n: tra·di·tion
1 : an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior
OK – so someone explain to me please, how making a mockery of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival by replacing the buns with “cakes or dolls” constitutes reviving a tradition? Although the Hong Kong government has finally agreed to bring back the traditional bun tower scramble after a ban of 27 years, they have already replaced the bamboo structure with steel, and participants must now first undergo training sessions by certified mountain climbers. Now they’re already talking about making the bun scramble a year-round event and replacing the buns with other items. Why? Because it would apparently make a good tourist attraction.
From the SCMP:
He [Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho Chi-ping] said the steamed buns which are the usual targets of the climbers could be replaced with “cakes or dolls” and the quasi-religious event staged instead as a sporting challenge.
…
[Kwong Kwok-wai agrees:]
“I think it is an excellent idea, as many more people can try climbing the bun tower and get a taste of tradition. Scrambling for the buns is just a gimmick. I don’t mind replacing the buns with other things.”
Does the government not understand the definition of a tradition? To turn an annual event into a year-round affair, then remove the key feature of the festival itself (the innocent steamed bun) and replace it with something totally irrelevant is nothing short of a complete joke. Whilst I agree that change to all things is inevitable, and by all means safety is a factor, but you don’t exactly see the authorities in Pamplona banning bulls in the bull run, nor the Gloucestershire County Council taking the cheese and hill away from the famous cheese roll. They certainly don’t hold it every day. How can you possibly call scrambling for buns in the bun festival a gimmick? The buns are the bun festival!
Oh the wonders of a capitalist society run by a misled government!
