Schembri’s kitchen-politico snap is latest Facebook faux pas for minister

The social media world has become a dangerous place for triggered Maltese government ministers of late. It’s no place for thin skins or Donald Trump.

But for Silvio Schembri, the minister for the economy, it’s the hallowed kitchen that has become his undoing.

In a Facebook post that reflects the tone-deaf kitchen setting proposed recently by Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba, Schembri got caught in chummy ‘Hello’ relaxation mode, criminally presiding over a cross-contaminated chopping board with raw chicken.

His error? A gendered comment about said domestic bliss: “She’s got me working overtime...  the wife... the kitchen’s in my hands. Good night, friends.”

Cue the avalanche of commentary: almost 600 well-wishers and motsly critics, ranging from the inane “good job minister” to disquisitions on Schembri’s “massive fail”.

Too many politicians today feel at ease ‘humanising’ their brands by getting snapped at home, defrocked of their lizard skin and wearing human clothes, doing common mortal stuff. Cooking is a favourite.

But the language still rankles: Schembri betrayed his view of the kitchen as a woman’s domain by suggesting he is being ordered by his better half to work an extra shift after a hard day’s pen-pushing, to feed the entire brood.

Indeed, it’s a poor choice of language given the fact that his wife Deandra is gainfully employed as it is; so Schembri’s blokey comment implies his wife is normally slogging it out in the kitchen, normalising that very stereotype which he, as a politican, should be keenly aware about.

It’s unfortunate because Schembri will probably be waxing lyrical about his government’s gender quotas for MPs, when the simple presence of raw chicken and parsley inspired this epithet on slaver wives and ministers’ extra-curricular chores.

Are all male politicians so enthused by a simple household action that it merits a Facebook snap? And when shall we start seeing women politicians post photos of them changing light-bulbs, building a bookshelf, or furrow their brows while taking a phone-call?

Or perhaps there should be less politicians pretending they are ordinary citizens... what’s the Maltese to keep in check one’s deplorable excess of personality? “Tkunx ferħan...”