SONGSOPTOK: Festivals have always existed in human
society. We all agree that festivity plays an important role in our lives. What
would be your personal definition of festival and festivity in the context of
today’s society?
LILIAN: Festivals are ways for people in a
community to celebrate together in their own cultural way, bringing people
together to bond and also an opportunity for outsiders to understand and be
immersed with the local culture
SONGSOPTOK: Throughout the ages, one of the underlying
objectives of festivals was to bring people closer together and create a link.
In the context of today’s competitive and egocentric society, do you think that
this objective is actually achieved by festivals?
LILIAN: I think so. On this ocassions people get
to be productive in their competitiveness and still work as a team with a
single team focus
SONGSOPTOK: Do you think that the form and content of
festivals have evolved over time? What is you own experience? In what way would
you qualify the evolution?
LILIAN: The core or essence of the festivity
remains the same though the medium evolved with the current technologies. On
smaller scale some enterprising politicians and businessmen have been more
forward to use the occasions for their own benefits for promotional gains
SONGSOPTOK: Since antiquity, festivals have served to
bring people together and hence closer to each other. To what extent are
festivals relevant in the context of today’s intensely competitive society?
LILIAN: Promotional and economical relevance since festivals boost tourism,
market sales and networking possibilities as a
result of people's interactions
SONGSOPTOK: Broadly speaking, there are two sides to
all types of festivals – preparation which is essentially materialistic and the
celebration. Which aspect is more important for you and why?
LILIAN: The
Celebration itself. Any worthwhile
preparation will be in vain when it does not motivate people to the festive
mood
SONGSOPTOK: The essence of
festivals lies in the connection between the individual and the collective. To
what extent do our individual and family oriented lives helps or hinders this
connection?
LILIAN: Family orientation decides how people
responds to the festivals. The closer
the family feeling is within , the easier to widen its scope to the community
itself. Individually the festival itself arouses the sense of belonging, of collectivity, of historical and cultural
pride
SONGSOPTOK: The origin of
most of the festivals seems to be religious; to that extent, almost all
festivals are essentially communal since it is the built around the religious
sentiments and beliefs of specific communities. Would you say then that such
festivals are actually detrimental to world peace and unity?
LILIAN: On
the other hand I believe it to be an awesome tool to world peace and
unity, but only if people are open and
accepting. When hatred and bigotry is
present, anything and everything is
detrimental.
SONGSOPTOK: All religious festivals are social but not
all social festivals are religious. Do you think that social festivals should
be more important today than religious festivals? Why?
LILIAN: I see no difference. Any celebration or ocassion that brings people
together and peacefully interact is important for me
SONGSOPTOK: For countries like India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Israel, Palestine and all other countries that share borders with
different religious majority, would you say that religious festivals play a
negative role for peace and unity? Please let us have your thoughts on this
issue which seem very important to us.
LILIAN: When all the people are open for
acceptance and friendship there is NOTHING NEGATIVE. Negativity arises from closed mind due to
hatred and unwillingness to accept other's belief. Religion and other cultural belief is just an
excuse to build walls that divide people regardless of geographical and
governmental divisions. I'm so sick of people trying to justify their evil
thoughts. Call a spade Spade! You hate so you my hate. You love then you love
SONGSOPTOK: Irrespective of the origin of festivals,
whether religious or social, the form and content often varies from one region
to another. In fact, regional culture has always been an intrinsic quality of
festivals in different parts of the world, often in the case of same festivals.
Do you think that today’s globalization could actually wipe out these
culturally rich regional influences? Do you think that this is a loss for the
human society in general?
LILIAN: I think festivals enrich regional culture. Globalisation just makes it more acceptable
to other cultures. But I hope people will not sacrifice their regional
influences for the sake of misconstrued global acceptance.
SONGSOPTOK: If we look closely, we can often find a
close relationship between different types of festivals and nature. Would you
agree? What is your personal experience?
LILIAN: Festival
is a celebration of nature itself.
Religious festival is a celebration of nature. Focus just got twisted
with unbalanced priorities and interest
SONGSOPTOK: Do you think that festivals and
celebrations in their present forms can play a role for world peace and unity?
If not, how should they evolve to become a message of world peace?
LILIAN: Openness and acceptance is all that world
peace needs. When a celebration is used to ostracise people no evolution can
achieve world peace.
LILIAN DIPASUPIL KUNIMASA
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