It’s that time of year again! Where the lines between religiously celebrating the birth of the savior, and basking in the most glorified day of modern capitalism are oxymoronically blurred. I find that this is the case with all the Christmases I have spent.

I am lucky enough to call more than one place home, Hong Kong and Toronto. And as a gift and a curse, I have not been able to spend the holidays in Toronto yet, which is a shame. I’ve only been exposed to a hybrid form of Christmas. First of all, I am not a particularly religious person, and in many ways I’m a skeptic. I guess I consider myself agnostic, yes, a lazy atheist as many would say. This means that I have been celebrating Christmas non-religiously for most of my adult life, and I’m not ashamed of it.

After spending my Christmases in Hong Kong for so many years and knowing the interdisciplinary nature of my celebrations, I realize that it is quite fitting for the city I spend it in. Hong Kong is a consumerist and commercially run city-state that is also a former British colony. Christian, Catholic and Mormon churches are an abundance in this city, but traditional Buddhist temples and practices are equally present if not more prevalent. Capitalism, Christianity, Buddhism, among many other things rolled up into this claustrophobic, overpopulated, magnificent city.

It may be slightly blasphemous to celebrate Christmas without religious intent, but for a lot of people, that’s all they know. My parents are Buddhist, but I am not, and still they never fail to put up the Christmas tree every year to mark this occasion. Ironically, the Christmas tree is almost always placed next to a makeshift shrine of buddhas.

So I looked at this image closely this year. A Christmas tree next to a Buddha. A symbol of an important Christian event placed peacefully next to a statue of a Buddhist deity. That’s what my Christmases are like. Where religion, philosophy, commerce and ideology are merged into an event where family and friends congregate to celebrate each other’s company and love more than anything.

I guess that’s my religion. Family and friends. These are the people who gave me life and breathed meaning into it. Why not worship them a little bit? Even if it’s just for humor’s sake. In response to Christmas episode, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”, of NBC’s Community, I have found my meaning of Christmas.

So no matter where you are, my family and friends near or far, even without religious intent, even without things to repent, I wish you all the best and a very Merry Christmas.

..Via Facebook.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Philbert: @philbertlui
Banana Times: @bananatimes

Another Heroic Melon Random Antic! Lent is a Christian tradition where one gives up something  for 40 days to represent the 40 days Jesus wandered the desert resisting Satan’s temptation. This year’s lent began on February 17th and ended on April 3rd. As I am not a Christian, that is the extent of my knowledge on this religious practice. Three out of five of the HMC members took on Lent regardless of religion. Lester tried giving up drinking and caved after the first two days. Kevin and myself were more successful. I gave up eating chips, and Kevin decided to give up swearing and McDonalds.

Kevin was not entirely successful because sometimes swearing just comes naturally. For every time he accidentally cusses, he granted me the pleasure of slapping him across the face. We didn’t spend every waking minute together, contrary to popular belief, so Kevin informs me of his slip ups and I follow through by slapping him the next time I saw him. And thus, spawned this awesome Random Antic:

Heroic Melon Collective presents,
Random Antics Volume 18: Slapping Kevin

I will honestly never get sick of this episode (: This will be the third Random Antic that The Banana Times has edited for the HMC, but don’t worry, there will be many more to come! Especially if it involves inflicting slapstick pain on another HMC member (see what I did there?). I’ll leave you with this:

The day lent ended, I wanted to seal myself in my room with a wall of chips. But unfortunately, I ate the wall. Mmmm…

-phibz.