This photo shows a family enjoying Christmas in their home.

Ho Ho Ho! The tick-tock has started for another enchanted Xmas. I am already in a festive mood waiting for Santa to gift me some goodies this time. When I was out doing my little Christmas shopping for my office secret Santa I just looked back at the good old days in Dubai when I used to spend Christmas with my family and classmates.

We were like a close-knit family with neighbours inviting us to dinner. I hear the melodious X Mas Carols, and Christmas trees put up in every Christian family, office, clinic, arcade as Santa Claus is ready to head to town. Many of my Christian folks all around the world are ready to celebrate this festival with joy, merriment, and enjoyment. It is also one of the few times a year that almost everyone in the family and friends get together.

Joyful carols, special liturgies, brightly muffled gifts, festive foods — these all characterise the feast today. The way we used to express our emotions through Christmas cards is something that I can always cherish especially when you want to exploitatively express something by penning them down unlike now when you have cut copy and paste available on your smartphones.

Mathew Litty,

Dubai