift #LocalJobs #TouristExpectations #IdentityLoss #ModernMalta #TraditionVsModernity #EconomicReality