More on Paris Olympics
I left off in my last blog with a note that I would visit the Specialist Clinic at QEH, which I did; and I am grateful that a few friends had taken notice and asked me separately what transpired. I thank all these kind souls and let me make a brief report here.
QEH L Block was actually familiar ground for I had visited the Medicine clinic there quarterly before they shifted me to the Families Clinic at Tang Chi Ngong Specialist Clinic in Wanchai. I arrived ahead of time, to allow time for registration, and was called to wait outside the consultation room – first patient – by 10:10 am. Su was making her way to the clinic separately and arrived 15 minutes later. The consultant checked in shortly after the appointed time and we were soon called in. It didn’t take him long to confirm that the knee joints had weakened due to “normal” wear and tear or old age, adding that it would have been abnormal if there weren’t. He also advised that knees replacement would be the ultimate solution if at all necessary, but added that replacement knees won’t enable me to carry on an above-normal active life style, such as skiing and regular trailwalking, which meant bad news for us. The good news was that my deterioration was considered acceptable for my age, for I needed neither walking support nor pain killers and I could still flex my knees within limits, albeit not too extensively. In the meantime, he sent me to the x-ray department so as to provide the necessary background for his colleagues at PMH who would follow up my case in January 2026, and to the physiotherapy department for appointments to strengthen my leg muscles and to slow down the deterioration process. The x-ray didn’t take long and I was given a first appointment at Block H for late October 2024, which was considered to be early. We left well before lunchtime and found our way back to KCC for a simple lunch.
Back to the present, I continued to follow the Paris Olympics and I must have more TVs than I have ever had for a long time. I felt sickened by the West-inspired media reports and commentaries that the Chinese athletes, particularly the swimmers who had won gold, had been cheating and ought not to have been allowed to participate in the Paris Olympics after many of the team members were tested positive before the Tokyo Games. Then I read from YouTube a video posted yesterday – Jerry’s Take on China – with the catchy title “Will the Real Olympic Cheats Stand Up” which had attracted more than 55K views after one day. Jerry gave a detailed background on the tests before the Tokyo Games, with emphases that those tests were actually initiated by China, following which all swimmers had been cleared for participating in the games because the positive results were due to food contamination and could been orchestrated. Jerry went on to suggest that the US Team had been notorious for the Tonya Harding incident – which incidentally was also mentioned by Alex Lo in today’s SCMP – in which a potential rival was hobbled so that she could not compete and argued that it was the US insecurity of their team members’ ability to win that had generated such avalanche of negative comments on China’s swimmers and athletes, which were totally uncalled for and unjustified. Jerry highlighted that some Chinese competitors were called at 5 am for tests on the day of the event and some had been tested seven times a day. He went on to outline the West, in particular the US, seeking more regularly and frequently TUEs – therapeutic use exemptions – suggesting that they had managed to create an art form of cheating. I suggest you read up his report, which is rather revealing.
Jerry had said in his blog that he had lived, worked, married and studied in China for over two decades and is now retired there, that he had travelled about 30,000 km on a bike around China such that there were only three mainland provinces he had yet to visit. He professed that he may not be an expert – for no one is and anyone claiming to be certainly isn’t – adding that he had formed his opinions based on researched facts and that he won’t tell lies on any account or anywhere. He also said, “This is my China – the good (mostly) the bad (sometimes) and the Ugly (rarely, China is beautiful and so are the people)” He urged his readers and listeners to interact with courtesy, and assured them that he would answer any question asked in good faith.
Such biased and double-standards reporting have become more prevalent and, as Jerry and other more neutral reports have indicated, are signs of a failing or failed state seeking to retain its hegemony. I have stated in my first memoir that I am proud of being Chinese. My actual words were, “I have never felt prouder as a Chinese.” After Rosita died, some of her siblings – all of whom are in the USA – had thought that I might choose to move over to stay with them. I have actually never harboured such thought and I don’t think I ever would. Certainly, not now. I could never imagine living in a country with a government that thrives on making war machines and medical products which tend to make their users dependent. I am glad, as the whole world should be, that China and the Chinese Government has never sought to create policies to become dominant over any country or has invaded any country. Long may that last.
Meanwhile, eating and drinking continues as I watch more and more Olympic games on TV and sometimes on the phone.
