PD Deputy Leader Warns Of Hatred Against English-Speakers In Malta
Timothy Alden (left) at a recent anti-corruption protest in Valletta. Photo: PD
Maltese people whose first language is English experience acts of hatred on a regular basis, the deputy leader of the Partit Demokratiku (PD) has warned.
Timothy Alden, an English-speaker himself, recounted how he and a friend had been physically assaulted on a bus some years ago just because they were speaking to each other in English.
“I remember when I was younger, sitting on the bus home from Paceville, somebody spat on my friend for speaking English,” he said. “When I asked him to apologise to my friend, he kicked me in the face and proceeded to pull chunks of my hair out until his friends pulled him off.”
“If I am sick of one thing it is to be demonised for the SIN of having been born and raised with English as my first language. Having been raised in Germany did not help, either, and made it more necessary to focus on one language over the other.”
Alden accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Adrian Delia of inspiring hatred against English-speakers by stirring up a sense of disdain against a loosely-defined “elite class”.
“Growing up in Germany, where being darker skinned than the average kid, I was frequently mocked for being a foreigner and a Turk by other 5, 6 and 7 year olds…and then once even having piss thrown at me and being called a dog… am I elite?”
“Sorry, but I do not buy into supposed class hatred in Malta based off of that. If anything, the people like me who can relate to this post are victims and targets and Malta Taghna Lkoll (Labour’s 2013 election slogan) was not meant to include us. Malta was for everyone, but never for me. I have had to fight for every inch of ground. And now our roots are being demolished, too, to make way for shiny Americanised flats and skyscrapers.
“No thanks. All I ever wanted was the right to live in peace, and I am willing to sweat blood for that peace and feeling of connection. I am the true patriot, Prime Minister.”
What do you make of Timothy Alden’s comments?
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