[andriussev]

Personally, Malta is a great country but the political part is complicated and makes it hard to expect good but controversial change, ex: attempts to lower the number of cars on the road. If someone tries that, they might do some good but it's very likely to make a lot people unhappy and everyone knows everyone, voting for political parties goes for generations (15-16 year olds chanting for Labour party because their parents and grandparents did that -- even though they can't even vote yet). Hard and drastic changes are needed but you won't get reelected if you do that...

Apart from that, the occasional xenophobia and selfishness is visible.

From a dev perspective, iGaming (online gambling) is booming and raising the prices of rent making it more difficult for locals. Poor get poorer, eh..?

Source: Living in Malta for almost 2 years now.

P.S. The trick is not to read too many news, not having interest in politics, enjoying the weather and ignoring crappy people.

[nkrisc]

> The trick is not to read too many news, not having interest in politics, enjoying the weather and ignoring crappy people.

That only works for so long until the crappy things and people you've been ignoring have festered long enough that they start inserting themselves into your life and it's too late to stop them.

[ersii]

Have you actually tried to do this, though?

I'd say most places becomes a lot better if you stop engaging the mainstream news and politics, even Sweden seems quite sane after doing so. I've found it gives you time and energy to focus on your actual life surroundings.

[nkrisc]

I have no doubt that it would greatly improve your quality of life in the short term. The thing is, somebody's got to pay attention and stand vigil. If everyone ignores what's going on, it won't be long before some thugs are knocking on your door asking for papers or some other nonsense they already know you don't have.

There is plenty of bullshit to safely ignore. That doesn't mean it's a good idea to completely bury your head in the sand.

[simonebrunozzi]

How is it to live there as an expat? Do you have good internet connectivity? Do you work for local companies, or remote?

[andriussev]

It is quite nice. Not the best country but can't complain :)

The internet services are not so great, compared to mainland EU. Mostly because it's an island, I guess. I pay ~30 euros for 100down/5up. There are not a lot of options, look up Melita or Go for more in-depth info on that.

I work for a Maltese company as a developer. Can't complain. If you work in a Maltese company, it is fairly more relaxed than working in an iGaming company :)

[purrcat259]

Its super easy to get employed around here if you do .NET/Java and/or PHP/jQuery/Angular. Maltese dev market has a fetish for those stacks.

[craftyguy]

> voting for political parties goes for generations (15-16 year olds chanting for Labour party because their parents and grandparents did that

That's true also in the US, and generally true for anything that is complex requiring dedicated time to 'understand'. The default route is to mimic parents. Some people never grow out of that behavior.

[mmusc]

Can't really compare the two. while the US struggles on voter turn out. In Malta during elections there is a rabid and more than 90%+ of eligible voters vote. But its all tribal and pointless..

Some examples -> https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Malta+mass+meeting&tbm=is...

[TomMarius]

I think the point was that you will mostly not see people being that involved into politics in the EU at all, usually not even adults.

[shicky]

I'm potentially interested in moving to Malta with my wife, possible to email you about the realities? My email is in my profile

[antisthenes]

> P.S. The trick is not to read too many news, not having interest in politics, enjoying the weather and ignoring crappy people.

That trick is applicable in any part of the world.

[vkou]

You may not be interested in politics, but I assure you, politics is interested in you.