It’s April, the Month of Celebrations

April for me has always been special because it is the month marking the birthdays of many friends and people dear and near to me including my only son and a godchild and a host of other friends. We used to celebrate the birthdays of Aprilers over a dinner or two and so on. Then, I also have in April my birthday, both the ID card date and what I think would be the date, and more recently, my wedding anniversary with Su. April has therefore been a month for celebrations, of one kind or another.

Then, April of course is normally the month when Christians celebrate Easter, arguably one of the two most if not the most important occasions that would remind Christians of their Faith and beliefs. Additionally, April is also the month when Chinese traditionally observe the Ching Ming Festival and in Hong Kong, the Children Day. Somewhat accidentally, I have found that April is also the month for various remembrances or celebrations of many other trivialities. Apart from April fool’s day which SCMP used to brag about and mark with something ingenious, there are lots of other food related celebrations on specific days in April, including the peanut butter and jelly day, the chocolate mousse and caramel day, the blueberry pie day, the prime ribs day, the pretzel day, the tea day, the garlic day, the egg Benedict day, the glazed ham day, the grilled cheese sandwich day, and of course the beer day on the 7th, my official ID card birthday. Then there are days in the month marked out for penguins, for pets and for the board game scrabble, and for picnics and an Earth Day on 22nd which happens to be my wedding anniversary with Su. Which is why April has always been a busy month for me, for whatever reasons.

Back to the present, we are in the midst of the escalating tensions between USA and China, with USA trying hard to gather support from her allies all of whom she had sold down the river in one way or the other over the years, and with China negotiating with consummate diplomacy and skills to create and cement ties with new allies and partners. The scenes were simply spectacular if not hilarious.

Once again, Hong Kong is not for the faint hearted. People who are scared or threatened by the sanctions from the United States and countries such as Australia, Japan and even India, or from the EU and the now unattached UK after Brexit would need to take a position for themselves; and I wish them luck. Take a recent case from the fugitive Hui Chi Fung, for example, who left Hong Kong with the aid of a so-called EU diplomat to land first in Denmark, then in UK and recently in Australia. I am sorry for Australia which has compounded her position as a lapdog of another country and thereby compromising her political and economic future.

Henry Litton has recently written a clear and unequivocal piece on the subject for everyone to see, except that people, most people, would only choose to see what they want to see. Maybe Henry should come back to stay in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the United States, UK and EU continued with their unabated attack on China and China’s recent well justified moves to introduce measures to improve Hong Kong’s electoral procedures and to safeguard the national security on the one hand and the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong on the other. The future of Hong Kong is nothing but bright. It’s pathetic to see that the press secretary of United States couldn’t even pronounce Sino-British Joint Declaration properly in normal and regular diction, a reflection that the country whom she represented was in complete and absolute disarray.

There are other issues I would like to take up, but perhaps the most important one, on Easter, is this. Violence would only beget violence and won’t lead to peace. All the rigmarole, verbal and whatever, that perpetrate violence will not solve any problem. Only love and understanding can resolve any misunderstanding, which is what Easter is all about, to celebrate love.

I wish you all well; and I hope to talk to you again soon.