My Take | A Christmas wish for goodwill and caring
- Though celebrations will be subdued as the world struggles to curb the pandemic, we all desperately need to have a happy Christmas and to look forward to a better year in 2021
We might wonder when Hong Kong will next enjoy a normal Christmas. Last year festivities were scaled back after months of civil unrest. The city’s famous shopping malls became venues for demonstrations and protest songs were heard as frequently as carols. The New Year’s Eve fireworks were cancelled.
This year Covid-19 risks and social-distancing rules have dampened the usual party spirit and made foreign travel impractical, if not impossible.
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Many will, as a result, be spending Christmas in Hong Kong for the first time. We will be making the most of it. Amid all the gloom, the chance to exchange presents, pull a cracker, and indulge in some festive fare is welcome. It is a pity the New Year’s fireworks had to be cancelled again.
However we intend to spend the holiday, this is an ideal time to reflect on the Christmas message of peace and goodwill to all. It is universal. Christmas, although a Christian festival, is enjoyed by people of other faiths – or no faith at all – in different ways around the world.
This is a time for giving and forgiving, for caring and kindness. Hong Kong has seen far too much confrontation and division over the last two years.
It might only be a Christmas wish, but the city would benefit enormously from a little more goodwill between the government and its opponents, the yellow camp and the blue, and between Beijing and the US. At least, we might hope for a Christmas truce.
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