Now it’s time to welcome the year of the Pig. Traditionally this marks a period of 10 days of festivities and is a time that Chinese families organise reunions and social gatherings. Multiple festivities will also take place in Brussels in order to welcome the Dog’s year.

People born in the Year of the Pig are said to be bon vivants, cheerful, optimistic, generous, kind and tolerant people

According to the legend, the 12-year cycle of the animals of Chinese astrology arose when the heavenly Jade Emperor announced that the fastest animals to reach him would be chosen and ranked accordingly.  The clever Rat was the first to arrive, but the Pig came last, having stopped to take a nap on the way.  Nevertheless, although he took his time, the more relaxed Pig still got a year named after him, the last in the 12-year cycle.

« People born in the Year of the Pig are said to be bon vivants, cheerful, optimistic, generous, kind and tolerant people » explains Linda Sansbury from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels. « They know how to enjoy life and make faithful friends, hard-working colleagues and passionate, caring lovers.  Some of these good qualities should infuse this Year of the Pig, with the family and loved ones at the centre of attention.   It is said to be an auspicious year to find a soul mate, get married or have a child.  A year to recharge one’s batteries before the new 12-year cycle that starts on 25 January 2020 with the more energetic Year of the Rat » she concludes.

Celebrations and wishes from Brussels

The Mission of China to the European Union, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels, Huawei, and Tangla Hotel are organising multiple events in order to welcome the Pig’s year in Brussels. As of tonight, Huawei is taking over the festivities at Concert Noble. Tangla Hotel also expects a lot from this new year: « The Year of the Pig, is expected to be a good one at Tangla Hotel Brussels. So many new projects and partnerships will bloom to enhance our guests’ experience this year. In fact, this year, we expect to fully open our second restaurant, Tang Dynasty. » says Cassie Fréquelin from Tangla Hotel Brussels.

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The project suffered delays and budget over-run, but is now forecast to generate an initial operating profit of €23m for its first 3 months.

A second-class ticket on the express rail service to Shenzhen costs HK$86 (€9.40), and takes 14 minutes. Currently 600,000 people commute daily between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. A journey to Guangzhou takes 40 minutes and the cheapest tickets start at HK$250 (€27.30).

The service feeds into China’s vast 25,000km long high speed rail network, opening up travel connections to Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin and many other destinations. A high speed rail journey from Kowloon to Beijing, for example, will take 9 hours. Booking is available online, and ticketing straightforward.

It enhances Hong Kong’s links with the vast hinterland of the Pearl River Delta or “Greater Bay Area” with a combined population of 68 million people boosting economic integration and and improving ties in all sectors across the region, which has an estimated GDP of €1.3 trillion.

The direct rail link between Canton and Hong Kong was suspended in 1949 following the communist revolution, and for many years the rail service was operated up to the border between Hong Kong and China. Rail passengers had to disembark at the frontier, and walk through customs and immigration to catch a train on the other side to complete their journey.

After the fall of the “Gang of Four”, China began to open up to the outside world under the leadership of TENG Xiaoping, and in 1979 a new through train service was introduced between Kowloon and Guangzhou. It started off with one train per day, and the journey time was just over three hours. At the time I was a Hong Kong civil servant working for the Kowloon Canton Railway (KCR), and very proud to have been part of the joint team between KCR and the Guangzhou Railway Administration to oversee the introduction of the new diesel passenger service.

The new express service launched yesterday is transformational. To have cut the journey time by more than 7 times from 3 hours to 40 minutes, and increased the frequency of service from once per day to 34 times a day in under 40 years is a fantastic achievement, and shows great investment vision. Small wonder then that the economic future of this century will belong to the Asia Pacific Region.

Is there any such vision or foresight left in Europe? What happened after that great joint infrastructure project agreed in the 1980s between Thatcher and Mitterand to build the Eurotunnel and develop a high speed rail service between London and Paris which would catalyse the development of a great Single Market in the EU? Even this great project is falling victim to Europe’s current political insanity and obsession with Brexit.

In Europe, today’s political classes show no leadership and are to the contrary mired in divisive and negative debate. Whilst the egotistical politicians in London, Brussels and Strasbourg fret about feathering their own nests before the next elections, the rest of the world is filling the intellectual vacuum they leave behind them and is moving on.

