ADDRESS BY H.E. PROF. GUIDO DE MARCO, PRESIDENT OF MALTA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE CONFERMENT BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MALTA OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF LITERATURE HONORIS CAUSA ON H.E. THE PRESIDENT OF MALTA

On such occasions, one is tempted to dwell on the past and to share with those present some reflections on those very aspects of one's life underlined by the Council of this University, in its deliberations leading to this day's occasion.

The conferment on me of the degree of Doctor of Literature Honoris Causa, is a moment of shared happiness; shared with you all, members of this University. The University of Malta is not only my Alma Mater, in the sense of being that institution of higher learning where I received my academic studies, and my profession; it has been my academic home – a place of encounter and debate with successive generations of students for these last thirty-four years.

It is at this University that I had the privilege of being taught by professors and lecturers, who formed my thinking and built my intellectual ambitions. This is the Alma Mater which put me in contact, amongst others, with Professor Anthony Mamo, later to become Malta's first President of the Republic, Professor Victor Caruana Galizia, Professor Felice Cremona, Professor Guz'? Aquilina, Professor Edward Coleiro, Dott. Giovanni Curmi, Dr Censu Gatt and Father Gerald Seaston.

To them all and to the many others I want to express my thanks for fostering in me the love of learning and service to my country.

It is this University which first exposed me to leadership and responsibility, mainly through the several student societies, in particular, the Students' Representative Council in which I served as President and whose centenary of foundation we were celebrating these last days.

But it is not the past that I want to share with you. It is my vision for the future.

What will Malta be in the coming years; how will it answer to the challenges of change; what values shall we ascribe to our identity as a people, as a nation; what role for Malta, tomorrow.

My generation had the privilege of living the attainment of independence, the full realisation, not without pains, of a democratic society; the knowledge that our country, albeit small in size, can be a relevant partner in the international community; that our language, the Maltese language, is a determining factor of our identity as a people; that the welfare and caring society are the achieved ambition of our country.

Many dreamt but have not seen the realisation of this vision: Mikiel Anton Vassalli and the Maltese language, Fortunato Mizzi, Ugo Mifsud and Enrico Mizzi, and an independent Malta; Manuel Dimech and Paul Boffa, and the rights of our workers in a welfare and caring society.

Today's generations consider these as part of our nation's acquis, our heritage, not to be doubted, never to be queried.

But for today's generation, for us all, the future beckons.

Fear of the unknown often dictates withdrawal from innovation. I think that it is futile to join that chorus.

What is necessary is a greater awareness of the potential of change – opportunities and dangers included.

The people of Malta have generally responded with positive enthusiasm to change.
Though strongly conscious of our identity, and in spite of being islanders, we dislike isolation and have never feared measuring ourselves with others.

Nothing justifies our starting now.

Our identity as a people is not something static. It evolves in time.

I have faith in the people of Malta. I truly believe in their ability to respond to the challenges of time without losing their strong sense of identity as a people and as a nation.

Identity does not rest solely on a common language, memory or tradition. Identity is founded on values. Yet, the manner in which we value values is perhaps the greatest challenge of the contemporary era.

In the past, in different parts of the world, the struggle for freedom of thought and expression often kindled the flames of discussion, debate and dispute into consuming fires of intolerance.

The consolidation of democracy has nurtured respect for others who think differently and consequently generated a greater disposition to enter into a dialogue of discovery of common grounds and concerns.

However, dialogue about values presupposes that we value them.

Values give us anchorage. They give us a point of reference.

We denounce war because we have faith in humankind's ability to settle international disputes without resorting to death and destruction. The ruthless exploitation of labour is intolerable because we cherish dignity of all human beings. We condemn the death penalty with the same vigour as abortion because we cherish the right to life.

Values have a bearing on our own personal lives as they do in the drafting of international conventions or national legislation. Respect for the equal rights and dignity of women depends on us as it does on the State. The economic welfare of the community depends on our resistance to rampant consumerism as it does on the economic policy of the administration.

