“Dreaming of a White Christmas” is a fantasy that heightens the spirit of the season, just as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas “ provokes the romance of a tropical Christmas.
ONCE again, we are heading into the year’s most anticipated holiday. And once again, it will be a time of the year when Filipinos of my generation will almost undoubtedly be unanimous in saying: “Ang sarap magpasko sa Pinas.” (it’s great to spend Christmas in the Philippines )
The celebration of Christmas is known to be the earliest and the longest in the Philippines. Many Filipinos get used to hearing holiday music on the radio and in other public places like malls as early as September. The locals are fond of saying that the “ber” months of September to December are the Christmas season. There is a nugget of truth in that observation because the anticipation is when it is most exciting. But for the impending New Year, Christmas Day is a letdown!
As a young boy, my earliest recollection of the festivities was simple but meaningful. I recall that my mother took time to put together a “parol” ( decorative star ) made from bamboo sticks tied together, then a delicate coloured paper (“papel de Japon”) glued ( gaw-gawed ) on the sticks and some trailing tails were hung on the three lower points of the star. My father hangs the star outside the upper floor of the house and a light bulb put inside.
After moving to the center of town, Christmas took a more celebratory air as the whole neighbourhood got into a frenzy of decoration and often elaborate preparation for the year’s most important holiday. I was about nine years old when I became aware of the other time-honoured rites of the Nativity Scene in the Church Plaza, Christmas trees and coloured lights. “Simbang Gabi” ( pre-dawn mass ) for nine days was at 4 AM and preceded by a marching band around town half an hour before mass. Both young and old took the service seriously; the church was typically overflowing. ( there was a belief that the church provided a reward (“indulhensia,” i.e. less time in purgatory ) for the completion of the nine masses ) The dry and cool weather was constant during those years (mid-50s). It’s the only time people could show off jackets and imported wear.
The dawn mass culminates in a midnite mass (“Misa de Gallo”) on Christmas Eve. In our church, it is a tradition that a huge star overhead is pulleyed and moved from the back of the church while releasing glitters as it travels to the front of the altar. Festivities in the Philippines are meaningless unless a sumptuous meal is attached. Christmas is no different, but unlike a “fiesta,” this is a family affair. From the church, we dine together in a “Noche Buena “. The fare served during this time is atypical, generally of the more festive variety. Morcon, embotido and fried chicken are common. Run-of-the-mill “paksiw” or “sinigang” are not served at this time.
A closely related feast on New Year’s Eve called “Media Noche” also serves a selection of what was perceived as a wealthy meal: hot dogs, ham and other sliced meat but not fried chicken. According to my wife, in their household, chicken’s reputation: “isang kahig, isang tuka” ( roughly means having just enough money for the next meal. ), is a precursor for poverty in the year ahead. Superstition at this time of the year is taken very seriously.
During my time, the children received one gift from Santa Claus. Parents would carefully hide a present bought weeks before and discreetly put it near a child’s bed on Christmas Eve. The girls get a doll and the boys a cap toy gun. As I recall, I loved my first cowboy-style pistol with a holster, so the following Christmas, “Santa Claus” gave me another one for the left side! ( I was prancing about like a junior Mexican Bandido ) It was a progression from the first toy I recall I received from Santa: a toy bow using a suction-tipped arrow with a plated tin piece for a target. After a day of shooting, you have to lick the rubber tip to make it stick. The doll of the day in the mid-50s was the one that closed her eyes when you lay her down. Oh, the excitement of those years!!
On Christmas Day, the children visit with relatives to solicit a “pamasko” ( a monetary gift, typically ). The biggest giver was the godfather/ godmother at one peso! The others might give a ten or twenty centavos in paper bills. A 15-20 pesos take for the day was considered a generous haul. ( 20 Phil Pesos then is over 3,000 pesos ( C$74.25 ) in purchasing power today ).
In the evening, the carollers continue with their yuletide singing along with solicitations on behalf of the church or some special fundraising for seminarians. Carolling begins weeks before Christmas and could range from well-organized choirs and bands to neighbourhood urchins out for a quick buck.
The custom of Christmas was church-centred and a celebration of Jesus’ birth. The Catholic and other Christian sects ( notably the INK and the smaller protestant denominations ) were nearly 100% in our barrio ( now called Barangay ). I can’t recall meeting a Muslim during my childhood. I don’t remember the Christian community putting up any objection to all the other “pagan” rituals. The town decorates the plaza with “parols” slung on acacia trees and coloured lights alongside the” Belen.” The rampant commercialization of today’s Christmas was not evident in the 50s.
TODAY’S CHRISTMAS
In Okinawa ( Japan), I lived in an Okinawan neighbourhood with just a cluster of three other Filipino families. Fresh from the Philippines, you carry an impression that Christmas was some universal holiday. But, of course, I quickly realized that as a Christian holy day, it’s preposterous to expect a Japanese community with less than 2% Christian to celebrate Christmas the way we do in the Philippines. In the 60s ( and arguably even much later), Filipinos tended to feel disdainful of people not of a Christian mould ( even non-catholic Christians). It is a consequence of a country with an 86% populace which are Roman Catholic and no history of religious challenges to its supremacy. With Islam clustered in the South, people grew up with a skewed sense of religious dominance. Being identified as an atheist in this close-knit community, even today, can provoke a chuckle worse than gays coming out of their closets.
