Editorial | Drawing of fortune stick may be a ritual but offers sage advice
- For some it may be mere superstition, but when stick No 11 was drawn the last time, in the previous Year of the Rabbit in 2011, Hong Kong’s economy saw positive developments. Will history repeat itself this time?
The whole world could use a change of fortune for the better, and few places more so than Hong Kong after the social and economic devastation of Covid-19 on top of protests, political crackdown and reform.
At such times uncertainty abounds, and rituals can assume more than their cultural significance.
An example is to be found in yesterday’s drawing of a fortune stick by a community leader in a Lunar New Year ceremony at Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin, with 96 sticks – each bearing a prophecy that either bodes well, or ill or is neutral.
Rural leader Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk, urged the authorities not to flaunt their power and heed public opinion after drawing neutral fortune stick No 11, which read: “Those powerful should not flaunt their power and prestige. They should work hard on listening to advice.”
That sounds like sage advice when unity is to be valued above all.
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How the world rang in the Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Rabbit
Feng shui master Chan Tin-yan said it meant “some people from the past” would play a crucial role in helping Hong Kong out of its predicament, especially its economic woes.