Labour Day in Jamaica
National Holiday in Morocco
World Turtle Day
Showing posts with label Jamaica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jamaica. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Labour Day Around The World!
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Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday celebrated all over the world that resulted from the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. The majority of countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, and it is popularly known as May Day and International Workers' Day, while some celebrate on the first Monday of September.The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the Eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.
Image: Labour day in Scandinavia
Most countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1, known as May Day and International Workers' Day. In Europe the day has older significance as a rural festival which is predominantly more important than that of the Labour Day movement. The holiday has become internationalised and several countries hold multi-day celebrations including parades, shows and other patriotic and labour-oriented events. However, in Northern Europe, Walpurgis Night is celebrated on the preceding night and this holiday merges with the Labour Day in some countries.
May 1 is a national holiday in Albania, commemorating the Workers' Movement. During Socialist Albania, the Politburo organised pompous parades on the main boulevard of Tirana. Since the collapse of communism, however, unions organise occasional peaceful protests.
Celebrating the Australian labour movement, the Labour Day public holiday in Australia is fixed by the various state and territory governments, and so varies considerably. In both Queensland and the Northern Territory, it is the first Monday in May.
Labour Day in China is a major holiday carrying comparable significance as the National Day, which occurs on October 1, and the Spring Festival on the first day of the first lunar month.
May 1 is declared a holiday in France. The French also celebrate Le jour du muguet. Workers and students sell lily of the valley on the streets and from door-to-door to collect funds for unions and associations.
In Germany, Labour Day was established as an official holiday in 1933 after the Nazi Party rose to power. It was supposed to symbolise the new-found unity between the state and the German people. However, just one day later on May 2, 1933, all free unions were outlawed and destroyed. But since the holiday had been celebrated by German workers for many decades before the official state endorsement, the Nazi attempt to appropriate it left no long-term resentment.
In Greece, May 1 is a state holiday. Left-wing parties invariably refer to it as a "strike" instead, organizing commemorative marches throughout the country.
1 May (Día del Trabajo) is a public holiday in Guatemala. Celebrations mainly in Guatemala City with a parade held by General Workers Union and left wing parties.
India started observing Labour week beginning on May 1, 1927. However, Labour day in India is not a national holiday, but is confined to specific states. In Maharashtra and Gujarat (States in India), Labour week also coincides with 'Maharashtra Divas' and 'Gujarat Divas' (respectively, Maharashtra Day and Gujarat Day) because the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were created on the same week in 1960.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran (1979–present), Labour Day (May 1) is a holiday according to Article 63 of the Iranian labour law and it is officially celebrated to acknowledge the workers contribution to economy as an important group of society by ceremonial events.
In Ireland, Labour Day falls on May Day which is a public holiday.
In Israel May 1 is not officially celebrated, but each year the socialist and Marxist youth movements arrange a parade in Tel Aviv.
In Italy, May 1 is a national holiday and demonstrations by trade unions are widespread. Since the 1990s, the unions have organised a massive free concert in Rome, with attendances topping a million people.
In 1961, Jamaican Chief Minister Norman Washington Manley proposed the replacement of Empire Day with Labour Day, a celebration in commemoration of May 23, 1938, when Alexander Bustamante led a labour rebellion leading to Jamaican independence. Until May 23, 1971, Labour Day was primarily a trade unions celebration with public rallies and marches. On occasion, opposing trade unions clashed on this day, so in 1972, Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley promoted Labour Day as a showcase for the importance of labour to the development of Jamaica, and a day of voluntary community participation to beneficial projects. Since then, Labour Day has not only been a public holiday, but also a day of mass community involvement around the country.
1 May (L-Ewwel ta' Mejju or Jum il-Ħaddiem) is a public holiday in Malta. Celebrations mainly in Valletta held by General Workers Union and Malta Labour Party.
In Mexico, Labour Day, El Día del Trabajo, is a public, federal holiday held on May 1.
Every May 1 in the Philippines, labour unions march from the Mabuhay Rotonda in the Quezon City-Manila border to Plaza Miranda to Mendiola Bridge to protest anti-labour practices and to denounce the seating president. The only exception was on May 1, 2001, during EDSA III uprising, where the protest is not related to Labour day but to unseat the president. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a State of Rebellion pursuant to Proclamation No. 38 and lifted the order on May 7, 2001.
