Skip to main content

All I want for Christmas

I love Christmas, but I have much reservation about the notion that, to celebrate Christmas means that you will have to buy something for someone, and subordinate completely to commodity without much thought. Every time I feel like buying something for my friends, I tend to think that I might be adding to:

  1. Their clutter - excessive wrapper and trimmings on top of gifts that my friends may have no idea what to do with. Do they throw them away? I may feel unappreciated. Do they reuse or recycle them? That may be too much work for them. They may just throw the wrapping paper away, but it’s still an unnecessary contribution to the landfill.
  2. Their chores - things like flowers, nice. But they would have to get the water changed everyday, and I will worry about what they would do when the flowers are dead. I normally bury them, but I can’t possibly expect all of my friends to do that too.
  3. Their extreme hassle and guilt as they may have no idea what to say to me - if they totally do not like what I got them.

I have decided that this year, and from this year onwards, I shall give NO FLOWERS, NO GIFTS, and NO CARDS - unless they really want me to. Best thing to do, really, is to send me a wish list clearly stating what they want for Christmas.

For myself, I want absolutely nothing bought for me, from now on. Seriously. However, I am proposing a wish list so that IF anyone still thinks that I deserve something, I am more than happy to accept any (or more) of the following:

  1. If you want to send me a Christmas card, nothing makes me happier than receiving an E-Card from Care2. Well, any other E-Card that contributes to a charity or ethical business is equally appealing to me.
  2. If you have to buy me something, buy me anything from GoodGifts and that will make me, and a lot of other people extremely happy. One stone kills many birds.
  3. If you absolutely have to buy me something physical, then please buy me some in-season (and non-imported) local fruit or vegetable, WITHOUT any packaging (just wrap them in some used newspaper), and that too will make me extremely happy.
  4. If you really, really, really have to buy me flowers, then PLEASE get me a potted flower plant, or just a pack of seeds or bulbs - so that I can carry on giving life to them, rather than burying them. Or, even better - plant a tree for me on Trees for Life.
  5. If you really, really, really can’t resist the temptation of buying me something lavish, then please can I have a working holiday from agents such as National Trust?

This is not a joke. I can even be very happy if you just give me a hug and a peck on the cheek, a sincere and caring email or text message. The main purpose of getting someone a Christmas gift is, after all, to make that person feel really happy. Is that not? You may even see my tears of joy. It really is worth the try. Why look elsewhere?

Oh, and to make it easy for my friends, all these apply to birthdays and other celebrations, too.

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
If you are good you might get a nice and inexpensive peck on the cheek!
14 November 2007 at 20:44
Anonymous said…
This reminds me of my much younger days, when my friends and I used to set a budget of about £5 to get gifts for each other, or for a Christmas gift-exchange event! Now that I have a much more developed brain, that sounds like an utterly stupid idea. What is the point of spending £5 on something that your friend would most probably hate, and worry about what he/she would get you?

All these, for the thrill you get out of rippping the gift wrappers, then a sinking heart when the content is revealed.

This year, I am gonna do a Christmas potluck. No pretentiously wrapped gifts, just genuine friends and good time. Hopefully.
18 November 2007 at 21:01
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysia Truly Asia

"Malaysia Truly Asia". Have no freaking idea what it means, but THAT is the tagline for the Malaysia Tourism Board advertising campaign all over the world, particularly targeted at countries where the sun doesn't scorch your skin, and where there isn't an average daily temperature of 34C all year round. In it you'll see pretty snapshots of white sand beaches, blue skies, blue sea, clean places and good food. Obviously, they will never show you this -- Signboards (put up as directional boards to weddings, loan shark advertisements, etc) and rubbish on the road side, pavement, and in between plants on one of the major motorways in Kuala Lumpur: A pay phone booth (without the phone) filled with litter: OR, their infamous public toilets (although there has been some "improvement" in certain shopping centres only recently), or those people who burn their rubbish openly and frequently. And they're so proud...
Post a Comment
Read more

Uniquely Singapore Enbloc Fever

Just when I was talking about unethical agents and enbloc issues in Singapore, I got a text message from my agent yesterday, confirming that our flat in Le Chateau has been enbloc, and that all tenants will have to move out by the end of this month! Less than 1 month notice, and not even a written notice! And she had the nerve to ask me to pay up the full rent for the month of July! In other countries that I have resided in before, including Malaysia and England, I have never experienced this kind of real estate moments. Whether it was a lapse of a contract, or in the event of my old landlord wanting to sell the place, I was always informed formally, given ample time for necessary planning with full refund of my deposit. But the law here seems to be working in the owner's or the agent's favour. In most contracts you will only find rule after rule for the tenant to obey, and nothing for their benefit, for example: what would happen to them when the property is sold, or enbloc in...
2 comments
Read more