2024 Year Ender

Maybe I will start by giving my 2024 Year Ender a sub-title – Four Funerals and A Wedding – to sort of set the scene.

Anthony, a Wah Yan 63 classmate, died in May after a short hospitalization, almost unannounced and certainly untimely. In November, my sister Margaret passed way after staying in hospitals for four months, she being the first of our five siblings to go. In December, Peter, a dear friend and brother died in Shenzhen after a short illness. Su and I attended all three funerals. I had written blogs and eulogies on all three occasions though I had only posted one on my website so far, for reasons which I hope would be understood and appreciated by my friends and readers. In between, we also attended a few other funerals, including one in respect of a good friend’s wife who was also Su’s Warwick classmate, one for a mother of a young entrepreneur who was Su’s good friend, and one for a Rotarian. There were others.

Very happily, we attended last week the wedding and banquet of one of my earliest HKU mentees, which was such a happy occasion which also brought back pleasant memories, for almost four years before to the date, we also attended the wedding and banquet of another of my mentee. On both occasions, I figured myself marrying off a daughter.

Such is how one’s life would pan out as one gets more elderly, attending more funerals than weddings. Su recalled the early days we met when she noticed that I was often busy with attending funerals and writing eulogies.

Back to the present, I began the year with a short trip to Kuala Lumpur which included a side trip to Melaka where we stayed in a boutique hotel for two nights in a heritage building in which I had a freak accident resulting in me having to be taken by ambulance to the local hospital for treatment and culminating in my first experience of boarding assistance from flight staff. The accident didn’t cause lingering damage or discomfort but did leave scars on the back of the head. Fast track to past mid-year, I voluntarily signed up for an operation to replace my left knee in September. I discussed in my blog that it was an optional but a calculated beneficial operation that would preserve or improve my quality of life for the next 25 years, or the rest of my life. I stayed in a private hospital for about a week and you can go to my website for the details if you are so minded. I have since been recovering well and my doctor and I are satisfied with the progress so far.

Apart from the trip to Kuala Lumpur, we had some serious travels. First, we flew off to Vancouver for nearly the full month of March, staying in Whistler most of the time and keeping track with our friends in Vancouver, after nearly four years. Our dear ski coach Jim had passed away and we visited his widow Joan with whom we had a great session. We also had some great time in Vancouver before and after Whistler. Su was busy trying to keep track of me when I was in the mountains, but we both had a great time, even though we didn’t do much skiing because of the weather.

In April, we went to Taipei and Taichung for some Rotary related activities, during which my immunity system acted up resulting in some emergency arrangements having to be organized. But Su managed to catch up with her ex-colleagues and we had a great time.  By May, we were ready to visit Japan, primarily Kobe, first on a Masonic related visit, but followed by some leisurely vacation in style. And that was all the travel we had done during the year, apart from the odd days we were in Shenzhen for various reasons.

We met up with friends in Hong Kong, individually or in groups throughout the year at different times. Typically, many had come back to renew their Hong Kong Identity Cards or Home Return Permits, while others had their private agenda. Regardless, we always made use of such occasions to have a great meal and to reminisce old times with good whiskies and fine food.

Before I sign off for the Year of the Dragon, let me share with you that I have actually begun to plan for the sequel of my autobiography. I am conscious that I am not someone on the Who’s Who List and whose life would attract a following from the average reader, but my primary motivation is to record what I remember when I still can, for myself primarily and for anyone who may be interested.

I wish you all a bouncing Year of the Snake ahead and a mindful 2025. And I hope to be able to write on my blogs more regularly. Meanwhile, I would continue to relax and seep my whiskies slowly.