 |
Lau shows the prophecy he picked out with the fortune stick
|
The Year of the Ox has a cautious warning for Hong Kong authorities.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the ritual fortune stick is chosen at Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin, and this year the interpretation is for the government to be more decisive.
Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, who chairs the powerful rural body, the Heung Yee Kuk, picked a "neutral" fortune stick, though he said it should serve as an alarm call for officials, referring to the year-long coronavirus pandemic.
 |
Che Kung Temple is in Sha Tin
|
"Hong Kong is facing a big problem. The people suffer pain. It's hard to do business now and many people are left jobless. Every step of the government is important, particularly at this stage," said Lau, who is also a pro-Beijing lawmaker.
"If it is not decisive and moves a wrong step, then the problem will be big. The fire will grow bigger. So the prophecy asks the government to implement its policies in a decisive, precise and timely manner, otherwise the problem will be big."
The fortune stick is one of 96 in a bamboo cylinder, each stick is numbered and refers to an omen, with 35 good ones, 17 bad, and 44 neutral. To pick the fortune stick, you have to shake the bamboo cylinder at an angle until one stick falls out. If two or more fall out at the same time, then put the sticks back in and shake it again.
Each omen is written as a poem, and usually people ask a fortune teller to help them interpret what it means. Lau's stick was number 45. It roughly translates as:
"One must discuss with others before taking any action. Matters of the world are fraught and in vain.
 |
Shake the bamboo container until a stick falls out
|
"The wood that piled up in one's storage is not burnt for nothing. The knowledge knows before a fire burns."
It goes on to say:
"Everything is not ideal, but the self should have peace and the family has some luck. Those who seek money cannot yield a great outcome."
If one looks at how the Hong Kong government has handled the pandemic, the omen seems to describe it well, as the authorities have done several U-turns on many policies in battling the virus, including the latest decision on allowing the Lunar New Year flower markets to open, when originally it said they would be cancelled.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has also been criticized for relying on a small circle of advisors instead of consulting more broadly. Perhaps one remembers the time when the government stopped allowing all meals in restaurants and had to reverse the decision in 48 hours after seeing people eating takeaway lunches in the rain?
 |
The government u-turned on the flower market
|
Lau said: "The pandemic is just the same as fire. If it is not put off in a timely manner, it will spread so fast."
As the number of new infections was 12 today, but no closer to Lam's goal of zero, Lau said the government needed to do a better job in tackling imported cases and improving contact tracing.
When asked by reporters whether the prophecy suggested the Beijing-imposed national security law could not address the city's problems, Lau said: "The administration could not walk its talk on many occasions. I believe when making policies, the government should make them go forward, aside from thinking about them carefully."
Sounds ominous.
He gave the example of Hong Kong's housing and land shortages, saying it took two decades to develop an area.
 |
Lester Shum was one of 50 arrested last month
|
Reporters also asked Lau whether Hong Kong authorities should refrain from prosecuting opposition figures, give that one interpretation of the prophecy suggested the importance of harmony.
"Politically, striving for harmony is always the best. People's grievances should be addressed. It can't always use tough measures. That can't solve the matter. Every society needs harmony and unity to go forward," he said.
Wonder if he meant to send that message to Beijing as well, after how it dealt with the social unrest in 2019 followed by over 10,000 arrests of protesters, and last month's arrest of 50 former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists for subversion in an alleged plot to "overthrow" the government...
