Indelible Poppies in the Pre-Christmas Rush

Walking on Queen Street in Cardiff’s city centre on 11^th, Nov, a beautiful sunny Saturday morning, the most impressive view is the people, carrying their shopping bags, with red poppies pinned on their collars. 

 It’s not a massive-scale fashion show, but a symbolic gesture in memory of the fallen in past wars. Undeniably we’re living in an age that history becomes a solemn topic, two great World Wars seem a long way off to us, and commercialized society swallows up many traditions. Yet, when it comes to Remembrance Day, people in Cardiff spare their pre-Christmas attention, showing respect to the brave servicemen sacrificed in the wars through various memorial events. 

Schedule: what has happened in Cardiff as for the Remembrance Day? 

One week before Remembrance Weekend, the scarlet poppies on Remembrance Crosses were planted on the lawn of Cathays Park. Each cross stands as a proud tribute in memory of a life lost too soon.On 11 November, detachments from Welsh regiments marched from King Edward VII Avenue via Museum Avenue to the Welsh National War Memorial in Alexandra Gardens, Cathays Park, Cardiff, creating a mute scene in contrast with the colorful Christmas atmosphere.

At 11:00 am in Cathays Park, the beginning of a two-minute silence was marked by the firing of a gun. Hundreds of people gathered together on the lawn awash with scarlet poppies and remembrance cross, showing a reflective mood as they bowed their heads.

Other memorial events also took place in other parts of Cardiff; varying from the two minutes silence in the front of the Millennium Stadium of the ordinary people to the officially events in National War Memorial attended by the dignitaries.

No matter how it was observed by different people in different ways, even in the busy pre-Christmas period, when every shop is ready to launch their Christmas promotion, people in Cardiff still slow their steps, wearing scarlet poppies to commemorate the servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their country.

Hopes: from the younger generation

 Young people are always being criticized as ‘an anti-social generation’; turning a blind eye to traditional values and history; however, their participation and enthusiasm in this year’s Remembrance Day Service in Cardiff contradicted that partial notion. Peter, a 17-year-old boy, attending the service in Cathays Park with his parents on Saturday said: ‘Although some people of my generation may take their freedom for granted, there are many others who do understand the sacrifices that these brave men and women have made for a better tomorrow.’ In addition to Peter, there were many other teenagers who stood in the ‘sea of poppies’ in Cathays Park, observing the two-minute silence with the same solemn expression as the old generation. 

Undoubtedly, everyone is getting excited and lured by the fancy windows decorated in shops like Zara, River Island, Principles, reveling in shopping and preparing Christmas gifts, nonetheless, so many people began wearing the traditional scarlet poppies several days before Remembrance Sunday.

 In marking this gratitude to the fallen of past wars, the people of Cardiff demonstrated their sense of honor and humanity.

~ by anniexf on November 16, 2006.