Paris Olympics etc.
Since uploading my last blog, the Paris Summer Olympics has taken the world stage and will remain so for another ten days. Hong Kong has caught the Olympics bug and people gathered at shopping malls to watch the Games even before Vivian Kong hit gold and became the darling of Hong Kong, China and the World. And in less than a week, our tiny Hong Kong has already claimed two gold and two bronze medals, as the CE and other sponsors scrambled for attention by riding on the windfall gains and as more people proclaimed and offered interpretations on “the Hong Kong Spirit” while the media played up the can-do attitude and the fighting spirit of the two fencers amidst adversity.
Su and I had stayed up, or tried to, in the small hours to watch our athletes competing in the games live as they went through their unbelievable roller coaster rides, in agonies and ecstasies. Without realizing beforehand that it was the start of the Games, I had unwittingly rostered myself to do scripture readings this week for the 7:30 am Mass at Ricci Hall, meaning that I had my fair share of sleep deprivation, self-inflicted even though. But it was so heartwarming watching our fencers, Kong and Cheung and lady swimmer Siobhan Haughey collecting gold and bronze medals, particularly when the National Anthem was played in the cases of the two fencers. I was somewhat amused to see a young Edgar Cheung looking around for the flags. And Hong Kong has just welcomed back Vivian Kong this very morning.
It looks like the small-hours watches were over for Su and I, at least for now, and that Hong Kong will end up with the four medals mentioned, won through years of hard work, perseverance, and assiduity. In their acceptance speeches, sometimes carried out with the least decorum or protocol, on the part of certain interviewers, all three medalists had displayed great humility, genuine modesty, and thankfulness to everyone who had helped them on their way to victories, including all the people of and in Hong Kong for their continuing support, not forgetting those who had stayed awake to watch them perform in the small hours. I therefore found it totally unacceptable and in bad taste the online attacks and false accusations in some media on our Olympic heroes and heroines. I totally agree with what Alex Lo had said on SCMP this morning that these people were still trapped in 2019, in particular on Lo’s concluding remarks that these people ought to move on, like the rest of the world, for “Hong Kong has to deal with new concerns, challenges and opportunities.”
Lest I might be misunderstood, let me quickly add that I had followed other games and matches as seriously and somewhat religiously, though probably not as emotively as I had followed the ones involving Hong Kong players. I had consumed more malt whiskies than usual in the process, and rather deservedly. Many of our players who did not win medals had done well and had improved their skills and performances and world standings. All 35 players from Hong Kong had come a long way and had worked long years to reach Paris, but not all of them were able to achieve as they had planned or hoped for. Nevertheless, many of them spoke very well in their post matches interviews and without exception they all displayed generosity and were thankful to the people of Hong Kong, their families, their team members and their supporters. For at least some of them, the best has yet to come, and I am thinking specifically of the 19-year old fencer who returned to Hong Kong this morning with Kong in such jubilant and positive spirits. It was heartbreaking to see, for example, Jason Ng not being able to finish in his triathlon battle due to a freak accident with his wetsuit. Regardless, all these unsung heroes deserve our deepest respect and support.
Vivian Kong has repeatedly said that she would devote a large portion of her prize money from Jockey Club to charities that would help young people and budding athletes to fulfil their goals and dreams. I applaud her generosity and I hope other local philanthropists and major concerns would follow suit and match her efforts. After all, $6 million isn’t such a lot of money.
Still on our golden gold, I am encouraged by her stories on her knee injuries and how she went through the nightmare. Let me elaborate.
My left knee has not been too well since my return from the last Whistler trip in March. I could have torn or weakened some ligaments, but the good news was that the knee cap appeared not to have been injured. I had been seeing my friend chiropractor who had subjected me to a series of shock wave treatments, initially two to three times a week and later once a week. The idea was to stimulate the pain centre – the injured ligaments – to heal itself. The first treatments appeared to have worked and I could walk normally, at least after the treatment, but then it got worse and it was painful at times. Meanwhile, I went on a few trips, to Taiwan and then Kobe and so on; and the knee was not getting better. I then recalled the sports physiotherapist whom my Latin Dance coach Sam had introduced. Carrie suggested the shock wave treatment might not be working well and put me through her regime, which appeared to be working. She also asked me to stop my treadmill routines and start swimming or cycling instead. Concurrently, I tried to book an appointment for consultation with my Government Family Visiting Clinic. I would not go through how the appointment system by telephone worked. It was 21 June, I think, and somehow, I managed to book an appointment for 3 July at 11 am at the Family Visiting Clinic, in Fanling. I wasn’t particularly sanguine about keeping the appointment, but Su accompanied me there anyway, by taxi, at $250. The place appeared clean, well-managed, but rather underutilized. I went through the registration routines and eventually was before a Dr. Ngan who appeared experienced and sympathetic. His first diagnosis was that the injuries were wear and tear due to age – old age – but to be sure he signed me for an x-ray there and then and prescribed me some ointments and Panadol. The x-ray centre was handy, just downstairs, with hardly anyone there. I was assured that the centre would call me if and only if they found something unusual, wear and tear due to age not included. We walked off and enjoyed a session at Better ‘Ole which I had described before.
Then, a week later, on 10 July, the Fanling Clinic called urgently to ask me to return for the x-ray report the next day, which we did, this time, by MTR. We waited for more than an hour to see Dr. Ngan who told us that both knees had suffered from wear and tear due to age, but that deterioration in the left was more serious. He typed a referral report for the Specialist Out-Patient Clinic of Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and asked us to go to the nurse station for further directions. The nurse was helpful, albeit patronizing. She gave me some forms which essentially would get me an appointment at the Orthopaedics and Traumatology (O & T) Department of PMH and at the same time, by virtue of me being a retired government servant, another referral to Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Specialist Clinic, all rather complicated. We left for our lunch, which was another story.
After lunch, we took public transport to PMH, which wasn’t exactly easy or straightforward, and after some enquiries, landed at the appointment counter where we were given a number. It was about 3 pm and the place was rather crowded. Somehow, a volunteer helper asked us whether we were familiar with HA Go, an App designed for Hospital Authority appointments. I recall having had it installed on my phone when I was a member of the Hospital Governing Committee of DKCH, but that was a few years back. I was referred to another desk manned by two young ladies – who we later found out were HA staff – who helped us update the App and eventually get me an appointment, which was the object of the visit. She assured me that the App would let me know details of the appointment in due course, but if nothing happened in three to four weeks, I could call them or WhatsApp them. We left, feeling contented.
All was quiet until 17 July when HA Go informed me that I had been allocated an appointment with PMH, on 2 January 2026 at 10:30 am, or some 18 months away. The next operation was to establish a dialogue with the L Block of QEH, which could only be executed through FAX, which I duly executed. A few days later, I received in the post the formal Appointment Slip for the 2 January 2016 slot at PMH, and still a few days later, on 23 July, a few urgent calls from QEH asking me to fax to L Block that Slip, with which I duly complied. Finally, on Tuesday 30 July, I received a call, again urgent, from QEH, asking me to turn up for a consultation on 2 August, which would be tomorrow, at 10:30 am.
I now await with unabated breath what would happen tomorrow. Until then, I wish you all well, and I hope I would write to you soon.