In Syria, May 1 is a public holiday to appreciate the important rule of labourers in the society
In Trinidad and Tobago, Labour Day is celebrated every June 19. This holiday was proposed in 1973 to be commemorated on the anniversary of the 1937 Butler labour riots.
In Turkey, May 1 is celebrated as Labour and Solidarity Day, valid from 2009 and its public holiday.
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Get to know the British Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II
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Today is the 84th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, the current queen of the United Kingdom and so here is some information about her!
The Queen is Head of State of the UK and 15 other Commonwealth realms: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She holds each crown separately and equally in a shared monarchy, as well as acting as Head of the Commonwealth, and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Between 1956 and 1992, half of her realms, including South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka), became republics. As a constitutional monarch, she is politically neutral and by convention her role is largely ceremonial.
The elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, she was born in 1926 and became Queen at the age of 25, and has reigned through more than five decades of enormous social change and development. The Queen is married to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and has four children and eight grandchildren.
When Elizabeth was born, the British Empire was a pre-eminent world power, but its influence declined, particularly after the Second World War, and the empire evolved into the Commonwealth of Nations. Her father, George VI, was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.
At the time of her birth she stood third in line of succession to the throne after Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), and her father, The Duke of York. But it was not expected that her father would become King, or that she would become Queen.
Princess Elizabeth's quiet family life came to an end in 1936, when her grandfather, King George V, died. His eldest son came to the throne as King Edward VIII, but, before the end of the year, King Edward VIII had decided to give up the throne in order to marry the woman he loved, Mrs Wallis Simpson.Upon his abdication, Princess Elizabeth's father acceded to the throne as King George VI, and in 1937 the two Princesses attended their parents' coronation in Westminster Abbey.Princess Elizabeth was now first in line to the throne, and a figure of even more intense public interest.
Elizabeth and her younger sister Margaret were educated at home. On the outbreak of war in 1939, they were evacuated to Windsor Castle. In 1945, Elizabeth joined the war effort, training as a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service (WATS). In November 1947, she married a distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten (formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark), who was created duke of Edinburgh.
The couple, who had known each other for many years, were married in Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947. The event was fairly simple, as Britain was still recovering from the war, and Princess Elizabeth had to collect clothing coupons for her dress, like any other young bride. They spent their honeymoon at Broadlands, Hampshire, the home of Lord Mountbatten, and at Birkhall, Balmoral.
George VI died on 6 February 1952 while Elizabeth and Philip were in Kenya. She returned home immediately, and was crowned at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. For more than 50 years, during a period of great change in Britain, the queen has carried out her political duties as head of state, the ceremonial responsibilities of the sovereign and a large annual programme of visits in the United Kingdom as well as numerous foreign tours.
Despite the controversies and scandals surrounding her children and other members of the royal family, she remains a respected head of state. In 2002, Elizabeth celebrated her golden jubilee (50 years on the throne) and in 2006 her 80th birthday.
Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England, Elizabeth personally worships with that church and with the national Church of Scotland. She regularly attends Sunday service at Crathie Kirk when in Balmoral.Frequently, the Queen will add a personal note about her faith to her annual Royal Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth, such as in 2000, when she spoke about the theological significance of the millennium marking the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. Elizabeth also demonstrated support for inter-faith relations, often meeting with leaders of other religions, and granting her personal patronage to the Council of Christians and Jews.
Many people do not know exactlty what the monarch does and according to the official Royal Family website, the Queen has many different duties to perform every day.Some are public duties, such as ceremonies, receptions and visits within the United Kingdom or abroad. Other duties are carried out away from the cameras, but they are no less important. These include reading letters from the public, official papers and briefing notes; audiences with political ministers or ambassadors; and meetings with her Private Secretaries to discuss daily business and her future diary plans. Even when she is away from London, in residence at Balmoral or Sandringham, she receives official papers nearly every day of every year and remains fully briefed on matters affecting her realms.As the current monarch of Britain her face is on all money and stamps.She also gives a special Christmas message on television every year on Christmas Day.
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