Interview • December 28 2003

The changing face of Malta

Dana Ben Moussa plays and coaches handball. She is a second year University student. She has a Tunisian father and a Maltese mum. She speaks five languages. She is also Miss Malta. Here she talks to Kurt Sansone

Dana Ben Moussa, the 18-year-old beauty crowned Miss Malta in November, could be described as the epitome of Malta’s changing cultural landscape. She has a Tunisian father, who’s a Muslim, and a Catholic Maltese mum. The family has now been in Malta for the past three years after having lived in various countries, including Tunisia and Kuwait. French is the language talked at home, but Dana can also write and speak fluent English, Maltese, Arabic and Spanish.
I meet Dana at the National Pool complex in Tal-Qroqq. She studies French and physical education as part of her degree course at university and the gym and sports hall are almost her second home.
Dana smiles at my first question. Being Miss Malta with an Arabic surname is something that might not go down too well in a country which is ‘arabophobic.’
"I never felt it was an issue. The girls with whom I competed were happy for me and I am not aware of any negative comments," Dana says. A slight pause follows and she continues: "Actually, it was a friend of mine who joked about the issue. He grumbled that for the umpteenth time we did not have a ‘perfect’ Miss Malta. I know he is very finicky about women and I naturally asked him to point out my imperfection. ‘We have a nice Miss Malta, but your surname is not Maltese,’ he told me. Other then this light comment my Arabic roots have not been an issue."
Dana’s reaction surprises me but she admits that being a woman does make a difference. It seems people are less likely to being racist when confronting a woman.
"My brother does feel some prejudice at times. I personally feel having a Tunisian surname has its charm," Dana says.
At the time of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, Dana and her brother were living in Malta on their own at their mum’s sister. They spent a year living on the island before the whole family moved over. Everyday their mum used to phone from Tunisia to query about her children’s well-being and safety. News of heightened discrimination against Arabs and Muslims in the United States and other Western countries in the aftermath of the attacks was a worrying factor. However, Dana says she experienced no hate here in Malta.
"I never felt I was not Maltese. I was passing through the dreadful experience like all Maltese people. I obviously heard people making negative comments about the extremist beliefs of those who conducted the attacks, but they did not bother me at all. My father is not an extremist and I believe all extremes, whether Muslim or Catholic, are bad. I know what Islam is all about and it is not the fanaticism portrayed on TV. I also spoke against the fanaticism," she says.
Dana describes her life as an "interesting double culture" and insists she is fortunate to have this experience.
"I have grown up to respect different religions, feelings and families. At home we were taught both religions (Muslim and Roman Catholic), they were more of a lifestyle for us. My brother and I attended both the Mosque with our father and Church with our Mum."
A smile wraps her face as she goes down memory lane. "When we were younger, my brother and I used to say we were Catholics when visiting Malta and Muslims when in Tunisia. It was our way of feeling more at home in the culture where we were living."
She adds: "I knew both religions but I did not profess one particular faith. You could say I was a non-believer because not professing a faith means that I was neither a Muslim nor a Catholic. I became a Roman Catholic last year."
Abroad, Dana attended a French school, which is the reason, I discover, for her very good French. I ask her what difference she notices between her schooling experience abroad and that in Malta.
"In Malta Paceville is the main meeting point for students, which is very different from Tunisia where friends meet up in smaller groups. I feel there is more of a community feeling among students in Tunis. However, Tunisian students do not wear uniforms in secondary school and that creates a separation on lines of class and it can be felt quite heavily.
"Another difference I have noticed is in the early selection of subjects students make in Malta. In the French-Tunisian system we were brought up learning 12 subjects up to A-level standard, including geography and history. We used to then select the subjects on which to gain more points. It was a sort of specialisation in certain areas while still learning everything."
When I point out that the Maltese system is very exam oriented, Dana nods in approval. "Not only is the system exam oriented but students choose the subjects according to the work they think they would like to be doing in the future."
It is only natural that Dana sees herself teaching children. "I want to work in the educational field helping students learn in different ways and methods," she says.
