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A Sunny Place for Shady People: How Malta Became One of the Most Curious and Corrupt Places in the World
The car bomb assassination of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 shocked the European Union and put the world’s spotlight on an island so small that few knew it was an independent country and even fewer could find it on the map. But Caruana Galizia’s death didn’t come as a surprise to those who lived there.
Ryan Murdock had visions of living a slow-paced island life on the Mediterranean while writing about his experiences, so in 2011 he moved from Canada to Malta. To the casual visitor, Malta is a sleepy place with sun-soaked shorelines and ancient fortified harbors. Murdock imagined it to be an archipelago island of warm weather, gorgeous views, busy cafes, and grilled fish dinners. On the surface, it was.
The six years Murdock spent in Malta revealed an insular culture whose fundamental baseline is amoral familism, a worldview in which any action taken to benefit one’s family or oneself is justifiable, regardless of whether it is legal or ethical. In such a place murder may or may not be wrong, depending on what one thinks of another’s politics. This pervasive perspective created a culture of corruption that rose all the way to the top of the island nation. The office of the prime minister was implicated in Caruana Galizia’s murder, and the investigation continues to reveal a government mired in money laundering, human trafficking, fuel smuggling, and the sale of EU passports to Russian and Middle Eastern oligarchs.
Interspersed with personal narrative, Murdock delves into Malta’s unique geopolitical, cultural, ethnic, and religious history—one that transformed it from a hub of prehistoric rule into a modern society where a powerful cabal of political and business leaders nearly got away with murder.
Ryan Murdock had visions of living a slow-paced island life on the Mediterranean while writing about his experiences, so in 2011 he moved from Canada to Malta. To the casual visitor, Malta is a sleepy place with sun-soaked shorelines and ancient fortified harbors. Murdock imagined it to be an archipelago island of warm weather, gorgeous views, busy cafes, and grilled fish dinners. On the surface, it was.
The six years Murdock spent in Malta revealed an insular culture whose fundamental baseline is amoral familism, a worldview in which any action taken to benefit one’s family or oneself is justifiable, regardless of whether it is legal or ethical. In such a place murder may or may not be wrong, depending on what one thinks of another’s politics. This pervasive perspective created a culture of corruption that rose all the way to the top of the island nation. The office of the prime minister was implicated in Caruana Galizia’s murder, and the investigation continues to reveal a government mired in money laundering, human trafficking, fuel smuggling, and the sale of EU passports to Russian and Middle Eastern oligarchs.
Interspersed with personal narrative, Murdock delves into Malta’s unique geopolitical, cultural, ethnic, and religious history—one that transformed it from a hub of prehistoric rule into a modern society where a powerful cabal of political and business leaders nearly got away with murder.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2024
31 people are currently reading
238 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Murdock
7 books46 followersRyan Murdock is the author of A Sunny Place for Shady People, and Vagabond Dreams: Road Wisdom from Central America.
He's also the host of the podcast Personal Landscapes: Conversations on Books About Place.
Ryan has been writing about travel, culture and the world’s marginal places for over 22 years. His journeys have taken him to 80 countries, including desert expeditions and long solo trips through Central America and East and Southeast Asia.
He is Editor-at-Large (Europe) for Outpost, Canada’s national travel magazine, and a regular contributor to The Shift, an independent Maltese news portal.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
He's also the host of the podcast Personal Landscapes: Conversations on Books About Place.
Ryan has been writing about travel, culture and the world’s marginal places for over 22 years. His journeys have taken him to 80 countries, including desert expeditions and long solo trips through Central America and East and Southeast Asia.
He is Editor-at-Large (Europe) for Outpost, Canada’s national travel magazine, and a regular contributor to The Shift, an independent Maltese news portal.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 22, 2024
This was quite the eye-opener for me, as somebody who is too busy having his head in a book I don’t tend to take too much notice of world news, in my head Malta is a lovely sunny place, nice beaches and lots of English living there, it’s an island that could be considered paradise. With the opening scenes in this book all opinions were shattered.
Murdock and his wife relocate to Malta in 2011, inspired by Lawrence Durrell’s books about island life in the Mediterranean and wanting to write his own adventures, it soon becomes apparent that this island is going to give an experience far different to Durrell’s. The country is a mess, litter all over the place, shanty towns on beaches, feuds between locals and corruption at every level…and the less said about the drivers the better.
