This year's boxing day falls on a Monday, and people are clamoring that retail shops shouldn't be open, to give extra time for employees to spend a moment more with their families. An online petition, Change.org, has hit 230,000 signatures for boxing day.
Only one man decided to listen to this heed, telling his employees to take the day off. Managing Director Peter Wong said in a video, that "as a family man I understand the value of spending time with those you love at a precious time of the year."
Wong decided to keep the store closed this Boxing Day, and by doing so wanted people to be clear on which side of the debate he stands on. He would allow his "fantastic, hardworking team the time they deserve with their brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, parents and grandparents."
Wongs Jewelry usually opens on December 26 for business sales. "In previous years my decision to open was down to the mounting pressure placed on retailers to open 365 days a year," Wong said.
Boxing Day is always a hot topic every holiday. Another petition in Change.org appeals the same thing--that shops, especially supermarkets, do not need to open on Boxing Day. Started by a certain Ian Lapworth from the United Kingdom, the petition has garnered 232,751 signatures as of writing.
The goal is to have the petition delivered to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May MP. Lapworth stated that "While not everyone may see Christmas as a religious holiday, it should be respected as such, and retail workers (who work so hard in the run-up to the big day) given some decent family time to relax and enjoy the festivities like everyone else."
He cited that shops managed to keep the business open and to run even when it was closed for a whole week 30 and 40 years ago. "Let's get back to the way it was," Lapworth wrote. "Forget making money for one day, let's concentrate on making more memories with the ones we love."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
