Happy Victory Day everyone! 

For almost a year now I've been working on a little project in my spare time and today I can finally say it's finished!

It's called 1565 - The Great Siege, an old-school point-and-click adventure set during the Great Siege of Malta.

I'm actually a pharmacist, not a game developer 😅, but I grew up loving the old LucasArts point-and-click games and decided I wanted to try making one myself... except about Malta.

The game mixes real people and events from the Great Siege with fictional characters, puzzles and quite a bit of stupid humour.

You'll meet people like La Valette, Toni Bajada, Pawlu Burlo, Captain Miranda, Dragut and Piyale Pasha, but the main character is definitely Mikiel, a fictional young Maltese fisherman who woke up expecting to grab a few pastizzi for breakfast and ended up tangled in Malta's greatest survival story. 😂

I made the game as a hobby and I'm releasing the whole thing completely FREE. I'm not trying to make money from it — I'm just happy I actually managed to finish the thing after almost a year and honestly, I just want as many people as possible to play it!

And since today is 8th September, there was really no other date I could have released it. 

If anyone wants to give it a try:

https://dfenech1982.itch.io/1565-the-great-siege

The full game can be downloaded for Windows, Mac and Linux, and there's also a shorter version that can be played directly in the browser.

Would genuinely love to know what fellow Maltese think of it.

I saw a post here a few days ago from someone saying they no longer wanted to give money to businesses owned by or connected to the Fenech family. It didn’t get much attention, but one of the comments made a good point: it’s actually quite difficult to know what is connected to them because the business network goes far beyond one or two hotels.

So I thought it might be useful to put some of it in one place for anyone who personally wants to make that choice.

Just to be clear before someone inevitably starts arguing semantics: I am not saying Yorgen Fenech personally owns or currently manages every company below. He resigned from his Tumas Group and Electrogas directorships in 2019. These are businesses/companies that have been reported as connected to Yorgen Fenech, the Fenech family, Tumas Group or their joint ventures.

The more recognisable consumer-facing names include:
• Hilton Malta
• DoubleTree by Hilton Malta / the former Dolmen Hotel
• Portomaso Casino
• Oracle Casino
• Blue Elephant
• Twenty Two
• Portomaso-related property and commercial operations
• Valletta Gateway Terminals
• The Quad
• Electrogas

And the scale goes much further than that.

In 2019 the FIAU circulated a list of 61 companies connected to Yorgen Fenech while seeking information about financial transactions and beneficial ownership.

Those included:
Gio Navigation Ltd
TL Limited
Electrogas Malta Ltd
EGM Holding Ltd
GEM Holdings Ltd
New Energy Supply Ltd
Oracle Gaming Ltd
B2B Holidays Ltd
Dolmen Properties plc
Spinola Investments Ltd
Eldercare Ltd
T.G. Land Developers Ltd
T.G. Services Company Ltd
Ta’ Monita Residence
TGI Limited
The Quad Limited
TumasGasan Holdings
Tas-Sellum Administration Ltd
Żokrija Ltd
Tumas Group Company Ltd
Best Play Gaming Ltd
Oracle Gaming Shops Ltd
Portomaso Leasing Company Ltd
Spinola Development Company Ltd
St Andrews Hotels Ltd
Tumas Group Finance Ltd
TG Properties Ltd
TG Leasing Company Ltd
Tomino Services Ltd
Easysell Properties Ltd
Easysell Retailers Ltd
Tas Sellum Development Ltd
Mill Street Complex Ltd
A&A Properties Ltd
Halland Developments Company Ltd
Norma Ltd
Sun Island Services
Easysell Caterers (Gozo) Ltd
Easysell Caterers Ltd
Qormi Construction Company Ltd
Digital Gaming Ltd
Digital Live Ltd
FF Bunker Holding Ltd
Glimmer PKR Ltd
FM Maritime Ltd
Grinder Ltd
Glimmer Ltd
World Bunker Suppliers Ltd
Valletta Gateway Terminals Ltd
Thirty-Two Ltd
Visa Cleaners Ltd
AIA Ltd
AL.CA.IN Company Ltd
Alternative Renewable Energy Solutions Ltd
Cleves Sofia Holdings Ltd
Maltenergo Ltd
Dolmen Complex Ltd
Ropes Ltd
Tumas Group Management Company Ltd
Tumas Investments plc
Valletta Links Ltd

Not all of these are currently active and “connected” does not necessarily mean wholly owned by him personally. But I think the list shows why simply saying “I won’t stay at his hotels” barely scratches the surface.

