Sir,
The island of Cyprus. What a lovely place, the ideal holiday resort, wonderful people. This is just a sample of things people used to say about Cyprus. Not any more. What is the real Cyprus all about, the rough guide to Cyprus? Well, the words people use about Cyprus now are, ‘greedy’, ‘rude’, ‘liars’, ‘cheats’, not to mention numerous other things. Why, even as far back as 2000 years ago, Cypriots were called liars.
Guess nothing has changed there then. The jokes have appeared now also. “Why wasn’t Jesus born in Cyprus? Because they couldn’t find three wise men!!”
What has Cyprus got to offer the tourist now that other destinations haven’t? It takes time to find an answer, doesn’t it? It didn’t use to, but unfortunately Cyprus has changed, the sun can no longer be the attraction. We all know it’s too expensive here now, that’s down to greed, and the hotels here aren’t known for their politeness, and of course Cypriots rarely smile. That starts even before you get here, when travelling Cyprus Airways, the ailing airline that’s going bankrupt because it has the world’s highest paid employees… ah yes, greed again! The simple reason why Cyprus Airways is in such a terrible state is due to the fact that it employs too many people. The usual story in Cyprus, you know a friend of a friend and you’ve got a highly paid job at the airport. This goes on and on until you start realising you’re not making money any more. It’s exactly the same scenario in the civil service. The government’s largest expense is the wage bill… why? Friend of a Friend Syndrome, and the salaries are too high. That’s the foundation of Cyprus life. Who you know, and how much you can get.
In Cyprus it use to be family values. Not any more. It’s all about money, how much you have got and how much you can rip somebody off for. Everyone is doing it, from outrageously expensive bars and restaurants, to over-priced hotels and sun beds. Businesses wonder why tourism is down each year. Doesn’t take the brains of a rocket scientist now does it? Yet we still see tourist establishments charging the earth for a pint of local beer. Apparently now everyone is a property developer, the local chemist, butcher, anyone who has a plot the size of a postage stamp is erecting box size properties on it to make a quick buck, overpriced of course! The greed element just doesn’t stop. No doubt there will be such a surplus of properties that we will start seeing bankruptcies as people have borrowed yet again as they did during the stock market furore. As long as attitudes stay the same, people will never learn.
The government of Cyprus…don’t laugh, the rest of Europe is doing that! So what have we got? Well, we have an immature bunch of self-righteous imbeciles that prefer the sound of their own voices and status to what’s going on around them. The President, a lawyer who should have retired years ago, has singularly embarrassed this country into further humiliation with his typical ‘village’ antics and lack of diplomacy. His skills would be well-suited as a shop steward for the unions rather than the highest office of political life, where diplomacy, courtesy, professionalism and tact are needed, something’s which he lacks.
So what is in store for Cyprus in the future? Not much I’m afraid. The nepotism will continue, along with the rudeness, the greed and the lies. The EU won’t change much as the Cypriots will agree to everything on face value — i.e… lie — and then just carry on what they have been doing for centuries! You know, I wouldn’t mind if some of you out there disagreed with me and said that I was talking rubbish… but unfortunately there are thousands who agree with me, probably a lot more. There are those of you who will typically say “go back to where you came from” a blinkered view, head-in-the-sand type people that cannot see what’s going on around them. You know the type, the ones that work for the Civil Service or Cyprus Airways. Need I say more?
But because I am a Cypriot, I have a democratic right to say what I like and those blinded patriots of you who don’t like that can stick your heads back in the sand!
D.N.
Larnaca