Letters | As robots do more work, here is why humans need to play
Readers discuss the increasing importance of leisure, a Hong Kong story, and a new hit film
Having joined crowds in hiking Victoria Peak during the holidays in the past several years, I longed to ring in 2026 differently. But when I searched the internet for destinations within a two-hour flight, alas, airfares to places like Taipei had already gone up.
It then came as a delightful shock, however, that there would be a New Year’s Eve concert in Xinyu city, Jiangxi province – a city most people have probably never heard of – featuring popular artists like Aska Yang and F.I.R. from Taiwan, with tickets starting at 180 yuan (US$26).
How could one possibly pass up such a steal? Without bothering to research tourist guidance, I booked the highest-rated hotel closest to the venue. After factoring in an extra day to wander around, the total cost of this New Year’s escape would hover at 1,000 yuan – a sum more than thrice the city’s 2024 per capita gross domestic product per day.
While laws and regulations ought to be in place for teenage exposure to mobile and video games, I would argue that entertainment – from “bread and circuses” in the age of ancient Rome to “tittytainment”, a term that likens the pacifying effect of watching television to that of sucking milk – is far from poisoning progress and development.
A single concert like the event in Xinyu can boost the utilisation rate of infrastructure such as the high-speed rail, stimulate consumer spending across the local hospitality, tourism and catering sectors and bring people together in joyful gatherings, where interactions spark boundless possibilities.