Nobody is obligated to boycott anything. I just think people who do want to make informed decisions about where their money goes should actually be able to see how extensive the network is.

If anyone knows of current consumer-facing businesses I’ve missed, preferably with a source, add them below.

Hi fellow Redditors,

I recently acquired a new apartment and noticed the following cracks about two stories above my apartment and one at my level… Are these worrisome?!

I’ve got the opinion of an architect but told me that that’s nothing to worry about, but seeing the recent news and all, I’m kinda scared.

I don’t want to waste a lot of money getting opinions and maybe get the same response cause they’ve seen worse (cause opinions aren’t cheap hehe)

Realistically on a scale from 1-10 how worried should I be? And what should be the next steps from my end?

I bought this as my first apartment, really want to enjoy but my anxiety isn’t letting me 😅

What do yo think?

Most pics are about 2-3 stories above my apt, last pic is my apartments level… if it makes any difference, this is a building built around 25 years ago.

Looking forward to your replies :)

You open social media and instead of finding shock about jurors acquitting a murderer, you find:

- The usual government mouthpieces (who a few months ago where crucifying Gabriella Vella) saying that we must respect the jurors' decision, and not question it.

- The narcissist stuck in 2012 using this case to attack his opponents from 2012.

- The Ta Qali gravel whisperer deploring a poster as vandalism.

- The minister for media claiming ignorance on the motive.

- Philosophers who argue that since the murderer was acquitted we should arraign someone else to take the punishment in his stead (without listing any corroborated evidence).

- Philosophers defending jurors and branding them as heroes because they spent 50 days away from their families.

- Philosophers saying they're convinced of his guilt but not of the way the prosecution presented the case (without mentioning which evidence convinces them but wasn't presented to jurors).

- Government being more shocked with anything the PN says (as usual) than with the acquittal.

- Labour Ġaħans relishing the acquittal of a murderer because they somehow think it's in the best interest of their party.

What a truly sick country we live in. The complete lack of reality checks has left us living in a bubble, completely detached from reality.

Hi everyone! 😊 I’m a working professional looking for accommodation near Mrieħel/Birkirkara.
📍 Preferred areas:
• Birkirkara / Mrieħel
• Santa Venera
• Qormi
• Swatar
• Balzan

🏡 *1-bedroom apartment:* up to €650/month

📅 *Move-in:* 1st or 2nd week of October

Clean, responsible, respectful, and with stable full-time employment. Direct from owner preferred, but open to good options.

Please PM me with the price, location, and photos. Thank you! 😊

Hi everyone! 😊 I’m a working professional looking for accommodation near Mrieħel/Birkirkara.
📍 Preferred areas:
• Birkirkara / Mrieħel
• Santa Venera
• Qormi
• Swatar
• Balzan

🏡 *1-bedroom apartment:* up to €650/month

📅 *Move-in:* 1st or 2nd week of October

Clean, responsible, respectful, and with stable full-time employment. Direct from owner preferred, but open to good options.

Please PM me with the price, location, and photos. Thank you! 😊

"Its losses have surpassed double-digit millions and continue to mount, according to sources familiar with the company’s finances."

"This funding, camouflaged as marketing subsidies, is separate from the €350 million committed by the government to establish KM Malta, including €50 million in working capital and some €300 million in aircraft and other assets."

"Although KM Malta employs significantly fewer people than Air Malta did, sources said its total payroll has increased by approximately 30%.

Executive Chairman David Curmi alone receives €21,500 a month, equivalent to €258,000 a year.

Curmi, who has no experience in aviation, led Air Malta during the final years preceding its closure and oversaw the transition to KM Malta before Finance Minister Clyde Caruana placed him at the helm of the taxpayer-funded replacement."

