Chinese Schoolchildren to Sit Compulsory Manners Classes
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Chinese schoolchildren are to sit mandatory manners classes in an attempt to smooth some of the rougher edges off modern Chinese society, the country's ministry of education has announced.

From primary school onwards, Chinese children will now receive lessons in the art of queuing, good table manners, how to respect their elders and betters and the correct way to write letters, emails and even send SMS messages.

Older children will be tutored in the arts of introducing oneself to strangers, dealing politely with members of the opposite sex, making public speeches and the rudiments of dealing with foreigners and (to Chinese eyes, at least) their strange ways.

"The goal is to let students know that China is a country with a long history of civilisation, rituals and cultures," said the guidelines which were published on the ministry's website. >>> Peter Foster, Beijing | Monday, January 24, 2011

China is leading the way. I believe that we would do well to follow suit. Good manners are also sadly lacking in Western society today. It’s all part of the downfall of our civilisation. We, too, need to do something to stop the rot. – © Mark

Even the Christmas Cracker Bows to Political Correctness
A Christmas cracker. Photograph: Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: Christmas cracker firm Swantex has dropped dozens of jokes, including mother-in-law gags and references to animal cruelty, in favour of more ‘politically correct’ alternatives.

The company, Britain’s biggest manufacturer of crackers, said the overhaul was needed to make sure its humour was in keeping with “changing attitudes”.

Among jokes to be dropped is: “What does a transvestite do for Christmas? Eat, drink and be Mary.”

They are being replaced by one-liners such as: “What athlete is warmest in winter? A long jumper.”

A spokesman for Swantex, which is owned by the Byk family, said: “Jokes are tested by an experienced Swantex panel, including members of the Byk family in laboratory conditions, i.e. over lunch with optional wine. Jokes that fail to register a smile or a groan are not included in crackers.” Christmas cracker jokes go 'politically correct' >>> Alastair Jamieson | Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Are Artificial Christmas Trees Ever Acceptable?
THE TELEGRAPH: With the weak pound contributing to a shortage of fir trees, Judith Woods wonders whether it's time to go fake this Christmas.

As the festive season looms, Europe is yet again giving with one hand (Lebkuchen, Panettone) and taking with the other (commandeering our Christmas trees). The dismal euro rate means that foreign tree exporters are reluctant to export to Britain, and our growers are sending their spruces to the likes of Spain and the Soviet Union, where they can earn up to 30 per cent more than previously.

Short of closing all the ports – which would be a shame, as how else would we get our Stollen and Belgian chocolate Santas? – we must counter this vile fir trade the only way we know how: by raising our chins, stiffening our upper lips and Faking It.

However, being British means agonising over etiquette, so the subtle nuances that separate U from Non-U are guaranteed to keep even the most insouciant of hostesses awake at night. Are plastic needles tacky? Can a pre-lit tabletop tree ever pass as stylish? At what point does faux turn into a faux pas? >>> Judith Woods | Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Lady?
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: 'Feminine values' are making a comeback but do they have any place in today's world?

The eternal question of what makes a woman a lady has reared its well-coiffed head once again this summer thanks to a raft of new experts queuing up – politely, of course – to tell British women to polish their shoes, mind their p's and q's, and generally be a little more ladylike.

While for many the very idea of ladylike behaviour is outdated, or even risible – as illustrated by the memorable Little Britain sketches in which David Walliams cries: "I am a Laydee" – a controversial book poised to hit UK bookshops next month is seeking to rescue the term from ridicule, advocating a "return to feminine values". This may not be entirely fanciful.

At the same time, sales of the conservative magazine The Lady are soaring, and Miss Debrett, the etiquette authority's new online agony aunt, is offering women a helping hand on everything from weddings to email etiquette.

In her book How to Be a Hepburn in a Hilton World, Jordan Christy laments the rise of the "stupid girls", represented in the public eye by such celebrities as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, declaring our "current female landscape as "embarrassing, flippant and shallow". >>> Rachel Shields | Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Coarsening of Western Society!
Photo of a typical British, middle-class dining room of yesteryear courtesy of The Telegraph
The trend of doing away with the dining-room is to be lamented. It shows that British society is coarsening; it also shows that family life is becoming more and more casual – far too casual, in fact.

