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Pulcheria Chung, 18 St Mary's Canossian College

'Commercial fraud'  means deception carried out for the purpose of gaining profit while hurting  another party.

What was the real purpose of creating Santa Claus?

I believe his origins  can be traced back to the works of Clement Clark Moore and Thomas Nast.

As a representative of St Nicholas, Santa helps spread the message of love and sharing among people during the festive season.

To be more specific, Santa is a positive influence and would never hurt others, so he is not  a fraud.

Children have been taught that Santa rewards good kids, but  ignores the bad ones. This helps to tame  naughty children who will be more polite and behave better so that they are not left empty-handed.

Moreover, Santa can stimulate a child's sense of  curiosity.

Some people may use him to cheat others, but Santa is a positive symbol of the Christmas season. A good example  is Operation Santa Claus, which was launched to help the needy.

Santa can  be a different tool in different people's hands. But, most importantly, he was never created to hurt people.

Oliver Kwan, 17 Delia School of Canada

It is sad that Santa Claus  is being used by unscrupulous businesses  to make a fast buck during the holidays.

This isn't to say that he started out as a fraud.  Santa's original image  was that of a man who gave toys to children for Christmas.  In a way, Santa  embodied all the traditional virtues of Christianity, such as helping those who are less fortunate.

Although Santa was created with noble intentions, these have now been twisted to suit commercial needs.  Hong Kong is awash with adverts featuring a beaming Santa  promoting all kinds of  things you can buy for your loved ones.

Charity has been pushed to the background as materialism reigns in the run-up to Christmas.

No longer is Christmas a time for family gatherings or remembering the birth of Jesus Christ. These days, we have a festival dedicated to commercialism,  spearheaded by Santa Claus.

Stories about Santa can do little to change this image. Children act as role models simply because they want presents from Santa. Who needs virtue when materialism can fill the void?

So what's happened to the charitable, virtuous figure we knew before? He has been crushed under the weight  of commercialism.



Is Santa Claus a commercial fraud?