A Maltese child has chosen to become addicted to heroin rather than hunt birds.
The child – 12-year-old Thomas Farrugia from Swieqi – appears to have gone against a maxim often used by hunters when defending the practice: ‘aħjar delizzju milli vizzju’ (better a hobby than an addiction).
“On my birthday my dad took me aside and told me, ‘Son, it’s time you made The Choice. What’s it going to be – smack or bird-killing?’ I asked if there were any other options and he said no, only those two,” Thomas told Bis-Serjetà.
“I don’t think that’s a fair choice, but I love animals so I chose heroin. I don’t know what it is but dad said it’s basically like candy that you melt and inject into yourself.’
Nicholas Farrugia, Thomas’s father, said he tried to change his son’s mind.
“I asked him if he was sure and reminded him that ‘aħjar delizzju milli vizzju’, and also told him that if he didn’t choose hunting he might get molested by a Catholic priest, but he was adamant that he didn’t want to kill any living thing. I didn’t have the heart to tell him about all the rehab I had to go through because I made the same choice.
“Mind you, his mother had chosen hunting and now she’s a blood-thirsty psychopath, so I’m not sure that maxim is true. In any case, you’d think they would’ve added more choices since we were kids, like video games or something, but who am I to question centuries-old societal norms?”
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