Where are the children?

 

When I was small, I used to listen to some very good music where we could be cheered up and released from pains, unhappiness, worries, depression or sadness. For example, one of the folk songs I liked most was the song called “Four Strong Winds”, which was sung by Neil Young and written by Ian Tyson. Although it was a love song, implying that a man was failing to maintain a relationship with a woman, it also delivered a message of “a desire for a possible reunion in a new place in the future” ("You could meet me if I sent you down the fare"). The first part of the lyrics is:

 

Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don't change, come what may
But our good times are all gone
And I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

 

All schools were told to suspend the face-to-face learning mode after 13 January. Then due to the widespread of the “Omicron” virus which caused the 5th wave of COVID-19, all schools were recommended to start their “Early summer holidays” in March till mid-April, 2022. That’s why we can no longer see the happy faces of our children in the school campus since the school suspension policy was announced in January.

 

Please refer to the pictures attached. As teachers, students and parents, do you agree that our campus is very beautiful and attractive? Do you want to resume schooling again? Can you see the empty classrooms, corridors, library, special rooms, playground and the new annex, etc. where children used to play, walk around, attend lessons, read books and enjoy their daily life? But, where are the children now?

 

With reference to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it says, "Hong Kong is one of few countries and territories to pursue a "zero-COVID" elimination strategy, by essentially closing all its borders and, until February 2022, subjecting even mild and asymptomatic cases to hospitalisation, and sometimes isolation extending over several weeks. The fifth Omicron variant driven wave of the pandemic emerging in late December 2021 caused the health system to be stretched to its limits, the mandatory hospitalisation to be abandoned, and led several experts to question the zero-COVID strategy. Some even considered it counterproductive, due to it having contributed to the low COVID-19 vaccination rate in the city, including among the particularly vulnerable unvaccinated elderly, through hopes that the city would eventually become free of the virus.

 

What implications have we learnt from the above assertion? Do we still have the hope that all students can return to the beautiful campus again if we have increased the COVID-19 vaccination rate? Or are we waiting for the government to protect us by healing all infected people to recover their healthy condition and create a "Zero-COVID" city before students are allowed to return to schools? Do you miss anyone you want to connect with? Tell you my genuine feeling, I do miss you all!

 

Please do come back when “things are going good”:

If I get there before the snow flies
And if things are goin’ good
You could meet me if I sent you down the fare…
 

Awaiting for you and looking forward to seeing you all at the campus after mid-April!