Do you agree that our old customs are fast disappearing?

To lose one's culture is to lose one's identity.

And what better way to preserve one's culture by observing our old customs and incorporating them into our daily life?

Words are cheap, however and this is easier said than done. We are already in the new millennium, in this era where technology and modern gadgets are the norm, how many of us can still follow the olden ways of life?

Talk to any kid on the street today about old customs, and immediate image that springs to their mind is their cobweb-covered ancestors sitting in rocking chairs and idlically watching life pass by in 'kampungs'. Even the simple tradition of having dinner together as a family is something rare these days. Parents are out in the rat race and the children are racing from one activity to another. So howcan we cling to our old customs when circumstances do not allow us to do so?

The Amish community in North America is an example of old traditions, they do not even use tractors to plough their farms! however, their way of life is so distant from the world we know and the idea of living as they do seems far-fetched, and this is not without reason.

I sadly agree that our old customs are fast disappearing, and some claim that this is inevitable in the name of development. Maybe we need to offer the younger generation a fresh perspective on old customs, I feel that even though we cannot live the life that our forefathers lived, we can still instill in our children a sense of pride in their past, to teach them to love their heritage and culture, expose them and educate them about how it was like in the olden days and how far we have come since then, make them aware that their identity depends on the continuity of their heritage, customs and culture.

So as our old customs ebb away, we still know who we are and cling tightly yo the threat that is the reason for r existence.