The Tax Police
I went to Valletta yesterday to meet a friend. He had suggested we have ice cream at Caffè Cordina, a coffee shop dating from the 19th century that to this day remains a popular establishment in the capital. However, I had a craving for qagħaq tal-għasel (pronounced AH-ah tal AH-sel) which are Maltese honey rings. They are filled with treacle (molasses) and they are yummy, even for someone like me who normally does not like sweets very much. So we headed over to Camilleri’s, a sweets and pastry shop that makes some of the best qagħaq. We got there to find that it was closed. GRRR, it was still siesta time. I have still not gotten used to the shops closing in the middle of the day. It was 3:45pm, so we stayed put for the next 15 minutes until the magical 4:00pm re-opening time.
As we waited, I noticed a small regiment of soldiers. There are government buildings all over Valletta, so someone important must have been around. Then I saw that the soldiers were from the “Revenue Security Corps”, as displayed prominently on their bullet-proof vests. They were wielding huge machine guns. I was fascinated by the idea of the tax police going around with huge guns. It was like watching an action film. Were they staking someone out? Was there a “bad” Maltese citizen in that building who had not paid his taxes in years? One of the soldiers noticed me staring, so he stared back implying that I was looking very suspicious. He put both hands on his rifle. Oh-oh…
You see, I have bad tendency to stare at people. Perhaps because as a child I did not know the concept. (Did you know there is no word for “staring” in Spanish? I guess it illustrates a cultural difference with the Anglo-Saxon world.) Perhaps because I just like to observe the world around me, and particularly people. I often forget that they can see me looking, and that most people are uncomfortable by that.
So, here I thought the soldier was getting angry at me. Did I mention he had a huge machine gun? It was a bit intimidating. I just imagine the headlines: “Foreigner arrested in front of sweet shop. Was spying against the police.” I looked away and turned my attention to the shop’s window display and concentrated on the conversation I was having. But then I just had to keep looking. They were going in and out of the building. Something was going on.
At 4:00pm, stores opened, doors went up, lights came on. It was like midnight in the Cinderella story, except everything was coming back to life. We marched in and got our snack. Remind me to stop buying qagħaq. I wind up wolfing down half the ring in 5 minutes and then my stomach protests.
Coincidentally, I read this morning that the Revenue Security Corps is to be disbanded and merged with the regular Armed Forces of Malta. I suppose I saw history in the making.
If I’m not mistaken the Revenue Security Corps are actually Central Bank employees which are sort of seconded with the commercial banks to watch over transfers of huge wads of cash. Was it the HSBC Branch in Merchants Street by any chance?
Well, that makes the story far less interesting! We were on Merchants Street, I will have to check if there is an HSBC there.
Based upon the fact that you were near Camilleri (which happens to be my uncle’s shop
) you were either next to the HSBC which has a big branch over there (thus lots of cash) or the public registry where cash fees are also paid.
There are bank robberies in Malta too alas!
Hey dude: the RSC were never disbanded! They were never slated for disbandment either, can’t nail how where you got that bad information. The RSC are very much alive, guarding euro cash depots, and still performing cash in transit escorts, whether or not with glares at staring lookers-on.