Letters | Something is lost when a ‘festival’ becomes just a shopping frenzy

Traditionally, a festival is a celebration of a religious or cultural event. However, since the idea of consumerism took hold, the meaning of “festival” has also been commercially packaged. Merchants create “festivals” all the time to encourage shopping but, in so doing, are changing the significance of the word.

I lament that the nature of many things has changed, and the true meaning of festivals is being lost. Although such changes are inevitable, or they may actually bring benefits for us, we also risk forgetting the significance of some traditional festivals or memorial days. I wonder just how many of us remembered that Remembrance Day, which marks the end of the first world war, also fell on November 11.

Winnie Wu, Kwai Chung

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