The book covers a lot in the 250 pages, the history of the land and it’s people, the wars and it’s conquerors, modern history and the rise of the mafia-like government that is in power during Murdock’s time there. The people are investigated thoroughly and you get a real good idea of their mentality, to this reader it felt like an island populated by Twitter trolls, an incredible amount of selfishness that continued to surprise Murdock.
The book then becomes like a true crime novel, Murdock has done a huge amount of research to create a timeline of events that lead up to the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. I turned the pages, being hit by shocking event after shocking event, how people get away with things like this is ridiculous. After the murder there is political turmoil as finally the islanders rise up in protest. Murdock’s research continues as he monitors what the outcome is for those involved in the murder…and I’m guessing his research is continuing to this day.
The writing is fantastic, it is well researched and the way it starts off I wasn’t expecting to get as involved as I did, the book spent a lot of time sat next to me as I browsed the Internet reading further into the main players. When I finished the book and sat back my first thought was, “this sounds a hell of a lot like our Tory government” I can see our leaders are very similar, dodgy dealings with their mates, bullying, parties and tax avoidance. In my opinion the book is missing a couple of things to get it the full 5 stars, I would have liked to see some photos or newspaper clippings of the events and the negatives of life there far outweigh the positives (I guess if I was editor the book would be double the length haha).
For me this is a fantastic start to exploring the history of Malta, I’ll definitely be checking out the suggested further reading section.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2024...
Murdock and his wife relocate to Malta in 2011, inspired by Lawrence Durrell’s books about island life in the Mediterranean and wanting to write his own adventures, it soon becomes apparent that this island is going to give an experience far different to Durrell’s. The country is a mess, litter all over the place, shanty towns on beaches, feuds between locals and corruption at every level…and the less said about the drivers the better.
The book covers a lot in the 250 pages, the history of the land and it’s people, the wars and it’s conquerors, modern history and the rise of the mafia-like government that is in power during Murdock’s time there. The people are investigated thoroughly and you get a real good idea of their mentality, to this reader it felt like an island populated by Twitter trolls, an incredible amount of selfishness that continued to surprise Murdock.
The book then becomes like a true crime novel, Murdock has done a huge amount of research to create a timeline of events that lead up to the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. I turned the pages, being hit by shocking event after shocking event, how people get away with things like this is ridiculous. After the murder there is political turmoil as finally the islanders rise up in protest. Murdock’s research continues as he monitors what the outcome is for those involved in the murder…and I’m guessing his research is continuing to this day.
The writing is fantastic, it is well researched and the way it starts off I wasn’t expecting to get as involved as I did, the book spent a lot of time sat next to me as I browsed the Internet reading further into the main players. When I finished the book and sat back my first thought was, “this sounds a hell of a lot like our Tory government” I can see our leaders are very similar, dodgy dealings with their mates, bullying, parties and tax avoidance. In my opinion the book is missing a couple of things to get it the full 5 stars, I would have liked to see some photos or newspaper clippings of the events and the negatives of life there far outweigh the positives (I guess if I was editor the book would be double the length haha).
For me this is a fantastic start to exploring the history of Malta, I’ll definitely be checking out the suggested further reading section.
Blog review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2024...
Read
March 26, 2025Nearly gave up on this book quite early on because of its incredibly condescending tone and the author's imbecilic decision to move to Malta even though he had never been there before, thinking it's going to be some sort of Lawrence Durell-esque Mediterranean idyll. Once that's out of the way, he makes a lot of good points and lays out the awful chain of events that led up to Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder and everything that followed. But I can't say I would miss him either.
Edit: Also I found it soooo rich that he kept going on about how the Maltese were ashamed of their Arabic roots and then used "Lebanese" or "Lebanese-looking" pejoratively TWICE to describe the way Maltese women dress and style themselves. The call is coming from inside the house, mate.
Edit: Also I found it soooo rich that he kept going on about how the Maltese were ashamed of their Arabic roots and then used "Lebanese" or "Lebanese-looking" pejoratively TWICE to describe the way Maltese women dress and style themselves. The call is coming from inside the house, mate.
March 11, 2025
Zero question that Malta’s politics and rampant corruption deserve criticism and I will always have respect for those brave enough to dole it out. This foreigner’s account of his time spent living on the island, however, manages to offend all sides of the island with its at times startling ignorance and lack of respect for another culture.
This draft could also have used another edit before going to print, numerous errors were missed.
This draft could also have used another edit before going to print, numerous errors were missed.