An equally determining factor in the equation of national identity is Malta's geographic location.

Like other peoples in the region, we are at one and the same time European and Mediterranean. These two aspects of our identity are reflected in our culture, our life-style and our traditions. Neither should prevail at the cost of the other.

Energetic debate on how best to give institutional expression to this acknowledged reality is still ongoing. In itself, this reflects the healthiness of our democracy and the will of leaders and people alike to actively discuss whether in future the consolidation of Malta's relationship with the European Union is best served through membership or through some specific arrangement.

Though indeed vigorous, dispute on such institutional matters does not inhibit us reflecting on other vitally important political, social and economic issues. Too often we tend to ignore the consensus that exists on numerous aspects that affect the life of the country.

In Parliament and in the Local Councils, many measures and decisions are discussed and adopted without a division. There are a number of important national efforts that find universal support.

It does us absolutely no good to ignore this important fact.

The impression that political activity in Malta is totally dominated by sharp antagonism is an incorrect picture of reality. Worse still, it could contribute to a degeneration of debate and discussion not only between political parties but also within them.

Many feel that the quest for learning has diminished. The hundreds of youths who each year apply to enter the University indicates otherwise. Though at times initially determined by pragmatism, this quest cannot but lead more and more of our citizens in a venture of discovery of the world around them and, perhaps more importantly, the discovery of self.

Our nation has reaped great benefits from its investment in higher education. Our progress as a nation depends on a future generation equipped to face the challenges of change. To date we view with awe the tests imposed by globalisation. That we can tackle them without being overwhelmed stands to the credit of Malta's graduates, the dedicated families that encourage them, and this Alma Mater that educates them.

I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on fundamentals which will set the path of our future.

We have to live the future. We have to ensure a future, not based on ideologies but on ideas. Our experience with ideologies, in the past century, has exposed us to conflicts and intolerance.

Vaclav Havel, in his Summer Meditations, has this to say:

"Building an intellectual and spiritual state – a state based on ideas – does not mean building an ideological state. Indeed, an ideological state cannot be intellectual or spiritual. A state based on ideas is precisely the opposite: it is meant to extricate human beings from the straitjacket of ideological interpretations, and to rehabilitate them as subjects of individual conscience, of individual thinking backed up by experience, of individual responsibility, and with a love for their neighbours, which is anything but abstract."

We, as a people, will face the future, by making full use of our characteristics: a language which binds us to both sides of the Mediterranean, a Latin culture which identifies us with Europe, the knowledge of an international language which links us to the world, the Catholicity of a faith which bonds us to a message of love and universal solidarity.

It is in this national context that our University will continue to play its role. For we will be giving our youth that knowledge and experience, science and philosophy, law and languages, as to prepare them for a life, where competitiveness and globalisation, regionalism and internationalism will characterise a multi-polar world architecture.

Malta must be careful how to thread in such a contrasting situation. It is always difficult for small countries to find their role and live their vocation; the independence achieved in 1964, can become simply irrelevant if we let ourselves be by-passed by events.

From this University, so many of our leaders have emerged. This, I think, will continue in the future. For leadership requires preparation and perception, idealism and sensitivity, love of country and love of humanity, the building of a society based on intellectual and spiritual values.

Our University will project itself in the future, not in an ivory tower, but with its roots in our people, learn how to face tomorrow with vision and determination.

This University has to act as a vital component of Maltese society, spearheading new ideas and new concepts, serve as a catalyst for change, be a rebel with a cause when circumstances so warrant, and live as a beacon of an all-embracing culture of understanding and intellectual freedom.

I believe that the Maltese people will, in the coming years, live a new renaissance. Successive generations, through their hard work, will achieve a higher quality of life. They will make of solidarity their commitment and of bridge-building among peoples, their mission.

Anchored to our values, the Maltese nation with confidence shall face the challenges, that a wider world, to which we belong, will demand.