And having such a solid French background her dream is to get more Maltese boys to learn French and improve their accent. I argue that it is next to impossible given the predominance of English in Malta and the almost natural aversion to the haute French language.
"The problem with a bad accent is that most boys believe French is a language for women. To pronounce French well people have to learn how to articulate words through visible mouth movements and I think it puts most boys off the language. But yes, it is my wish to teach boys proper French."
Despite having lived abroad for so many years, Dana does not feel claustrophobic in tiny Malta. "I like it here, it is small and resembles one big family. Wherever you go you are bound to meet someone you know and that gives a sense of security. Although there are fewer opportunities here because choice is limited, I believe being small has more advantages than disadvantages. What I cannot understand however, is the attitude of some university students. They suddenly transform, almost forgetting they are Maltese, talking in a faux English accent that is so artificial. I hate artificial people and I cannot understand why this happens. After all, university is only a phase in your life."
In the now forgotten debate on EU membership, scaremongers had warned Malta would lose its identity if it joined the block. I ask Dana for her reaction to such a statement. "In the EU, Malta will still be a small country, but it can enjoy the bigger opportunities available. Losing our identity is not an issue, I mean we are already losing it at university. We don’t need to enter the EU to start losing our identity. On the contrary I believe the EU could offer a stimulus to strengthen Malta’s identity. Being small also means we would shine above the rest when we achieve something. Europe can help us emerge from the shell mentality of an island."
She then laughs and refers to the recent European of the Year award given to Prime minister Fenech Adami as an example of the beauty of smallness.
"Voting for the award was carried out by email. I received an email from a friend of mine asking me to vote and many others received similar emails with instructions on how to vote for Fenech Adami. Being small makes it so easier to find support. Nobody in France would have dreamt of circulating an email asking people to vote for the French president. Our Prime Minister almost had a whole country being mobilised to vote for him."
Dana is not the traditional sort of beauty queen, who dreams of utopian world peace. It might come as a shock, but she is a realist at heart. "It’s alright to dream of world peace, but I don’t think it is realistic. My philosophy is to do my best to help those around me. That is my little contribution to making the world a better place."
She then turns around and points towards a ‘war’ video game at the far end of the cafeteria where we are seated. "That," she says, "is something, which I cannot stand."
Dana believes that too much killing championed by numerous video games is making life frivolous. "I taught in summer school and it is unbelievable how kids believe they have five lives. Killing has become acceptable to them. When I point out that in reality we all have one fragile life they just shrug their shoulders and say, ‘I know miss, but that is just a game.’ The attitude is so frivolous, almost as if there is no respect for life. Kids are becoming accustomed to violence and even if they don’t externalise it, the tolerance to violence is growing. Respect for the human being is on the decline and when this happens I believe that it becomes easier for unlucky people to go down the evil road."
On a less philosophical track I ask Dana whether she fears her beauty is a distraction from her inner qualities. She blushes: "I don’t like it when people just see the beauty, but what can I do about it? I believe the image you reflect back is the image people will finally get and I hope it’s not just beauty."
Teaching French is not the only wish Dana has. She is an avid sports woman, suffice to say she plays and coaches handball. "I am concerned because parents don’t realise the benefits of physical education. It’s sad that our children are the most obese in Europe. PE is not just about playing football; it is an education on how to take care of your body. Up to the age of 16 we are producing some very good athletes, but after that work and study seem to take over and people stop giving importance to their physical health. Work should not be a reason to stop training, on the contrary it should be the reason to continue or start training."
In typical beauty competition style I ask Dana for her last message. She is not too sure but it serves her as a mini rehearsal for the upcoming Miss Europe competition, which Dana hopes to win.
"It is never too late to change, better late than never. Accept God’s story for you and be grateful for what you have." It’s a cliché ending but nonetheless inspiring.