Here's wishing you a very peaceful and prosperous new year of 2012.
If the last 12 months has taught us anything, it is that we should never take our eye off the ball as far as national and international events are concerned: who could have predicted the seismic changes brought about by the so-called Arab Spring, the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Gaddafi the tyrant, the hope of the new country of South Sudan or the problems caused by the population of the earth reaching 7 billion?
Final curtain calls were given to Pete Postlethwaite, Susannah York, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Gough and Peter Falk.
No more notes will ensue from Gerry Rafferty, Gary Moore or Amy Winehouse.
We'll never see one more splash of paint from Lucian Freud or Cy Twombly.
The astonishing moves by Joe Frazier, Gary Speed or Sócrates are now things of the past.
The world has lost the much-loved political intellectual Václav Havel and the much-hated mad and bad Kim Jong-il.
Not even an apple a day could keep Steve Jobs here.
Out here in ole Hong Kong, many Chinesey folk hold back and really only celebrate Chinese New Year which officially begins on 23rd January. Our last Year of the Dragon, in 2000, saw many interesting changes -Vladimir Putin and George Bush were elected presidents, Israel left Lebanon after 12 years occupation, the submarine Kursk sunk in the Barents Sea, the International Space Station received its first residents. We had a billion less people.
We'll be sailing into stormy economic waters, particularly with regard to the question of the Euro. If people stop popping to the shops to buy 'stuff' then millions of Chinese will be without work and that will affect the ability of Chinese government to effectively control its people. Eek!
Who is to say where our future lies. It's supposed to be the year that our b'ak'tun cycle ends (according to the Mayan long-count calendar), which could mean the earth ends or that we bump into the planet Nibiru. Hmmm... that might not be so nice. All I can say is that you should make sure you live each day to its fullness.
Oh and I might just pop by from time-to-time with a little comment or two. Cheers!
Happy New Year Richard and Kung Hei Fat Choy to you.
Posted by: Account Deleted | Sunday, 01 January 2012 at 08:16 AM