Local political activists in Hong Kong are concerned that Chinese officials are allowed to operate a checkpoint at West Kowloon station, and say this undermines Hong Kong’s Basic Law (mini-constitution) by permitting Chinese Law to be enforced in Hong Kong territory. But similar systems already operate without any problem in other parts of the world (e.g. for the Eurostar in France/Belgium/Britain) and they streamline the processing times for passengers, thereby speeding up transit times and allowing faster connections. Nevertheless, several legal challenges have been launched in the Hong Kong courts.

The successful launch of this latest infrastructure project in Hong Kong should serve as a wake up call to officials in Brussels and Europe’s political classes, that they need greater strategic vision and improved cooperative efforts if they want to aspire to achieve more in the 21st century than to simply be curators supervising Europe as the world’s museum and playground.

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Yesterday, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels welcomed friends and colleagues to celebrate the beginning of the year of the Dog. 

Legend says that before the Lord Buddha left this Earth, he summoned all the animals to come to him. Only twelve came. First was the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Drog and Pig. In appreciation of their loyalty, the names of the twelve animals were given to the years of the Chinese calendar. More importantly, their spirits were allowed to live in the heart of those born in their particular years. In ancient Chineses cosmology, the Universe and everything within it is composed of five basic elements – Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth – associated with the animal signs. 2018 is an Earth Dog Year, which occurs once every 60 years.

The Dog – 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 20130

People born in the Year of the Dog are honest, loyal, fair, hard-working and sincere, with a strong sense of justice and duty. Friendly and warm with a great sense of humor, they treat everyone equally. The love peace and quiet, and good food. Dogs are deeply devoted to their home. They are most compatible with Tigers, Horses and Rabbits, and least with compatible with Dragons. Carrers best suited to Dogs are artists, business-person, judge, lawyer, trade unionist, politician, secret agent and entrepreneur.

Belgians born in the Year of the Dog

• Bart de Wever, Mayor of Antwerp
• Tome Lanoye, Writer
• Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs
• Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Government of Brussels-Capital Region

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The highlight of the celebrations in Brussels is a reception hosted by the  Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels on Monday 20th February. 

In Hong Kong, the festivities are to be muted in deference to public sympathy for the victims of a serious road accident that occurred on Saturday 9th February. The city’s famous firework display has been canceled as a mark of respect.

So the Year of the Dog is getting under way quietly in Hong Kong, which is one of the few cultural centres in the world where confucianism and respect for traditional Chinese customs and beliefs are still preserved by society.

This is due in part to the unique history of Hong Kong, and the fact that when the British leased the New Territories of Hong Kong from China in 1899, a key condition in the treaty signed between the two countries was that Britain would respect the laws and customs of the indigenous inhabitants.

This provision effectively meant that the region escaped the upheaval of China’s civil war, the Communist Government take over of control in 1949, and the huge societal changes that followed including the Chinese cultural revolution of 1967.

As a young District Officer in the Yuen Long District of Hong Kong in the 1980s, part of my responsibilities still included jurisdiction on clan land matters and disputes relating to estate and inheritance issues which were administered in accordance with Chinese law and tradition. The Tang clan in Kam Tin, Yuen Long, one of the largest in Hong Kong, traced their ancestry back to the 10th century AD, and had a particularly strong cultural heritage with roots in the Sung Dynasty.

Britain and China signed a joint declaration on the future of Hong Kong in 1984 which led to the adoption of a “Basic Law” for Hong Kong, and the handover of sovereignty to China in 1997. A key element in this law related to the protection of rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of occupation, of academic research and of religious belief.

The unknown question for the “Year of the Dog” is whether these freedoms may be eroded under a resurgent China that will not tolerate any challenge to its authority.

Last month protesters marched through the streets of Hong Kong to express concerns about China’s politicisation of legal cases, such as the jailing of activist Joshua Wong. Complaining of an assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy, the protesters held up banners and chanted « Protect Hong Kong”. A particular thorn of contention to them is a decision taken by the government to allocate a new high-speed rail terminal under construction in Hong Kong as Chinese territory governed by Chinese law.

Astrologists describe 2018 as a “Brown Earth Dog” year, and their predictions for this year are – as for many horoscopes – opaque and shrouded in obscurity, but one common theme is that they suggest that conservatism and the respect of convention are recommended for 2018.