The dining-room was at one time an essential room in the house. No self-respecting housewife would have wanted to be without one. It really wouldn’t have been the ‘done thing’. These days, however, anything goes. Pop- and entertainment-culture has taken over. Mothers don’t wish to cook anymore; and their children don’t want to sit down to eat, let alone dine; rather, so many of our young prefer to eat ‘on the hoof’, watching the box, or listening to their favourite ‘cool’ music. Many, I’m sure, eat whilst they surf the Web.

To so many people these days, because they don’t think for themselves, following the likes of Posh and Becks or Jamie Oliver or Kathie Lette has become de rigueur, and far more important than convention.

Let Posh and Becks and their ilk do their thing. The experience of dining is something which really shouldn’t be lost to our children. Heaven knows our children have become coarse enough already!

If we apply the logic that it is wasteful of one’s money and resources to buy dining-room furniture or silverware, and too much trouble to use the dining-room, then we might as well use the same logic and throw out the dinner plates too. The family can eat out of the carton, standing in front of the refrigerator, using their fingers. How civilized and uplifting that will be! I dare say, many already do eat this way. Need we wonder why so many people have no manners anymore, let alone any dining etiquette?

Ultimately, if we want to be super-efficient, we can do as the Bedouins do: We can use one huge round plate, placed on the floor, sit cross-legged in a circle around it, and eat with our fingers – right hand, of course! (The left hand is used for unclean things.)

Perhaps this is all part and parcel of the next stage in the Islamization of our culture!

It is so sad that Britain, once a nation which led the world in matters of etiquette, is in the process of losing all that we have held so dear for so long. A few days ago, we got news that Gordon Brown was doing away with Britannia on the back of our 50p pieces; now we hear of the demise of our dining-rooms.

I promise you, one day, we shall come to rue the day that we dispensed with all that was considered refined. - ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Britons can't be bothered with separate eating areas, says Alice Thomson. We want home cinemas instead

First it was fish knives and finger bowls, next went napkin rings and decanters, then mustard pots and marmalade spoons, now the British are throwing out the entire dining room. We have had enough of them.

They were usually dingy affairs anyway, the place where mothers laid out sewing patterns and fathers filled out tax returns, where children were told to keep their elbows off the table and great aunts served prune juice. With their swag curtains and brown furniture, they were a sign that you had finally made it to the middle classes.

In days gone by, they also facilitated the dating game, as Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, explains: "Dining rooms were vital in the 18th century. It was one of the few ways that a man could meet a single woman." Times have changed; the internet takes care of social introductions now.

No one shows off about their dining rooms anymore. Dining rooms were for hostess trolleys and hot plates, vol-au-vents and souffles. They required a huge amount of effort. If you have a dining room you can't serve the carrots out of the saucepan.

You have to put them in a serving dish. Even the ice-cream has to be decanted and, along with the rest of the food, either has to be trundled along a corridor or dispatched through a hatch in the wall.

The washing-up involved in having a dining room is horrendous. Most are also filled with silver which means several hours a week polishing the candelabra. And the cutlery. You must have serious cutlery, as well as a proper dinner service. Then there are curtains to think about and formal chairs. You have to dress the part too. Pyjamas look as out of place as a milk carton at a dining room table.

It's easy to see why the dining room has gone the way of trifles and Christmas pudding. It requires too much perspiration. Far easier to knock the kitchen and the dining room into one huge space and let the children use it as a football pitch and grazing ground.

Everyone has open kitchens now, from David Cameron to Posh and Becks and Jamie Oliver. Guests on Location, Location are more likely to ask for wet rooms than dining rooms. Kathy Lette, the comedienne, changed hers into a television room because she "loathes entertaining". Even the Queen prefers having her breakfast out of tupperware in an informal atmosphere. Dining rooms are not cut out for modern life >>>

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