Firstly I would like to wish all of you a very happy Chinese New (torturous) Year!
I am sure many of you detest the large stack of homework that is on the table/in you bag right now. (yes, even the night before school reopens) Well, my teacher once forbad us to wish her 步步高生 because it sounded a lot like 簿簿高生。The first one means constantly improving but the second one means more and more books. In other words, she does not want more books to mark. Similarly, I also strongly dislike homework during the CNY holidays.
Here are some Facebook Updates I found:
"I am overwhelmed by the heap of things to do. 4 times I have tried to sleep, 4 times homework reminded me I cant."
" is trying to do homework and watch tv at the same time..."
"it seems that the long weekend wasn't long enough..."
These are just some of the many posts complaining about the not-so-long Chinese New Year weekend. This overwhelming amount of homework has DESTROYED our Chinese New Year!!! Well there is a deeper implication to this seemingly small issue- Should our present societal norms outweigh our culture?
This issue is rather prevalent in the world today. This is because in today's society, there exists one generation of people who grew up about 60-80 years ago, therefore are deeply rooted to traditions and culture. The younger generation in today's society live in a world where culture and traditions still play an important role, but modern trends/customs threaten to overwhelm them.
If you are still confused about what I am talking about, think of it as:
A Red Packet VS A Black Packet
The reason for the usage of red as the colour for a red packet is because red is considered an auspicious colour for the Chinese. However, some people give "red" packets of other colours such as pink, orange, brown, and worse of all, black because many of the younger generation feel that red is a little boring and want to explore different alternatives. Sad to say that the usage of Black is regarded as inauspicious, a total contradiction with Chinese traditions.
The question at issue now is whether modern customs should replace old traditions and cultural customs. Let us now look at both sides of the argument. (We will be using the Chinese New Year and homework incident as an example)
For homework:
- Termly tests are just around the corner, if students do not revise their work, they will fail.
- CNY is a long weekend. Students will lose out on a lot if no work is done.
- CNY is not all about celebrating There are times to be serious and do work too.
- This is today's society. There is no escaping from homework.
- CNY is just a celebration. It is not against the law to do homework during CNY.
Against Homework:
- CNY is for people to enjoy, meet up with relatives and friends.
- Students should not be bogged down with homework during a festive season as it will cause them not being able to enjoy the festive season.
So what do you think? Which one is more important? Comment!
End of part 1
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