January 28, 2025
A very interesting read and a sad reminder of how far we remain from seriously eliminating corruption from the country's institutions. I found it particularly engaging, as I imagine any immigrant in Malta would, to read another foreigner's experience of navigating the country's customs and traditions, and observing the reactions they elicit. This book also made me reflect on my own experiences with similar local customs, as well as on how one is perceived as a foreigner and on how it is to be treated as one, even after having grown up in the country.
July 24, 2024
Inspired by prose-master Lawrence Durrell and his scintillating accounts of Mediterranean island life, travel writer Ryan Murdock and his wife began their six-year sojourn in Malta with a dream of sun and sea and the discovery of a quirky, little-known culture to write about. The reality was less a trail in the imaginary footsteps of Durrell than a wild ride into the heart of dark corruption at the highest level.
Murdock has always combined acute observations with lyrical depictions of landscape, and the combination in this book is a powerful one. It’s a given that nothing is as we expect but from the outset, Malta seems a mistake: over-built, over-populated and hostile, for all the presumed fascination of its Roman, Sicilian and Arab history on the pirate routes between North Africa and Europe.
Yet there is still promise. They rent the Palazzo Marija once the summer home of an archbishop from Naples in Zejtun, a village where Baroque balconies dominate ancient alleyways and Christian shrines jostle for precedence over arched Islamic arcades leading to hidden houses. Three different churches lie within earshot of his study, their bells competing to drown each other out, the thrice-daily Angelus “like a fistful of coins” falling on stone. The newcomers’ neighbours seem disinterested, though small acts of spite are unsettling.
But this is a travel memoir that begins, in the very first sentence, with a murder. Daphne Caruana Galizia was an independent Maltese journalist killed by a car bomb. She had asked too many questions and published too much evidence of Government cronyism and criminality, from money-laundering, to energy company scams and the sale of EU citizenship to undesirables.
Yet nothing is done. It’s the way the island works, apparently. Village closes in around village, and family around family. The moral vacuum is explained by a local who does eventually become a friend as “amoral familism” which means that any action, legal or illegal, can be justifiable if it benefits one’s own family. It’s a credo that is embraced by the then-Prime Minister and a cabal of political and business leaders who very nearly get away with murder.
Murdock observes, increasingly horrified. He had read Daphne’s articles, had corresponded with her. He watches those who live expat lives in the sun, turning blind eyes to the reality, and the corrosive effect on the whole of the island. Where he wanted to write insightfully, persuasively, amusingly about a tiny country and its people, he cannot turn away from terrible truths. In the end he does not, though it's not the book he planned. It is, however, one of the most powerful and honest travel books of recent years.
In the end, the Murdocks can take no more. They have to leave. “The sea at night no longer had that peaceful feeling of Mediterranean harbor towns. It had a skulking quality that I associate with smugglers rather than commerce or leisure.”
The sad, poignant writing is beautiful, as good as you will find. “In the end, we just slipped away.” The falling cadences capture the twilight disappointments vast and small, and a simple hopelessness. In the slipping away are echoes of all the island's evasive cunning that may yet make full justice unattainable.
Murdock has always combined acute observations with lyrical depictions of landscape, and the combination in this book is a powerful one. It’s a given that nothing is as we expect but from the outset, Malta seems a mistake: over-built, over-populated and hostile, for all the presumed fascination of its Roman, Sicilian and Arab history on the pirate routes between North Africa and Europe.
Yet there is still promise. They rent the Palazzo Marija once the summer home of an archbishop from Naples in Zejtun, a village where Baroque balconies dominate ancient alleyways and Christian shrines jostle for precedence over arched Islamic arcades leading to hidden houses. Three different churches lie within earshot of his study, their bells competing to drown each other out, the thrice-daily Angelus “like a fistful of coins” falling on stone. The newcomers’ neighbours seem disinterested, though small acts of spite are unsettling.
But this is a travel memoir that begins, in the very first sentence, with a murder. Daphne Caruana Galizia was an independent Maltese journalist killed by a car bomb. She had asked too many questions and published too much evidence of Government cronyism and criminality, from money-laundering, to energy company scams and the sale of EU citizenship to undesirables.
Yet nothing is done. It’s the way the island works, apparently. Village closes in around village, and family around family. The moral vacuum is explained by a local who does eventually become a friend as “amoral familism” which means that any action, legal or illegal, can be justifiable if it benefits one’s own family. It’s a credo that is embraced by the then-Prime Minister and a cabal of political and business leaders who very nearly get away with murder.
