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Voting for presidential candidate in lieu of presenting carnation for parents

Voting for presidential candidate in lieu of presenting carnation for parents

Posted May. 08, 2017 07:19,   

Updated May. 08, 2017 07:28

한국어

A student at prestigious Oxford University should pay attention to his or her attire. Colleges at the school have their own respective guidelines on jackets, hats, ties, socks and shoes for various events ranging from admission to commencement ceremonies. One of them is carnation, which students wear on their collar when taking exams. Students wear a white carnation in the first exam, pink in the mid-term, and red in the final. Does wearing a flower make even the test romantic? The "Oxford Carnation Exam" is a rite of admiration that students who dream about entering the university would definitely wish to follow.

The origin of the word "carnation" that was used in the coronation ceremony in ancient Greece is "sacred flower," but the meanings differ according to color and country. The red carnation symbolizes socialism and labor movement and hence is used during Labor Day march in Italy and some other countries. The white carnation symbolizes pure love, while the purple carnation is for funerals in France. Oscar Wild, a playwright from Ireland who had extraordinary sense in fashion, would often wear green carnations. Since he was involved in a homosexuality case, the green carnation became the symbol of homosexuals.

Parents’ Day in Korea is May 8, but many countries including the U.S. observe the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day originated from a gathering at a church in West Virginia in 1908 hosted by Anna Jarvis in honor of her late mother who had passed away several years earlier. Anna presented white carnations that her mother had loved to the participants to honor her mother’s love. Since carnations in all different colors are available these days, people have to agonize which color to choose.

Some parents are reportedly asking their adult children with voting right to vote for (presidential) a certain candidate instead of giving me a Parents’ Day present not as a joke but as a serious request. People in different generations tend to support very different candidates, and few children would actually follow their parents’ demand at voting places. Some candidates who have attempted to transform political choice into an act of filial piety by urging vote (for my favorite candidate) instead of presenting me a carnation sound pitiful. In this era of selfishness and egoism, presenting a carnation to the parents in itself can be very touching to both the parents and children. We wonder since when the presidential election has been a family affair.