Meet Tumas Andrija Nidecki – a Polish man living in Malta who posted the best message we’ve seen on the internet that carries a touching message of acceptance, and the love he has for this tiny island he calls home.

Tumas took to Facebook group The Salott yesterday to recount a personal experience he shared with an elderly Maltese couple, and to dispel the notion that all Maltese are averse to foreigners living on the islands.

This is what Tumas wrote: 

In the light of stories about people telling foreigners “mur lura pajjiżek” etc. I wanted to tell you a story of what happened to me yesterday. I'm keeping it in English because I want all foreigners to understand it, too.

Yesterday, I was walking with my best friend along Triq D’Argens towards Gżira from Msida. An elderly Maltese couple (in their 70s probably) was walking the other way, so we needed to pass one another.

The gentleman started joking about selecting which way to pass and the pavement being a bit too narrow, and then he looks at me and asks:

- “Malti?”

- “Le, le, imma nista' nitkellem bil-Malti ftit għax qed nitgħallem...”

The gentleman smiled widely and said “It does not matter if you're foreign or Maltese, you feel like Maltese” and he hugged me. Then he asks my bestie "do you play with his beard”? I told him that she's not my girlfriend. He grabs her under the arm (letting go of his wife) and says “no, she's my girlfriend”. So I grabbed his wife's hand and pretended to walk off with her in the other direction.

We laughed, we hugged, we exchanged the best wishes for the New Year.

My friend was speechless. I asked her “could you imagine anything like this every happening in Poland”? She said “no, no way”.

It's moments like this that remind me why I love this lovely island that I call home so much and why I love its people so much. It's the love and acceptance and welcoming that I feel. It’s a Maltese friend telling me today (and making my eyes wet) “you feel like one of us”.

Thank you to those lovely people who have made the first day of the year so special, and to all others who do show what the heart of Malta is.

And to all those that keep complaining about being told “mur lura pajjiżek” often – think about it, maybe it's you that is the problem, not Malta

Who is Tumas?

The Polish national moved to the sunny islands almost two years ago, and he hasn’t looked back since.

He considers the move to Malta to be the best decision of his life – it’s where he found his new home, where he made lots of new friends, found happiness and also his dream job. In two short years, he also – impressively – learned to speak and write Maltese just like a local!

“Kuljum inħoss iktar li dan hu l-aħjar post għalija (translation: every day I feel that this is the best place for me)” he wrote in his anniversary post on Facebook. And we couldn’t be happier that you’ve chosen to make Malta your home, Tumas!