Murdock observes, increasingly horrified. He had read Daphne’s articles, had corresponded with her. He watches those who live expat lives in the sun, turning blind eyes to the reality, and the corrosive effect on the whole of the island. Where he wanted to write insightfully, persuasively, amusingly about a tiny country and its people, he cannot turn away from terrible truths. In the end he does not, though it's not the book he planned. It is, however, one of the most powerful and honest travel books of recent years.
In the end, the Murdocks can take no more. They have to leave. “The sea at night no longer had that peaceful feeling of Mediterranean harbor towns. It had a skulking quality that I associate with smugglers rather than commerce or leisure.”
The sad, poignant writing is beautiful, as good as you will find. “In the end, we just slipped away.” The falling cadences capture the twilight disappointments vast and small, and a simple hopelessness. In the slipping away are echoes of all the island's evasive cunning that may yet make full justice unattainable.
April 5, 2025
We, like the Murdocks, lived in Malta for over 6 years, most of which overlapped with their time there. I can confirm that a lot of what he has written about Malta is accurate, but there are also aspects of this book that I cannot agree with.
The author tends to lump all the Maltese into one group, even though he himself has encountered people who cannot be categorised as uninformed sheep that always vote for the Labour government. For example, one of his main sources of information is a neighbour who is very critical of the way his country is run. And then there's Daphne, of course, whom all of our Maltese friends admired greatly.
It may be that we only got to know Nationalists while living in Malta, but I must say his depiction of the Maltese as uninformed, gossipy, and superficial is not at all what we experienced while living there. He claims people were "guarded" in their conversations with him, and that there was no depth to their friendly banter (pp 172-3). He also writes that the Maltese treat laws as something to get around rather than obey (p 173). The people that we got to know while living in Malta were law-abiding citizens and incredibly open. Indeed, we enjoyed many evenings of deep conversation about everything from politics to religion! Even strangers have opened up to us while swimming in the sea, telling us all about their family and their problems. Shop assistants and other people one comes in contact with each day were always friendly and helped us as we attempted to speak their language.
The Maltese we know are often nostalgic for a time when life was simpler and the island was not so crowded. They grumble about the traffic, construction and above all the corruption, just as Murdock does. All of our friends are well informed and were horrified by the murder of a journalist that they respected and read every day.
We made many dear friends during our years in Malta. They opened their homes to us and treated us to fantastic meals. We swam together in the sea while discussing world events, and they have visited us in Sweden, where we have returned, only due to the pandemic and the fact that we missed our children and grandchildren.
The book is well written, but is a bit lacking in nuance. It could be that the author, being so critical of the Maltese, had trouble getting to know them well.
The author tends to lump all the Maltese into one group, even though he himself has encountered people who cannot be categorised as uninformed sheep that always vote for the Labour government. For example, one of his main sources of information is a neighbour who is very critical of the way his country is run. And then there's Daphne, of course, whom all of our Maltese friends admired greatly.
It may be that we only got to know Nationalists while living in Malta, but I must say his depiction of the Maltese as uninformed, gossipy, and superficial is not at all what we experienced while living there. He claims people were "guarded" in their conversations with him, and that there was no depth to their friendly banter (pp 172-3). He also writes that the Maltese treat laws as something to get around rather than obey (p 173). The people that we got to know while living in Malta were law-abiding citizens and incredibly open. Indeed, we enjoyed many evenings of deep conversation about everything from politics to religion! Even strangers have opened up to us while swimming in the sea, telling us all about their family and their problems. Shop assistants and other people one comes in contact with each day were always friendly and helped us as we attempted to speak their language.
The Maltese we know are often nostalgic for a time when life was simpler and the island was not so crowded. They grumble about the traffic, construction and above all the corruption, just as Murdock does. All of our friends are well informed and were horrified by the murder of a journalist that they respected and read every day.
We made many dear friends during our years in Malta. They opened their homes to us and treated us to fantastic meals. We swam together in the sea while discussing world events, and they have visited us in Sweden, where we have returned, only due to the pandemic and the fact that we missed our children and grandchildren.
The book is well written, but is a bit lacking in nuance. It could be that the author, being so critical of the Maltese, had trouble getting to know them well.
May 6, 2025
Absolutely eye opening. The book is a bit unbalanced. It starts with a comically written story about his own experiences as an expat, but the book switches gears somewhere halfway in with the shocking story about the rampant corruption in government and its collusion with businesses in the murder of the journalist who was becoming a threat to their power and their source of illegal income.
Just as I was reading the section about how certain government officials and business owners were enriching them in energy company schemes, the Times of Malta reported involvement of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi in hiding profits which were just a scheme to buy and resell a wind farm at a ridiculous profit.
