Guest Post: If A Shy, Bullied, Science Nerd From Nadur Can Find His Voice, So Can You
If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be standing in front of the old gate at Fort Chambray or on the steps of Castille calling for reform, I would’ve laughed.
I was the last person anyone would expect to become an activist.
I’m Gozitan, from a place often associated with serenity, silence, and resignation. We’re known for keeping our heads down, and getting on with life.
I was no different: the quiet science student, more comfortable with physics textbooks than with people. Worse still, I carried the scars of being bullied at secondary school for my voice, ridiculed for how I sounded.
Even now, those memories linger like a shadow. For the longest time, I believed silence was safer than being heard.
So what changed? Honestly, not much, except one small thing: I let purpose drown out doubt.
And I’m proud of that. Because I discovered something simple yet life-changing.
There is power in caring. Wanting to leave this country better than I found it, to protect Gozo, its environment, its people, and its future, gave me something louder than fear: purpose.
Activism, I’ve learned, isn’t about being fearless. It’s about being stubborn.
Massively devoted. It’s about showing up again and again, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Since then, I’ve helped organise or joined countless protests: fighting to preserve access to Pjazza San Ġorġ, opposing the senseless destruction of a natural valley for the Triq ta’ Marsalforn expansion, raising the alarm on overdevelopment at Fort Chambray, including the loss of Gozo’s only remaining British barracks.
I’ve stood on the stairs of Castille calling for changes to our broken appeals system. I’ve sat through hundreds of clean-ups and meetings that never make the news, but still matter.
Yet the moment that changed me most was the Pjazza San Ġorġ protest. There I stood, in front of hundreds of residents, flanked by respected community leaders, from the Archpriest to the heads of local organisations.
It was the middle of June, with the solid-state physics exam breathing down my neck. I hadn’t written a speech, trusting that the words would come naturally.
They did. And as I looked into the eyes of so many angry, frustrated, but hopeful people, I realised something: my voice mattered.
Not because it was perfect, but because it was honest. And so does yours.
We live in a time when apathy is dressed up as wisdom, when people shrug, say “that’s just how things are” and attempt to pass it off as maturity. But it’s not. It’s fear talking.
And fear doesn’t build better countries. Action does.
So this is a call, not just to the usual suspects, but to every young person across Malta and Gozo who thinks they’re not the activist type.
To you, who believes that our country deserves better, you do have a voice. If a shy, bullied, science nerd from Nadur can find his voice, so can you.
We need you, your passion, your creativity, your anger, your idealism. Malta needs its youth to care, loudly.
Be optimistic. Be stubborn. Be proud.
And most of all, speak up. Because sometimes, when you keep showing up and raising your voice, you find yourself stepping into even bigger roles-ready to carry that same stubborn hope into new places where it’s needed most.
Luke Said is a Gozitan activist and a new PN candidate