Well the title says it all, is-sena t-tajba.. literally ‘Year good’ .. but in reality the equivalent of Happy New Year..
Last year I posted this and went into my own little thing, this year, I have not written until today. I messaged it to a few friends, and I saw lots of posts on Facebook .. then I saw a post by a friend saying he wasn’t going to conform or post as so many say it without any conviction or meaning. So I thought I wouldn’t either, because he was right, what is different about this time of year from any other? Why should be say we are going to do a good thing as a New Year resolution? I mean for f**ks sake, we’re intelligent beings (well that’s what most think) so why do we have to have an excuse to decide to do something good? Why don’t we just do it? Why do some people change their attitude at Christmas in an attempt to placate people? Seriously, if you want to be a good person, be a good person all year! Change your life, and really change yourself and those around you!
So why has this come up.. why am I preaching again? Well 3 adverts on TV in a row, and a friend’s status did it.. The status in question:
I have always stated that for alot of people, wishing the best during the festive season is a massive sign of hypocrisy…this was confirmed by none other than Malta’s fave comedian, Wayne Hewitt, with his status;
‘nawgura s-Sena t-Tajba lil kulħadd bla ebda distinzzjoni ta’ kulur politiku, ġilda, orjentazzjoni sesswali jew reliġjon. Awguri mill-qalb.’
This coming from a racist who constantly attempts to belittle and hurt Labourites throughout the year..
L auguri mhux reciprokati Hewitt!
Which for the non-Maltese speakers, basically he (the Comedian) said: “happy festivities, irrispective of skin colour, sexual orientation or political ideology to all”
Now, I thought this was all good, I see it every year, and as a comedian it’s not uncommon for him to make jokes, racist or against the ‘in power’ government for laughs. I even laugh myself.. (and I laugh just as hard if it’s a joke about being Gay or Transgender, providing it is a joke and not just something in bad taste.) But, it was then pointed out this guy is a bit of a douche… he doesn’t mean it, he just jumps on the bandwagon for Christmas to be popular.. Now I do not know the truth of that statement (but I have no reason to doubt it either) and so it started me thinking..
If this guy is really sending his best, why do people not just accept it, why do people question his sincerity? Well it could be because they know this person (I don’t) they could know that he doesn’t actually mean it, but thinking further many people do it, then after Christmas they go back to the same old stuff, making jokes about the less fortunate, making racist comments and explaining them away as ‘comedic’… Well I think we should really practice what we preach… Seriously, if we want the world to be a happier place, why do we not just make it such? It’s in our power, each individual, we just need to make it happen!
So enough of that for a minute.. lets get on to the adverts…
First one was this, it’s been around for a while and I have seen it many times…
The advert has many, many facets and always gets me thinking, it’s very much a car advert, but if you watch it from a point of interest instead of yet another advert, it shows technology at it’s best. It shows this beautiful world we live in in such a clean and friendly light, then shows the smog and 1930’s mechanical engineering as a contrast. The advert is no doubt designed to show extremes, but if you look through the marketing bulls**t (the bit that we’re using 1930’s technology and should be switching to 21st century electric hybrid vehicles) and you realize as a race how far we have come.. What power we have at our disposal, and yet how we wield it….
The second advert, by the company I love to hate .. Coke which is here:
Now this is a classic New Year advert, it’s using all the things that good people associate with and then discard to associate a product in an attempt to gain sales. Well as much as i despise the company for it’s shameless ‘on the band wagon’ advertising, I actually appreciate this one, and it’s very much like the previous Toyota advert in the messages. We are intelligent people, there are bad things going on around the world, and for every bad thing there is many more examples of the good we have in ourselves.
Now here’s the thing, I like jokes about the Irish, and about New Zealanders (not the Māori but anyone from New Zealand) I love jokes about politicians, I love jokes about people that are not white in colour… I get a great laugh out of it, but at the same time, and unlike a few, I also love jokes about the English, about white people (especially ‘White Trash’), about Transgender people, about Gays, about Australians, and about Techies… I guess that what makes me a person that is not racist… because I appreciate a joke, no matter what the target, whether some consider it racist, discriminatory or not… This is not something I can say about everyone, and unfortunately this brings me to the last thing I have seen in this new year… Yet another round of the ‘do gooders’ that do nothing…
It’s true, sort of..
Here’s the problem, while people have religious beliefs that state, “eradicate all those who don’t believe” or “all those who don’t believe are evil” we will never have world peace… no matter how much you spend on it. Wars will go on in the name of the righteous and just.. People, innocent people, will be slaughtered for the profit and beliefs of but a few. Corruption in the world will go on, some will live the ‘high life’ some will be kept in poverty… We will never achieve true enlightenment and we will never be truly good people.
So back to my title, ‘is-sena t-tajba’.. I do wish all people a Happy New Year, and I do so in the language of the people whom have hosted me and who have (mostly) made me feel at home despite that I am very different from the ‘normal’.. and so I say it in Maltese!.. and I have this thought for you all…
If you have to conform and create New Years resolutions, if you feel you have to wish everyone a Happy Christmas even if you hate all blacks, whites, gays, non-locals, but *truly* want to be a good person, and make the world a better place. Put your hatred aside all year, and…
Help the person next to you, your neighbor because they are old and can’t mow their lawn.
Help the Somalian boy in the middle of the road bleeding because some racist, fascist idiot kicked the living daylights out of him just because of where he was born.
Help the young man that you see at your bar that loves another man, but is too afraid to show his feelings because some say it’s bad to be gay.
Help the young mother who was raped which resulted in a child but everyone shuns her because they think she’s just a slut that sleeps around because no-one knows her story.
Be good to people.. make it a point to help someone, just one person if you want, less fortunate than yourself every day of 2014.
.. and if someone else doesn’t agree with your faith, your religion, say to them, that’s good, I don’t mind, I have my own beliefs and I respect that you have yours…!
Happy New Year everyone, please make it so… BECAUSE ONLY *YOU* CAN!