When did you last write - I mean in the real sense, i.e. a handwritten letter - to your parents, brothers, sisters, other relatives or friends who live apart from you? To this question, most people would answer "years ago". I know I would be jeered by a number of my regular critics, who would say: "Listen, this old foggy is harping on the good old days again." Wait a minute. Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming modern technology for the disappearance of handwritten letters; instead, I'm blaming modern men (me included) of becoming lazy and less attached to kinship while enjoying the ease and convenience afforded by modern technology. Take greetings between family members and friends at festivals. Chinese people wrote letters to their kinfolk and friends to express good wishes during traditional festivals before the telephone became popular in the early 1990s in cities and about a decade later in rural areas. |