Meaningless Event

The Cheung Chau Bun Festival's master baker has sounded off on the inane idea to use plastic buns instead of the real thing.

Kwok Kam-chuen, who has prepared the 8,000 buns used in the climb since it was revived in 2004, said it was not the loss of business that bothered him as much as the loss of tradition.

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"With the steel tower and plastic buns, the climb will be turned into just another sport. On one hand, I appreciate the concern for hygiene and safety. But on the other hand, the heritage value will be gone and the meaning will be lost."

The meaning will be lost. And what do you call a festival without meaning? A crowd.

The buns were traditionally part of the annual event organised to pacify spirits believed to haunt the island following an outbreak of plague in 1894.

Round, white, and with red characters denoting peace and safety on top, the buns were believed to work miracles for the islanders. Poor fishermen in the old days did not only eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they believed the pastry would cure them of all sorts of diseases and bring them good fortune.

"They would place the buns on their altar for months. When someone got sick in the family, they would grind the hardened pastry into powder and mix it with water. Call them superstitious if you like, but people who drank it often said they felt better afterwards," he said.

Clearly the government didn't bother asking residents before adopting this idiotic idea.

Is wrecking a tradition how it preserves "collective memory" and "intangible heritage"?

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