A ceremony was held yesterday morning at the Siege Bell Memorial in Valletta, the capital city of Malta. Children from two schools, and a handful of dignitaries, gathered at the foot of the Memorial, to sing songs, recite poetry and listen to wartime recollections. Three poppy wreaths were laid and trumpeters from the Armed Forces of Malta marked the minute's silence.
The ceremony was a fitting tribute to the memory of the Fallen - and the children, to the credit of their schools, comported themselves as appropriate for such a solemn occasion. However, I cannot say the same for the conduct of one of the dignitaries who, from the badge on his blazer, appeared to be an ex-serviceman - and ironically had provided the wreaths for the occasion.
No sooner had the children left the monument than this person removed all three wreaths, placed them into a black bag and walked away. Such a shallow act from a person, who should have shown much more respect for the Fallen and the effort of the school children, left me feeling very hurt and angry. I have strong suspicions that the wreaths will be used again for the Remembrance Sunday Ceremony at the War Memorial at Floriana next Sunday.
If this is indeed the case, even though both ceremonies revolve around the commemoration of the Fallen, this person has shown himself to have nothing but disrespect for them or the sincere gesture made by the school children - some of whom were about 8 or 9 years of age. He is, regretfully, a disgrace to whatever organisation he belongs to and definately did not act as a role model for the younger generation.