What I want for Christmas?

By David Tang
The Founder of China Club and Shanghai Tang
Source: The South China Morning Post

I am a Christmas humbug. But mind you, only by conventional standards. My family accuses me of being lethargic and unenthusiastic about Christmas Decorations and presents.

But when I see the amount of half-pointless and half-unwanted presents that are bought and given away each Christmas, I cringe with desperation.

Even more upsetting is when we have to pretend we like the presents we receive, when in trough, we don’t – and don’t need them – and after December 25, we put them under our beds and eventually throw them away.

That’s why, when all my friends get into a frenzy over Christmas presents, I tend to lapse into total immobility. But it does not mean I don’t like Christmas, I adore Christmas.

As a good Catholic boy, I have always been thrilled to celebrate the birth of Christ. But the problem is that the modern world has turned Christmas into a retail bonanza. I am ashamed to say that I am myself intimately involved with the retail business, and for Christmas, I get excited about significantly increased sales figures. But I am only excited as the seller, not the buyer.

So again, in this sense, I am a humbug. But spiritually, I am very fond of Christmas. Not only with the religious aspect, but also in literature. Shakespeare didn’t write much on Christmas, but n Hamlet, after the ghost of Hamlet’s father “faded on the crowing of the cock”, Marcellus recalls a Christmas legend. . . .

And we sing endless carols – nothing wrong with them as hymns. But why can’t we have the proper piece: Bach’s Christmas Oratorio?

It is the time of the year when we should replenish our spiritual and cultural diets.

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David Tang is the founder of the China Club and Shnaghai Tang.

The Christmas Story

By Bing Wei (Granny Betty’s Story Time)

Most people know that the simple meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God in the Christian religion. The word Christmas originated from an old English phrase, “Cristes Masse”, meaning the mass of Christ. The date, December 25, was established by Bishop Liberius of Rome in 354 AD. He selected the date to mark the official time for celebrating Christ’s birth. Before then, the birth of Jesus was observed on different days and even to this day no one is certain the exact date of Christ’s birth.

Cultural celebrations of Christmas include glittering light displays, the ever-present jolly old Santa Claus, group celebrations and singing called carolling, baked holiday cookies and cakes, decorations of mistletoe and pine wreaths, lighted, ornamented Christmas trees with wrapped presents displayed underneath. The spirit of Christmas at its heart is a festival to celebrate family love, gratitude to others and giving to show appreciation to friends and loved ones.

In Europe, typically, family and friends gather together on Christmas Eve, on Dec 24, for a big turkey dinner, completed with Christmas pudding (a rich cake with brandy source). Everyone shares their stories of the year or brings a newsletter to read out for what has happened during the past year. Games are played after the dinner. On Christmas day, Dec 25, a brunch with family is the norm, followed by some light sporting events, such as a country walk, to digest the heavy food. Dec 26 is called Boxing Day in the UK, which means everyone opens their box of presents – the most joyful day for the children. In the US, having just celebrated Thanksgiving with turkey, Christmas Eve dinner is more likely to have ham on the menu with a heavy desert. Dec 25, the Christmas Day is normally the day all the presents are opened.

The tradition of having a pine tree as the Christmas Tree is believed to come from Germany. Since the medieval time, lighting a candle on a tree is common to welcome guests. Such practice has evolved into the Christmas celebration. The formal Christmas Tree was introduced to England about 100 years ago when Queen Victoria married German Albert. The evidence of Victoria’s love for Albert is not only expressed through inheriting the German tradition of having a Christmas Tree but also through the gold Albert Statues that Victoria had ordered built for Albert, standing in many places in London. In America, the Christmas Tree idea was brought by German immigrants too.

The custom of sending Christmas cards was initiated in England around 1850. The first cards were decorated with elaborate designs of flowers, birds and landscapes.