So, my first Christmas outside of the Philippines was a brusque discovery that Christmas was not as universal as I thought it was; people went about their business oblivious to the few of us trying to make something out of it. In the many decades since, Japan and many other non-Christian countries have hitched to the enormous commercial impact of Christmas but commemorated it outside of a religious occasion. Santa Claus, Elves, Christmas Trees, and coloured lights rule the celebration. Gift-giving, feasts, and romantic getaways are the mainstays outside the customary way they’re celebrated.
Today’s gift-giving underscores the business significance of Christmas. A typical Canadian family with two young children will have gifts from Santa, from the parents, from each other, from best friends and aunts and uncles, and maybe from the immediate neighbourhood. The money received goes to a spending spree in the malls. U.S. stats show ( in 2021) the average Christmas spending per child was 271, from a grandparent at 218 ( figures in U.S. $). A relatively new entry into the gift business is the gift card. $ 200 billion worth sold in that same year! Some 3 billion C-cards are still bought each year.
Retailers are continuing to invent new sales “days.” Boxing Day (Dec 26) in Canada ( and elsewhere in the commonwealth )has historical origins but is now more notable for huge sales and discount pricing. Not content with that, the U.S. invented Black Friday, another discount shopping day and now also a “Cyber Monday,” a shopping day for electronics. Diwali and Dussehra sales are big Indian shopping days; it’s only a matter of time before local retailers include them in their special sales days. But nothing can top the world’s biggest shopping day: the Chinese “Singles Day” or the “Double 11” every Nov 11. In 2021, online sales topped 1 trillion yuan (US 137.5 billion ) in a 24-hour online sales.
CHRISTMAS OF THE FUTURE?
Two trends might impact the future of this venerable festivity. The trend in secularization and the so-called “Cancel Culture” in the emerging generation that identifies further and further away from traditions.
It is already evident that Christmas as a religious holiday is being celebrated less about Jesus’ birth and more and more politically neutral rituals promoted by big business. New toys and shopping days have found the perfect time of the year to encourage both. We see this trend with Halloween as well. As a young boy, it was all about the veneration of the dearly departed, offering prayers, candles and flowers in cemeteries where they were buried. Today, it is remotely connected with dead relatives. Where do the young people go on an “All Saints Day ( or All Souls Day )”? They are too busy with their costume parties and trick-or-treating. It is now becoming a close second to Christmas in terms of money spent on decorations and related paraphernalia.
Could there be a danger of boycott ( cancel culture ) of Christmas? It is hard to imagine that there would be a time that this could happen, but the way young people think and the issues that they espouse, one can never be so sure. Climate change comes to mind. Remember Greta Thunberg, the feisty Swedish youngster who singlehandedly mobilized a generation to put governments on the defensive—forcing them to pass laws and heed the call to action to do something about the impending climate catastrophe.
Just as quickly, these young warriors can selectively put up an embargo on select businesses closely identified with Christmas. They can reject and shut out a Santa Claus parade, for instance, or a ban on using real Christmas trees. So, while it is incomprehensible that an entire institution can be “cancelled,” some aspects could be blackballed.
HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE WHILE YOUR COUNTRY IS AT WAR?
It may surprise you that the Palestinians celebrate Christmas more than Israel does. There are only 2.5% of Christians in Israel; Judaism, the dominant religion, has no official designation for Christmas. Palestinian Muslims in the West Bank and Gaza Strip designate Dec 25 and Jan 7 as official holidays. ( Palestine has 2% Christians, mostly Greek Orthodox ) Even if these holidays are not celebrated as religious days, they have a Western version of them; Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and gift-giving are more prevalent in Palestine than in Israel.
85% of Ukrainians are Christians ( 9% catholic); it is understood that they celebrate Christmas, but, until lately, it used to be celebrated according to the Julian calendar, which is Jan 7. To differentiate themselves from Russian Orthodox, Jan 7 Christmas, Ukrainians have moved this holiday to Dec 25.
Without a doubt, citizens of these countries do not get the peace and serenity of the season to celebrate amidst death and destruction. It is especially heartbreaking for the children, a period of immense significance for them and yet in the crosshairs of warring factions. “ A graveyard for children,” says UN Secretary Antonnio Guterres in the current Palestinian-Israeli War ( 4,500 children killed thus far ). The desolation and anguish wars bring cannot be overstated, Christmas or not.
The irony of the Season is inescapable, but there is nothing new here; one of many ( Religious Wars ) is right in the heart of the celebrant’s neighbourhood, no less. It’s a continuing story of Religion since man invented it to satisfy an inner proclivity for “hara-kiri.” It’s part of our gene pool, one that will continue to express itself until intolerant Homo Sapiens have all killed each other and replaced by a genus who are not gluttons for punishment. Natural Selection would have given us another 200,000 years, but given our propensity to self-destruct, we will do away with our species before that.
Too gloomy an end to a Christmas article? Alright, all together now:
“Roasting chestnuts on an open fire, jack frost nipping at your nose…although it’s been said many times, many ways, Happy holidays to you.”
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