Hi everyone!
A friend and I will be in Malta from 18–27 September and we’re looking to rent a small sailing boat for around 2 days.
We’re not looking for a tour or a skippered charter — we’d like to sail independently, probably around Malta, Comino and Gozo, and spend one or two nights aboard.
I have a French Permis Plaisance and sailing experience and I’m happy to provide details about my experience/sailing CV. Of course, we’re also happy to pay a fair rental price and provide a security deposit.
The usual charter companies mostly work on weekly rentals, so I thought I’d ask here in case someone owns a sailing boat that they won’t be using for those dates, or knows someone who might be interested.
Ideally something around 30–36 ft, but we’re flexible — we’re only two people.
If you know anyone, a local sailing group, marina contact, or owner I could speak with, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks!

Fis-16 ta Settembru hemm il-protesta rigward din il-farsa ta Yorgen Fenech.

Għal dawk kollha li għaddew xi kumment hawn, FB jew IG. Jekk jogħġobkom. Ħallikom mil-attivitajiet li tagħmlu fir-rutina ta kulljum tagħkom. Ħallikom mis-skużi banali li ser issibu biex ma tattendux u aqbdu u morru kunu preżenti. Hemm bżonn kbir li l-poplu tagħna jibda jkun daqs xejn iktar pro attiv fuq l-inġustizzji kemm rigward dan il-kas u kif ukoll fuq affarijiet oħra li ilna snin neqridu fuqhom fuq il-medja soċjali.

Hemm bżonn bidla, KBIRA. U mingħir azzjoni, xejn ma jinbidel.

Ejja nbiddlu it-traġitt tal-istorja tagħna. Forsi xi darba għal dejjem nsibu daqs xejn paċi f’dan il-pajjiż.

Hi there! After some years off the island, I am willing to move back to Malta. Do you recommend any particular platform or website to search for jobs?

Any tip would be highly appreciated.

Thank you!

I am ready to argue, that in general Maltese people are not good people, we pretend to do so because we do it for show, clout, good rep.

This is not to say there aren't good people, but as a whole, we are not.

A common opposition will be all the money people donate to Istrina and other such events, my argument against is - 1. lots of businesses do it to show off their company with the publicitiy - including businesses that take advantage of workers, migrants, abuse of contacts with politicians and abuse the environment, 2. donating a small portion of what you have does not do enough to you to be considered a selfless act. 3. Alot of people do it as their one good deed per year (by giving 10, 20, 30 euros to a charity).

Nonetheless, I think in general we are not good people, I think we all live in the fairy tale that in history we would be the first to protect anne frank from the nazis, but I think most would be the first to give her up to the nazis if it meant a cushy job, an apartment or some sort of other benefit.

We are often quick to judge wrongdoing, be it in politics, abuse, corruption - but will very rarely do anything about it. Some self-reflecting questions: when was the last time you saw someone that you don't know that needed help, and you did (emphasis on someone you dont know - its obviously much easier to help someone you do know), when was the last time you stood up to a boss/employer/government agency and took the risk and protested against something you believe in? Let's take Jean Paul Sofia, as an example which I guess is less conflicting than Daphne Caruana Galizia, other than maybe sharing an instagram story, did you actively go to the vigil, to contact your local MP, or showed any support to what I think to be a very worthy cause and example of a cause that you stuck your neck out for someone else?

Feel free to change my mind.

I’m curious about salaries in Malta and how much they can vary between companies for similar roles.
From what I’ve seen, some companies seem to offer fairly competitive salaries, while others appear to have fallen behind. Of course, this won’t be a scientific survey and Reddit is not representative of the average working population in Malta, but I still think it could be interesting to compare salaries across similar jobs, industries and levels of experience to see whether there are noticeable discrepancies.

The idea is not to name or shame companies, but simply to get a better idea of what people are currently earning in Malta. If you’re comfortable sharing, please use the format below. There’s no need to mention your employer or anything that could identify you.

Sector/Industry:
Public or Private Sector:
Highest Education:
Main Role/Area:
Years of Experience:
Gross Annual Salary:

I’ll start:
Sector/Industry: Finance
Public or Private Sector: Private
Highest Education: University – BSc
Main Role/Area: Risk Executive
Years of Experience: 6
Gross Annual Salary: €35,000

As the weather is slowly getting better (not as hot), I went for a nice hike yesterday from Xewkija to ix-Xini and the tower there. Beautiful as always. Here is to the start of the new outdoors season.

