Friday 3 June 2022

“Return of the dragon: Stanley beach dragon boat race after 2-year pandemic hiatus”

Dragon boat racing returned to scenic Stanley and Tai O in Hong Kong on Friday for the first time in two years amid the coronavirus pandemic as hundreds of rowers and revellers flocked to the beach to soak in the festivities under the sweltering heat.

Qu Yuan was a principled public servant who threw himself in the river when his advice wasn’t accepted by the emperor. People threw zong zi, rice balls, in the river so the fish would eat them and not him.

I wonder if the message might not be a touch seditious for today’s Hong Kong. An incorruptible official criticising the emperor? Could it be subject to the National Security Law? After all, June 4, tomorrow, memorialised every year since 1989, won’t be marked in any way coz said law. And so June 4 will be forgotten here, as it is already forgotten on the mainland.