Ordinary Gweilo

In the fairly short time I have been here, one of the traditions of Chinese New Year seems to have been eroded quite significantly. There was a time when almost everything shut down for several days, but in recent years more and more restaurants have stayed open – even though they aren’t as busy as normal (with so many people out of town). Now most supermarkets and some chain-stores are now open on the first day of the new year, and most shops are open on the second day.

Meanwhile, most motorists apparently expect traffic wardens to be on holiday, so they think they can park anywhere they like. Mostly they do get away with it, but the TV news showed some tickets being issued yesterday – that must be the definition of a slow news day: when they find time to show traffic wardens issuing parking tickets! I reckon there are only three on duty in the whole of Hong Kong and they arranged with TVB to film them issuing a few tickets in the hope of persuading everyone else to park legally.

Another good standby for the TV news is the crush of people visiting the temples in the hope of having good luck for the coming year. You have to be quite strong and very determined to fight your way through the crowds just after midnight at Wong Tai Sin temple, and old ladies practice for months beforehand by shoving their way on to MTR trains and rushing for the single empty seat in the carriage. After the initial rush, Wong Tai Sin remains very busy for the next few days, but the queue is more orderly.

It is one of the more endearing aspects of Hong Kong that although this is now a rich and modern city, the traditions of Chinese New Year still survive and the idea of good and bad luck is taken (relatively) seriously. Roly poly buffoon Ho Chi-ping, the politically-ambitious eye surgeon (and Secretary for Home Affairs) suffered a setback last year when he drew the unluckiest possible stick at Che Kung Temple in Tai Wai, and refused to try his luck again this year. Instead, Lau Wong-fat, chairman of Heung Yee Kuk (and a Liberal Party District Councillor) drew a somewhat more auspicious stick on behalf of Hong Kong.