Right now, there's like three bus routes connecting the two places, 186, 202 and 404, the latter, is a ghost bus that is one of the least used routes in the country. Of course, i wouldn't strip off 186 and 202 since they connect other parts of the island, but 404 is a useless route.

A cable car would be a much nicer and faster way to connect both towns, and an attraction that would be a win:win for both locals, and tourists

Is it true that you can get it for 11k? And how to charge it if you don’t have a garage?

I've been in Malta for one day, traveling. I was in Valletta today (Sep. 7, 2026). I saw this man in the great siege square at 6:30 pm. Is this George Vella? This is not a meme -- I am genuinely just curious. Thanks!

After recent developments I decided to do some research on why we are a corrupt loving country and we admire it rather than despite. It was shocking to find that we were always a corrupt society even from our ancestors, it seems we are coming from the Sicily natives but focused on perfectioning corruption better than the Italian Mafia.

Just to place you in picture :

Britain sent commissioners to investigate Malta and determine, among other things, how the island should be governed. The original report is preserved in the UK National Archives as Colonial Office CO 158/19, “Report of Commissioners for inquiring into the affairs of Malta, 1812.”

Below is an Patrick G. Staines's historical essay reproducing and discussing parts of the 1812 Royal Commission report:

https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-28019526/documents/6b280275245b49778283c6b8f7d9fcda/15%20ROYAL%20COMMISSION%201812.pdf

Their conclusion about giving Maltese people political power was extraordinarily harsh. One surviving transcription of the report states that the commissioners believed the Maltese were:

“a people so singularly unfitted to enjoy it”

Sir Thomas Maitland, Malta’s first British Governor, is quoted as writing: “I have seen a good deal of corruption in the West Indies and in the East, but nothing like what I find in Malta.” “Maltese people are naturally corrupt” ( https://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/12124/1/160.pdf )

The commissioners were essentially arguing in 1812 that Maltese society was not suitable for a jury system because Maltese people were too interconnected, too susceptible to influence, and too open to corruption and emotional pressure.

It also explains that those connections supposedly ran “from the beggar in the street to the noble in his palace.”

What they meant was:

Malta was so small and socially interconnected that it would be difficult to find genuinely impartial jurors.

The Commission adds that these social connections were made worse by what it called “laxity of moral feeling” and opportunities for “corruption and bribery.”

“the same people whose ebullitions of passion are marked by the most savage and atrocious cruelty, shrink with detestation from the wholesome severity of the law, and the necessary executions of justice.”

“No people are more alive to the power and persuasion of eloquence, nor more exposed to be misled by a pathetic address to their feelings…”

This means Maltese people could behave violently when angry, but at the same time became excessively compassionate when somebody actually faced punishment..

200 years after this and we are the SAME.

Hi I’ll be visiting with my wife in October and wanted a nice fancy cocktail bar to celebrate a special occasion. Anyone have any good suggestions? Someone told me about Kamy which has good reviews. We are staying in central Valletta. Cheers!

Hi.

I am a Maltese citizen forming part of the new generation that will eventually have to make a future in what I would call an economic shithole. Not that the Daphne trial should not take up as much media coverage as it can -- that is something that was unfortunately a longtime coming, but is at least getting the recognition and uproar it deserves.

But.

The UN literally just reported that we are in a climate overshoot: people are dying, water is running out, and NO ONE, SEEMS, TO CARE. Like, literally. I am finding it incredibly difficult to stay positive; being part of such a fucked up capitalist system where I am literally seeing children being killed on a tiny, possibly surveilled mobile device is honestly terrifying.

How can I possibly make a difference - no, how can MALTA make a difference, a true, standing difference, as this literally affects the entire world and we are but a small island notorious for our backwards 'constitutional' (religiously flawed) rules of healthcare that keep us in the minority of the EU votes on issues like such.

What can I do to stop feeling like I am going to go fucking extinct from some climate disaster or to stop spiralling when no other news source is even covering this.

Mind you, I had to personally message lovinmalta myself to cover this UN post in question; no other news medium has. And I have zero trust in my local politicians or ministers.

Truly such a lonely feeling, but I know there is hope; I just don't know how plausible it really is.

I have a medical imaging record in myHealth that I would like removed from my portal if possible. Does anyone know if it’s possible to hide a certain record?