We were making serious plans to move to Malta but based on our recent visit and after reading this book it’s going to be hard to justify that. Yes they have a really good taxing scheme for expats, but we could not justify living in such corrupt society.
A must read for wannabe Malta residents.
Just as I was reading the section about how certain government officials and business owners were enriching them in energy company schemes, the Times of Malta reported involvement of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi in hiding profits which were just a scheme to buy and resell a wind farm at a ridiculous profit.
We were making serious plans to move to Malta but based on our recent visit and after reading this book it’s going to be hard to justify that. Yes they have a really good taxing scheme for expats, but we could not justify living in such corrupt society.
A must read for wannabe Malta residents.
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December 24, 2025More nonfiction needs to be written by people with such unbridled, seething hatred for their subject.
Like many people that fall into the same categories as me, I learned of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination through a series of posts on Pinterest, and for whatever reason, have retained the information since. I do sincerely believe that her death was a domino that has since triggered a cascade of increasingly sobering political activity the world over, in Europe and the Mediterranean particularly. A journalist openly murdered by the government and ruling class of her own country, and nobody gave a fuck. TO THIS DAY nobody gives a fuck. She does not know justice. With each day that passes I grow less certain that she ever will.
This novel is a very well-written exploration of Maltese culture, politics, and history, as well as a takedown of said culture, politics, and history. I highly recommend this read to anyone looking for a niche nonfiction read, or to anyone curious about the circumstances surrounding Galizia’s untimely death.
Like many people that fall into the same categories as me, I learned of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination through a series of posts on Pinterest, and for whatever reason, have retained the information since. I do sincerely believe that her death was a domino that has since triggered a cascade of increasingly sobering political activity the world over, in Europe and the Mediterranean particularly. A journalist openly murdered by the government and ruling class of her own country, and nobody gave a fuck. TO THIS DAY nobody gives a fuck. She does not know justice. With each day that passes I grow less certain that she ever will.
This novel is a very well-written exploration of Maltese culture, politics, and history, as well as a takedown of said culture, politics, and history. I highly recommend this read to anyone looking for a niche nonfiction read, or to anyone curious about the circumstances surrounding Galizia’s untimely death.
April 9, 2025
Wow... After a short holiday to Malta and hearing about the story of a journalist who had been murdered on the island, I picked up this book at the airport and started understanding. Malta is one of the most corrupt places in the world! Politics and society are intertwined, and locals mostly care about themselves and how they can gain something. Still, to this day, the corruption and lack of repercussion reign high in Malta. Europe should be a lot more worried about who & how Malta has set the gates open to money laundering, terrorism, criminality,...
Very spooky story. I had to keep repeating to myself that I wasn't reading a fictional book! If you want to know anything about Malta, or you think of moving there, read this book first!!!
Very spooky story. I had to keep repeating to myself that I wasn't reading a fictional book! If you want to know anything about Malta, or you think of moving there, read this book first!!!
June 7, 2024
I'm really not sure what to make of this book. Telling the story of the deep corruption present in all aspects of life on the beautiful and strategically important island nation of Malta, it starts as a personal memoir and partway through morphs into a political tale of intrigue and murder. The author is a former travel writer and you can tell--the early parts have more of a travel memoir feel and work better than the later, more serious parts. Throughout the book threads of the story are randomly introduced and then dropped without comment. The timeline is extremely muddled. Overall it's a compelling story that maybe needed a better storyteller.
October 27, 2024
A brilliantly-written book that reminds me why I need to leave this God-forsaken island. It’s sad really since I am Maltese on paper, but I will NEVER be Maltese in my heart and I fully empathize with the author’s perspective.
I want Malta to be better but I will never waste my life for the Maltese. I will leave this very brief review with a line that resonated with me the most: “Malta is a place where foreigners come and go. I wasn’t expecting trumpets or open weeping, [as the author left the island], but it felt like my existence on the island was as transient and unimportant as I had intuited all along.”
I want Malta to be better but I will never waste my life for the Maltese. I will leave this very brief review with a line that resonated with me the most: “Malta is a place where foreigners come and go. I wasn’t expecting trumpets or open weeping, [as the author left the island], but it felt like my existence on the island was as transient and unimportant as I had intuited all along.”
February 9, 2025
Murdock's book is good at describing the culture of corruption that has pervaded Malta..His analysis of the financial crimes is less capable. Even if he understands how the crooked deals worked, he doesn't express that clearly.
September 14, 2024
Everyone, especially Maltese, should read this book.
