Have you tried it on a rexin sofa, Jeffrey?

This week I had a meeting with Eddie Fenech Adami at his Bugibba home. As we discussed things with two of his grandchildren popping in on us through the door and window (literally), one thing struck me again. How humbly he lives.

The man who saved this country from collapse in 1987, proceeded to change it from night to day and then gave it its EU membership card, sat us down on suite made out of green rexin adorned with buttons made out of the same material, circa late 1970s. The fan struggling to keep us cool looked like it came from the same era as well.

Eddie Fenech Adami was a politician with a single principle benchmarking his life, his very being: doing what is right for the country, whatever the personal and professional sacrifices. That he spent a lifetime doing so sitting on a green rexin chair made absolutely no difference to him. And of course he would not register that today his green rexin sofa has made a comeback, this time as cool retro.

After the meeting I went to the office and saw this post put up by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando on facebook: "It is difficult to make a success out of a political career if you have not been able to make a success of your personal life and profession. Those who have depended on politics to move on in life may be successful, politically, in the short term but they always end up making a mess of things." 

I have even more to say about this than on JPO's profound reflections on Jesus Christ (see my previous post). The temptation to let rip is excruciatingly unbearable. But I will just get off Eddie's green rexin sofa, follow his example and walk away.