An illusionary allegory to ‘Canterbury Tales’

Readers may ask why I am making an analogy to Canterbury Tales.

The answer is because some of the moral lessons garnered from this masterpiece written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1392, can be compared and contrasted to events happening in modern age. Briefly, the story relates about a group of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury Cathedral – they all compete in a storytelling contest. This overarching plot provides a reason for the pilgrims to tell their stories, which reflect concerns sparked by the social upheavals of late medieval England. Likewise, in Malta, during the past decade there has been endless events from both sides of the political divide which when recounted can add up to tales of greed, corrupt practices, nepotism, vices and an occasional homicide. Poetically set in a tavern, Chaucer wrote his legendary tale which over the centuries has stood the test of times. Literary scholars compare its grandeur to that of the contemporary Italian maestro Boccaccio. For lovers of Chaucer, in my opinion the three most interesting stories are that of the Friar, the Miller and the Pardoner (remittance of sins). The web of intrigue and corruption, even in medieval England, makes them no different to home-grown scandals we read nowadays in modern times.

To delve more deeply in the famous tales, may I start with the one conjured by the Friar. This tells a story about a corrupt friar who, seeking to cheat parishioners of their money, is himself cheated. Their tales introduce the theme of corrupt church officials abusing their positions for financial gain while also illustrating the rivalries among different religious professions. The story runs parallel with today’s local scandals where financial regulators, the police and Attorney General have occasionally slowed down their prosecution fervour, stymying prosecutions and allegedly aiding transgressors to continue in his/her ways running unscathed. In less than four years, we witnessed the resignations of a prime minister, a commissioner of police, an Attorney General, a chief of staff, an energy minister, a finance minister and a minister of economic affairs from Cabinet. This is quite a carousel. There were two resignations at the top echelons of MFSA and MGA and the appointment of a new finance minister, Attorney General and police commissioner – these contributed to the prognosis that a root and branch reform was overdue. The list of tales in modern days can include the Enemalta oil procurement scandal which made the headlines prior to the 2013 elections, when the main protagonist was granted a state pardon to reveal bona fide evidence.

Surprisingly, so far, nobody has been arraigned. A more recent case involves the ITS property deal which was struck with Projects Malta on favourable terms, allegedly on paper earning the sole bidder millions. A classic case involves an ex-Cabinet member (now resigned but serving as an independent in Parliament). She expressed in published personal chats with a confidante (now in custody for four years) her belief that all members of the ruling clan are “pigging”.

Back to The Canterbury Tales and let us visit another popular story – one told by the Miller. This is a typical story associated with greedy people. The author highlights that the Miller is dishonest with a golden thumb, as he steals grains and charges buyers three times higher than the original price. Hence, he is a wealthy man whose utmost concern is to increase his profit. Here, one may make an analogy to a number of public land grabs by cronies sanctioned by Castille under the pretext of promoting job creation and fostering an illusionary high-end tourism. These persons aided with architects, financial consultants and top lawyers combine their acumen to acquire vast stretches of ODZ land or unsanctioned villas at fire-sale prices, later converting them into upmarket tourist or luxury residential complexes.

Moving on, the next pilgrim’s tale features the Pardoner. He is a symbol of evil, who comes from Rome along with his bag of false holy relics to deceive innocent people. He believes that the extortion of money is possible only by preaching against the greediness of money. That is why he walks around with holy relics and preaches the evils of money and avarice. Out of greed, he robs many innocent persons in the name of faith. Ironically, he is not ashamed of his wrongdoings and corruption. In my opinion, this mimics the lax attitude by regulators when licensing sleazy banks, shoddy private pension schemes, alleged money laundering activities, illegal trading of Libyan oil over the high seas and the scandalous sale of three state hospitals irregularly conceded to a nondescript bidder. A recent upgrade of an NAO investigation reveals a heist upwards of €588m openly approved by finance/health ministers when privatising three hospitals. Tales of unproven kickbacks float in the air intoxicating the virtuous.

All this is camouflaged under a feel-good factor of regular Central Bank prognosis about Malta being the best in the EU, championing full employment and hailing regular bequeathing of free cash to voters. The impression is that Castille toils to create sustainable job opportunities, tames the galloping cost of living, recruits hundreds of low-paid TCNs, sells Golden passports, attracts millions of sun-sea tourists and funds a bevy of social assistance schemes. Recently it is airing tantalising state TV shows like Loving Malta. Therefore, the state is spinning a tale – it was surreptitiously converting vice into virtue. Social progress during L-Aqwa Zmien resulted in the passions and vices of rulers and their devious schemes which were compensated by self interest, allowing them to allegedly accumulate wealth in Panama companies, in secret Dubai trusts or basking in luxury holidays paid by an anonymous Jordan benefactor. Scandals linked to the brutal assassination of a journalist are often white-washed by hypocrisy or pride and one observes that, in this complex society, vice is camouflaged with virtue. A Central Bank governor (formerly a finance minister), who under his tenure such shenanigans were approved, claims innocence saying he was excluded from the powerful “kitchen cabinet” clique.

This parody reminds us of the factors that led to our greylisting (this has recently been lifted) by FAFT as the only EU country. Surely, one of the basic lessons learned from Chaucer’s masterpiece is that when one finds himself in a deep hole, he had better stop digging. Perhaps, our antidote as a society involves a difficult transformation of personal interests culminating in a virtuous life hailed as a function of collective well-being, care for the environment, probity and good governance.