A night at the Opera

My country never ceases to amaze me. Over sixty years ago it was blitzed (and as we like adding but not beaten!) by Fascist and Nazi planes. During one heavy air raid, the opera house, which stood magnificently (or not, depending on one's architectural tastes) almost at the very entrance of the capital city, was demolished.

Sixty years on, the site is still in ruins! (This is a poor country. It can't afford to erect a new opera house.)

When the Nationalists returned to power after a sixteen years hiatus on the opposition benches, they came in full force promising everyone to give a much needed facelift to the country. Objective number one was the capital city, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. There were so many projects pipelined, so many reports, and even competitions for best designs, that one needs a full time historian to get a clear picture of the very tangled web of proposals and counter proposals about the embellishment of the capital, with particular focus set on the the main entrance. Since I am not a historian, I shall not even endeavor to give an account myself. Suffice it to say that at one point even world renowned architect Renzo Piano was in some way involved.

On Millennium night the capital city experienced a great event: the opening of the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity (yes a baroque title, but that's typically Maltese!) This centre is housed at a construction built by the Knights of St John - back in the 16th century - which originally served as a raised gun-platform. Before being refurbished it housed the government's printing press.

The Millennium Project - as the opening of the Creativity Centre was tagged - was intended to include the building of the new opera house instead of the one demolished by enemy aircraft. There was no agreement, however, as to whether the opera house had to have the original design or something new. What is important at this stage is that the site was destined to have a new opera house built on it.

Then all was forgotten. For a number of years.

Until yesterday!

Yesterday morning, The Times (of Malta) reported that while having a business breakfast, Jesmond Mugliett (formerly Minister of Culture, now minister of Urban Development), announced that this site will not, after all, be destined to have a new theatre constructed on, but ... you won't believe this ... a new parliament! The honourable reasoning of the honourable minister follows these lines: theatres cost more than parliaments.

Ah yes, this is a poor country - now - and it can't afford to erect a new theatre.

So, in the second world war, it was the Luftwaffe which ruined our theatre, in the new century it was the Government. For a second time the opera house was demolished. It's almost understandable that the Luftwaffe would throw bombs to demolish the country, after all we were at war with them. But to have a minister of your own government, and to top it all an ex-minister of CULTURE, declare war on the country's arts, is ... what shall I call this?

Fair enough, our illustrious parlamentarians need a new place where they could meet to pass the time playing cats and dogs. But why choose that place? Maybe they could build a new house of representatives somewhere near Maghtab ... there are lovely views of the sea there.