This is Mal. He's a peppy little guy that always has a smile on his face. It takes a lot to get a frown on that face, but who would want to do that to such a little sugar-plum like him? Even if they manage to get him down Mal has a saying, "I decide how I feel, so why not be happy instead of sad?" So no matter what, he'll have that smile ready for you anytime.
Salarians have short life-spans, few ever get past 40 years. Mal has a lot of alien friends so he won't live to see them mature fully. This makes him sad because of how much he loves them. Like most Salarian families, they have birth contracts; so it's not really having a 'ideal happy family' and because of that he prefers his friends over his mom and dad who spent more time doing business then spending time with him. Most of the time his parents would forget him at daycare and peek him up 3 hours late, and birthdays are more an obligation than caring for a family member. Mal has a pretty big abandonment issue, but he won't let that define him.

So what would you do? Would you hold him in your arms, tell him that no matter what he'll always be in your thought?