As for Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, the story goes back to the third century. Legend has it, Saint Nicholas dedicated all his life to helping mankind, especially children and he died on December 6, which marks the Saint Nicholas Day in many European countries and that was when gifts were given to children. St. Nicholas bears many different names, such as Father Christmas in the UK, San Nicolass in the Netherlands, Le Pere Noel in France, and Kriss Kringle in Germany. He also arrives on different dates to deliver presents to children in different countries, typically from chimneys. The chimney story was this: Santa flew over house tops in a sleigh, he dropped coins by accident and they landed in some stockings hanging next to the fireplace to dry. From then on, red stockings were hung by the chimney in hopes Santa would fill them with gifts. Most countries use fabric stocking while in others, wood shoes are also placed on earth for Santa’s gift-dropping. In America, the image of Santa Claus was conceived by the famous poem “The Night Before Christmas”, written by Clement Moor. Moor transformed the Santa character from a saint in a long robe to a chubby, rosy-cheeked elderly man in a red suit, riding on a sleigh pulled by a team of reindeer.

The tradition of carol singing originated from the carolling practised by the Waits in the fourteenth century. Waits were royal singers who were sent by the court to perform in selected homes for treats, pennies and/or fun. “Carol” means a circle dance accompanied by a song. Most Christmas carols we sing now were composed around 1400-1600’s.

The Jewish community celebrates Chanukah instead of Christmas in December. Chanukah (Hanukkah) is celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calender, usually falling somewhere in December on the Gregorian calendar. Chanukah commemorates the cleansing of the Temple after the Jews defeated their occupation by the Syrian Greeks and is observed by lighting the candles of the menorah for eight days, one on the first, two the second and so on so forth.

This is the story of Christmas and all the traditions surrounding it.

Happy Holidays!

Give your child the gift of gratitude this holiday season

By Richard Cohen
Vice President, Education at Tutor Time (Hong Kong)

As the Holiday Season swirls about us, it is easy to get swept up in the commercialism and materialism of our society. In other words, if kids try to make send of the idea of “holidays” by looking at television, billboards, magazines or catalogues, they may come to think that the word ‘holiday” means ‘the day you expect everyone to give you the latest and best toys, games and enough candy and sweets to give you a tummy ache.”




Of course kids love the holidays as many of us certainly did, for the same reasons), but please take a moment to think about what this teaches your child. Many adults today are still saddled with those values, echoing across the years from our childhoods, driving our choices and behaviors as adults. As a nation we are often overweight, overspent and self-indulgent, looking toward the next purchase for a moment of happiness. If only I had that piece of cake, those shoes, that dress. . .then I’d be happy.

I’m just as caught up in it all as you may be. The commercialism and materialism of our society is hard to avoid. It’s like a river sweeping us all away when we’re not paying attention. Worse, it is so pervasive, it’s like we’re the fish in that river. . . and we don’t even know that there’s a powerful, surging current surrounding us, directing our movements at all times.

There is one thing I know for sure. . . I refuse to pass that along to our kids. If you agree, now might be the perfect time to start. Sure, give gifts to the people you love. Eat a little candy. But make “gratitude” the theme of your family’s season. Help your children remember what they have to be grateful for – a loving family, food on the table, caring teachers, music and art, sports and games – whatever brings them joy. Help them notice these things and find ways to express their gratitude – in a drawing, a song, a prayer, a hug, or just by looking into the eyes of someone to whom they are grateful and saying “thanks you.”

Create a culture of gratitude in your family by extending this “theme” throughout 2007 and for the rest of your lives. But remember what may happen when one fish turns and starts swimming upstream or searches for a calm eddy in which to be still. Most of the other fish, who think normalcy is found in the flow of the river, might think her rebellion a little bit crazy!

Oprah Winfrey often talks about keeping a gratitude journal. I’ve got one. It’s an incredibly rounding tool. It helps me remember what’s really important in life when that river of chocolate and cell phones and high definition televisions is trying hard to make me forget. Our children so desperately need us to remember this, especially when the world is filled with shiny temptations that might teach them otherwise.

Here’s wishing you and your family a healthy, joyous holiday season.

Gratefully yours,

Richard Cohen.