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Mayor’s Christmas Message 2005

"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!'' cried a cheerful voice.

By Latrobe City Council - 19th December 2005 - Back to News

"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!'' cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.

``Bah!'' said Scrooge, ``Humbug!''

Wouldn’t it have been great to be a fly on the wall while Charles Dickens was writing his most famous of Christmas works, ‘A Christmas Carol’?

Apart from the story of the nativity itself, it must surely be the most familiar of Christmas tales.

The characters themselves are so memorable – the mean and stingy Scrooge; the haunting apparition of his former partner, Jacob Marley; the hardworking and oppressed Bob Cratchit; and the helpless child, Tiny Tim, who in today’s terms would be described as struggling with his disability.

Like all good tales, there would have to have been an element of truth behind the story, for authors call upon their life’s experiences to build authenticity into their works. No doubt the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future were merely figments of Dickens’ fertile imagination, but out in the real world of the nineteenth century, there were undoubtedly those in society who resembled the Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim of the novel.

160 years after Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ would it be possible to write a contemporary version of the novel, based on unfairness, poverty and greed seen in today’s world? Sadly, I think perhaps it could be.

Poverty is still well and truly with us as organisations such as the Smith Family and Salvation Army can attest to. Those who need our help are in fact growing in number, not shrinking.

There are increasing pressures on the less well paid, to work for even less. There are pressures through casualisation of the workforce to put ‘work opportunities’ first and family second. A sustainable wage for many is even further out of reach; and dismissal can now be ‘unfair’ again.

Scrooge’s threat to Bob Cratchit in ‘A Christmas Carol’ - "Let me hear another sound from you,'' said Scrooge, "And you'll keep your Christmas by losing your situation," could once again echo through our workplaces.

For those with a disability, conditions have undoubtedly improved during the intervening 160 years. But it seems that even those with a disability are now to be hounded towards making a larger contribution to the workforce, or losing their benefits.

Just as the spirits of Past, Present and Future, haunted Scrooge; perhaps we all need haunting a little bit at Christmas time. And particularly this year.

We need our consciences pricked. We need to be reminded that while we may be well off ourselves, there are others who need our help. We also need to be reminded that it is not just the material things we can give others, but there is much we can offer by extending friendship, relieving loneliness and simply caring about others.

Just as Scrooge came bouncing back as the personification of festivity and generosity itself, after being haunted by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future; perhaps we need Christmas to take stock of our own lives, and remind us to do something extra special that will improve the life of others.

This year, let’s do it before the ghosts of Christmas appear.

May I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas, and to quote from the very last line of Charles Dickens’ novel…

"As Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!"

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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