That boy’s letter to Metsola
We had a heart-wrenching story a few days ago.
Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola used her Facebook page to speak about a letter she received from a six-year-old boy, who described how some of his colleagues at school were going hungry because their parents could not afford to give them food.
“Can you please do something to help,” the boy asked in his handwritten note. The MEP promised that she would bring up the issue, saying that she believed that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to or exposed financial issues many families are going through. Many people are facing an uncertain future, adding that these families in need deserve to be supported.
This story was picked up by several media outlets.
But, apart from the actual letter, what stood out were the many despicable comments that one could find beneath The Malta Independent’s story as shared on the social media.
Many found the opportunity to attack the MEP, saying that once again she was trying to put Malta in a bad light. They took the partisan angle, not the social aspect of it. Maybe they did not see the comment made by former (Labour) MEP Marlene Mizzi who, as head of the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation, offered to help out too.
Others commented that they found it hard to believe that the letter was genuine, adding that it cannot be that there was not one single spelling or grammatical mistake in the boy’s words. Some went as far as saying that it was one of Metsola’s children who wrote it.
There were then those who accused us – The Malta Independent – of defending “a traitor”, “Pinocchio” or a “Hollywood actress”, while others urged Metsola to use her salary and perks to pay for these kids’ lunches.
Despicable indeed.
First of all, why should we always have to bring partisan politics into everything? We are sure that, had it been a Labour MEP who brought up the issue under a PN administration, these same people who accused Metsola would have been the first to support that Labour MEP, while PN commentators would have rushed to defend “their” (party in) government. There are many people who, unfortunately, cannot be objective and speak up based on the “who”, rather than on the “what”. This is the kind of Maltese mentality that divides, rather than unites.
Secondly, this was yet another case in which social media served as a platform for hateful messages, many of them personal. The way some people find every opportunity to spew their hatred publicly is appalling.
Very few of the comments made showed concern for the family in need or offered to help. This shows how, generally speaking, humanity has reached new levels of contempt.
Once again, this story exposed how society is deteriorating rapidly. Hatred was more present than solidarity in the comments, and this is clear evidence that we are living in a world that is becoming more selfish and less generous.
We should all be ashamed.