Abolish Boxing Day
Published:Tuesday | January 1, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
HOW MANY of us Jamaicans know the meaning of Boxing Day? To what extent do we celebrate this holiday in a way that exemplifies its traditional meaning? It is ludicrous that in modern, post-colonial Jamaica we are still given this day as a public holiday, despite our wretched colonial history.
Based on my general assessment of how Jamaicans react to Boxing Day as a public holiday, I have drawn the conclusion that we either don't understand what the occasion is about or we are too apathetic to appreciate its true meaning, another reason in favour of the teaching of civics in schools. I find staggering the number of Jamaicans who, as children, or even now as adults, still think that Boxing Day is somehow associated with the sport of boxing.
My little knowledge about Boxing Day in its traditional sense depicts a day dedicated and set aside for the collection and boxing of gifts and money to be sent to the less fortunate. Back in the time of black oppression it was set aside by the masters of plantations and great houses as a 'day off' from work for their servants and maids. It was a day when they were sent with collectibles, most likely leftovers, to carry for their relatives who, of course, were not allowed to live with them on the same plantation.
affront to colonial past
It is rather ironic that, in post-colonial Jamaica, such a holiday as Boxing Day is still afforded recognition - in a country where over 90 per cent of the population is of black ethnicity and whose forefathers were once subjects of this unforgivable act of colonialism. And for it to be celebrated the day after the supposed commemoration of the birth of Christ (the Redeemer), as taught by the slave masters themselves, is a travesty to the masses of the Jamaican people. Why is the true meaning of Boxing Day so conveniently unknown? Could this be yet another gesture to "hide the truth from the youths"?
As a hard worker, I found it difficult to work out when to spend my money during the festive period. The many times off from work, half days on Christmas Eve spent shopping and sporting; all of Christmas Day spent unravelling gifts and cooking expensive meat, and then a good night's rest to compensate for sleep lost on Grand Market night. Well, only to wake up the next morning to Boxing Day holiday, which, if you are not planning on staying home, will require you to do more spending and sporting. This, I am sure, is the dilemma of the average Jamaican, pondering which day to sport on.
too many expenses
A responsible father with two kids knows that on January morning they have to go back to school, perhaps with new pairs of shoes and uniforms along with outstanding school fees to be cleared. The same father, who is a labourer, would have lost wages on Christmas Day, though he might be religious, and again on Boxing Day. He sure can't afford to box gifts for the needy. For whom is this Boxing Day designed? And whom does it benefit? Certainly not the poor and working class.
Finally, the shattered and failing state of the economy does not require Boxing Day to enhance it, not even in its traditional sense. What it needs is for commercial activities to be heightened. It certainly does not benefit the economy when a public holiday causes a small business to close because it cannot afford to pay its workers double pay for the day. How does it benefit Vision 2030 when that same labourer's children's school fees or books are not paid for because he either spent his money sporting or lost it by not working on that day for a holiday that holds no significance to us but is still recognised?
It is time Government abolishes the now-obsolete fable of Boxing Day in Jamaica.
AMOS WINT