January 11, 2025
Two stars for the painstaking research I’m sure was involved, however it reads more like a dry report of the terrible corruption in Malta. A very sad situation but just so dry and all little details.
January 15, 2025
Depressing and awful
Want to read
January 29, 2025to+AC0-read
October 12, 2024
Having followed all the author's guest posts on the Running Commentary and having regularly followed his blog I was really looking forward to this book, but it left me rather disappointed.
A good half of the book is dedicated to a brief account of Maltese history and scathing observations of Maltese culture. As a Maltese person, I can't say I drew much insight from this, other than seeing a complete stranger's point of view to customs, traditions and a general way of life that is alien to them. But then again I imagine that any foreigner looking at another country's traditions and culture will be equally as baffled and dumbfounded by how senseless it all is (to them).
The rest of the book is dedicated to retelling the story of Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, the evets that led to it and some of the events that occurred after it, but here again, I felt there was no real additional insight provided by the book that could not be gleaned from news reports and myriad blog posts that have already been published about the story.
Overall, the tone of the book feels somewhat patronizing - almost with colonial undertones. The author gives the impression that they belong to a superior, more evolved culture and that they suffered the inconvenience of living in Malta for a few years and during that time he marveled at just how backward Maltese society is.
Perhaps this was just an intended hyperbole by the author to drive the point home, or perhaps I just happened to not form part of the book's intended audience.
A good half of the book is dedicated to a brief account of Maltese history and scathing observations of Maltese culture. As a Maltese person, I can't say I drew much insight from this, other than seeing a complete stranger's point of view to customs, traditions and a general way of life that is alien to them. But then again I imagine that any foreigner looking at another country's traditions and culture will be equally as baffled and dumbfounded by how senseless it all is (to them).
The rest of the book is dedicated to retelling the story of Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, the evets that led to it and some of the events that occurred after it, but here again, I felt there was no real additional insight provided by the book that could not be gleaned from news reports and myriad blog posts that have already been published about the story.
Overall, the tone of the book feels somewhat patronizing - almost with colonial undertones. The author gives the impression that they belong to a superior, more evolved culture and that they suffered the inconvenience of living in Malta for a few years and during that time he marveled at just how backward Maltese society is.
Perhaps this was just an intended hyperbole by the author to drive the point home, or perhaps I just happened to not form part of the book's intended audience.
May 12, 2024
sad;very very sad, but true.
As a Maltese person (by birth, not because I bought a passport) living overseas reading this feels like shame. You want to turn on the writer and call them a liar, but you cannot because everything they say is true.
As a nation, we are cowardly, pusillanimous and will do anything to keep our heads below the parapet. ‘X’jimpurtani?’ Malta’s very own brand of whataboutism. Every time we are called to stand up and be counted, people ask (and I can attest to this) ‘what’s in it for me?’. If there’s nowt but trouble, we run like the clappers in the other direction. We’d sell our mothers, and our souls for a bit of extra cash jingling in our pockets.
This book details the descent into madness of this island I once called ‘home’ - the madness was always there, to be clear, but it was held in check, to some extent. Muscat’s rise to power unleashed it.
Murdock looks at the island thru a critical lens, unencumbered by the sentimental bullshit that seems to be the bane of most islanders. You cannot help wonder, if only - if only more people were more self-aware and reflective, then maybe the country wouldn’t be in the mess it currently is.
As a Maltese person (by birth, not because I bought a passport) living overseas reading this feels like shame. You want to turn on the writer and call them a liar, but you cannot because everything they say is true.
As a nation, we are cowardly, pusillanimous and will do anything to keep our heads below the parapet. ‘X’jimpurtani?’ Malta’s very own brand of whataboutism. Every time we are called to stand up and be counted, people ask (and I can attest to this) ‘what’s in it for me?’. If there’s nowt but trouble, we run like the clappers in the other direction. We’d sell our mothers, and our souls for a bit of extra cash jingling in our pockets.
This book details the descent into madness of this island I once called ‘home’ - the madness was always there, to be clear, but it was held in check, to some extent. Muscat’s rise to power unleashed it.
Murdock looks at the island thru a critical lens, unencumbered by the sentimental bullshit that seems to be the bane of most islanders. You cannot help wonder, if only - if only more people were more self-aware and reflective, then maybe the country wouldn’t be in the mess it currently is.
November 7, 2024
I’m not a non fiction reader therefore I felt it got a little dry at times, I will say I no longer have any desire to go to Malta as the corruption sounds like it will never leave this island if sunny places and shady people,.
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