Hong Kong’s highly regarded “fung shui” masters even visited the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, suggesting that their advice is taken seriously by the world’s business and political elite. They have stopped short of making predictions about what may transpire in respect of political demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2018, but the international community needs to remain aware of the need to protect the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and the cultural heritage of the people of Hong Kong.

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The slogan adopted by DENG Xiaoping for this was One country, two systems; the success of the Joint Declaration and the subsequent sophistication of the “hands off” treatment for Hong Kong, whilst maintaining a one party state for China, was hailed as evidence of the sincerity of China’s open door policy to the West. The settlement helped DENG Xiaoping to achieve his goal of being remembered by history as the man who reunified China. Whilst in economic terms 50 years represents a significant period of time, in historical and cultural terms it is a grain of sand in an hour glass. China has since continued to maintain its open door policy, with huge success.

The last 20 years have certainly seen a dramatic rise in the the development and wealth of China’s regions to catch up and overtake Hong Kong’s economy. Whilst Hong Kong has contributed hugely to that development, it now finds itself in competition with China’s regions and represents less than 3% of the total GDP of China. Hong Kong still has an edge of advantage in terms of the ease of doing business, location, shipping, communications, the protection of the legal system and the rule of law. But it has undoubtedly become more complacent and bureaucratic. The laissez-faire policies that led to the entrepreneurial growth of Hong Kong in the 1970s have been stifled by increasing red tape that has made the business environment less efficient.

This weekend will see China’s President XI Jinping visiting Hong Kong to join in the 20th anniversary celebrations, and the inauguration of Hong Kong’s new Chief Executive Carrie Lam. What is the local feeling in Hong Kong about the prospects for their society in the next 30 years, and can the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong preserve its distinctive characteristics within the embrace of China’s one party state? The Chinese Communist party does not take kindly to criticism, and it is possible that the energetic activities of young intellectual idealists and radicals in Hong Kong could trigger an adverse reaction if it were to be perceived that political activism might spread out of control to the mainland. But it would be a mistake to patronise or underestimate the Hong Kong people, who are amongst the most resourceful and intelligent on the planet.

During China’s Cultural Revolution DENG Xiaoping said “It does not matter whether a cat is black or white as long as it catches mice”. He was referring to the need for pragmatism at that time, and not to punish communist party members who did not display the colours of revolutionary fervour. By the same analogy, in terms of modern day China, you might interpret this aphorism as meaning that as long as Hong Kong keeps performing an important economic role, then there is every reason for China to maintain a pragmatic arms length treatment of dealing with local political activism in Hong Kong by leaving this to the control of the local government.

But to enjoy this confidence from China, the Hong Kong administration needs to shake off its complacency and to start listening more to the Hong Kong people to address some of the failings of government bureaucracy. This is the challenge facing Carrie Lam as she takes office, the need on the one hand to undertake reforms to keep Hong Kong competitive in global terms, whilst maintaining China’s respect that she has a safe pair of hands that can be trusted to feed the “Hong Kong cat” that has always, and always will, catch the mice.

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The Brussels icon will be dressed in his Hong Kong suit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification with China and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on 1 July 1997.

The brief, but not-to-be-missed, ceremony, a highlight of Brussels folklore, will take place from 11:30 am to 12:00 noon.

The costume, which was donated to the City of Brussels by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels in 2012, aims to convey a positive message about Hong Kong as a modern and connected city with a Chinese heritage.  The design encapsulates the East-meets-West aspects of Hong Kong in a way that is instantly recognisable.  A black traditional Chinese jacket bearing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s flying dragon logo and its coloured ribbons is teamed with a pair of trendy black jeans and red shoes with white laces.  A tablet computer, a symbol of technology-driven modern city life, completes the costume.

A Hong Kong cappella choral theatre group  named Yat Po Singers (一舖清唱), which focuses on developing original theatrical works,  will perform three songs at the event, namely  « Hong Kong Our Home » (香港・我家), specially composed on the occasion of the 20th anniversary,  « Horse Race »  (賽馬) and « Man in the mirror ».

According to his custom on festive occasions, the fountain statue will produce beer. Another good reason to join.

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