Our patron saint statue is DEFINITELY superior.
As locals, we know that by nature we are one of the most competitive nations out there. And this competitive nature that's found, to whatever extent, in every Maltese person’s blood has a name: it's pika. And it's so evident that BBC Travel picked up on it in a recent feature, delving into what it means and where it all stems from.
Pika is a Maltese word that roughly means ‘a neighbourly rivalry’ but is one of the many terms that feels like a fool’s errand for foreigners to begin to interpret. Yes, we know, our expressions don’t make ANY sense, like mela and ta. There’s more where that came from!
Pika is so rooted in Maltese culture, the feature points out, that it even lead to the destruction of buildings. Yep, you read that right. Back in 1958, the Carmelite Basilica in Valletta was rebuilt with a 42m-high dome just to overshadow the Anglican Cathedral next door. Yeah, guilty.
BBC Travel also delves into other instances where pika has been the cause of aggression. Ever experienced sacrilegious slander at a village feast? They quote claims to the effect of “our statue is the most beautiful. Yours is the ugliest in Malta”, which let's face it, we're all familiar with, even leading to one instance when some poor chap was hit over the head with a flowerpot during a local festa. As locals on the ground, take heed: if you ever happen to be in Malta in the summer, beware of the intense rivalries between various parishes (and the occasional flying flowerpot) that do their best to outspend and outdo one another every year.
And as every local knows, one of the towns that's certainly guilty of this is Qormi. This central town hosts one of the most intense rivalries on the island between the parishes of St George and St Sebastian. As one local explained to the BBC Travel writer, “Pika is the need to keep making things bigger in order to outdo your rival. It’s having to satisfy a need to constantly prove to yourself, to your kin and to outsiders,” and boy does that happen!
But why is pika so common in Malta? My take? It's our size. Yes, with Malta being so small, everyone knows what their neighbour, their third cousin once removed, and their childhood friend’s dog is doing. And with the small size comes the need to prove yourself, be better, do better. News also spreads like wildfire on this island, and as a local myself, I can say it can get a little annoying!
Showmanship and competition are definitely in the Maltese' blood, but is pika a unique Maltese trait? What do you think?