Opinion | In 2022, Hong Kong must fight pandemic-induced resignation with a dose of childlike wonder
- Two years of grappling with Covid-19, in addition to Hong Kong’s perennial problems such as housing unaffordability, have left many feeling jaded
- We must all strive to see the world from fresh perspectives. This is an attitude the government could adopt too
The new year is for new intentions. For 2022, I’ve downsized my resolutions to just one: to regain a childlike wonder. This is how it came about.
On one of the last days before Christmas – when I was stressed to the max with last-minute Christmas shopping and double-sided tape nowhere to be found – we were stuck in crazy traffic (and rain). I was on the verge of some serious road rage when I heard a tiny voice pipe up, “Wow! See that?” “See what,” I wondered, “Holiday drivers in the rain?”
It was my three-year-old. He was staring out of the car window at the strangest of angles. And he squealed, “See that? Beautiful rainbow colours! Look at that!” He was mesmerised by the droplets of rain on the window. The sea of brake lights didn’t bother him at all – it made his day.
It was a Eureka moment. His wonder at the world reminded me that I needed a fresh pair of eyes and to be open to new perspectives, to take in the details and to let myself be awestruck.
Right now, more than ever, we need to muster all we’ve got to counter becoming jaded. Anthony Klotz, associate professor of management at Texas A&M University, used the term “The Great Resignation” in May to describe the wave of resignations expected in the United States of workers who had stayed in jobs they wanted to quit in 2020 due to pandemic-related insecurity, of burnt-out white-collar workers and of those who have garnered enough financial security to be in a position to reassess their priorities.
