Spring has Sprung

China has 24 distinct solar terms recognised, emphatically for agricultural guidance and echoing historical and cultural significance and sophistication. The fourth of February in 2026 marked the arrival of Spring or Li Chun. In Japan, this same day is called Risshun. The Japanese celebrate Shunbun No Hi in March, also to signify the start of the Sakura or Cherry Blossom flowering season, first starting in Kyushu and spreading north to Hokkaido. Li Chun day has a touch of fun when it is said eggs can be placed standing up, but only on that particular date. Have you tried doing this? Zurich youngsters traditionally publicly burned the Boogg, an eleven foot straw effigy to mark the day of the Spring Equinox (21st March) in Switzerland. The widely used English word "bogeyman" comes from this effigy. Indians celebrate the arrival of Spring as Holi, a colourful riot of celebration marked by street festivities and the use of dyed powders. Persians celebrate Nowruz, a significant feature of Zoroastrainism, when an intensive and purposeful home spring cleaning exercise called Khaneh Tekani is carried out before the important date. Druids and Pagans gathered at Stonehenge in England. The Great Sphinx, ever mysterious south of Cairo in all its stone splendour through the ages, has the setting sun behind her right shoulder on the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Human groups and cultures instinctively welcome the transition to warmer temperatures, especially from this current winter with blizzards and record snowfall in Canada, Siberia, northern Europe, western Russia, northern China and north eastern USA. The Festival of Scrambled Eggs takes place in Bosnia to mark the change to a warmer season. A bit later than in most nations, Canadians have a Tulip Festival to remember the gift of the Dutch flowers to Canada at the end of World War 2. Indigenous practice is to welcome the Serpent of the Light in equatorial Mexico on the day of the Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox. Easter indicates rebirth and renewal. Bulgarians tap hard boiled eggs against each other in a game like atmosphere, but these have colourfully painted egg shells in the practice of Orthodoxy. Romanian and Maldovians exchange gifts of bright red strings craftfully tied up in a bow. Smigus-Dyngus or Wet Monday involves splashing of water in an affectionate and cleansing way by Poles to herald the arrival of Spring. It reminds me of the perhaps more boisterous water splashing in April on the streets of Thailand to celebrate Songkran. Meanwhile the largest ever annual festive migration of humans occurs in the two weeks before and after the Chinese New Year, not just in China but amongst the diaspora especiallly across South East Asia. Reminding me of salmons who swim back to where they were born in Canada, Scandinavia or New Zealand, the importance of family reunion is echoed in the massive movements of human beings on planes, trains and on the roads. The aim is to sit down and have a meal together as a family on that most sentimental of evenings - New Year's Eve. Chinese New Year is referred to as the Lunar New Year in Western media, as the same festival is also celebrated in Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and in Central Asian republics. When Chinese New festivities end on the 15th night of the celebrations, the Chinese farming calender indicates a change into another solar term - Yu Shiu or the period of Rain. #yongkevthoughts

Sundays Are Not the Same Anymore

Sunday mornings often offered a regime that sparkled. The schedule started with reading on paper, tangible sheer natural product that stimulated our fingers, coupled with the sheer pleasure of leafing through various content that contained more than just adverts or petty news in a thick weekend edition of a newspaper. The newspapers came to our front door early, often at dawn. If we went to the newsagent, its shelves were stacked with a sufficient stack of magazines. Today, Australian newsagents can be a sad shade of lotto gambling, limited stationery and a range of knick knacks. Going outdoors early in the day - or for that matter, anytime - was a sheer pleasure, whether as a pedestrain along footpaths or soaking in the freshness of a park. Although public spaces are to share, these days human walkers along footpaths do experience higher risks of confronting with dangers seen and unforseen. Battery powered e bikes are ridden fast whizzing past close to pedestrains by riders who do not have to register their vehicles or be licensed to operate. Human walkers these days notice more pet poo left deposited on public realms. Across Australia, there are rising casualties and fatalties reported of pedestrains unfortunate enough to have been hit by moving oversized vehicles with hyped up frontages. Even if I am just minding my own business, the other day I was vehemently told off by an obvious mental racist or mental case to walk on the left side along a public pavement. There were just two of us on a wide pavement in north west of Greater Sydney. Many public places are still relatively well kept in Australian suburbs. Occasionally, I still come across the illegal dump on an unassuming creek, a hidden bushy corner or in the wrong type of garbage bin. Beaches along the Illawarra are provided with complimentary pet poo plastic bags. Massive playing fields and public grassed areas are kept mowed and looking attractive by various Councils. The state of toilets for use by the public across Greater Sydney continue to cause concern. Bosses of eateries can drop the importance of ensuring washroom cleanliness when the going gets tough with the lack of workers, problems of ingredient supply, rising rents and financial pressure. The maintenance of toilets at T and M stations across the Sydney Rail network seems to have improved. Sunday mornings can be oppprtunities for pleasurely drives. These days operating your private vehicle on highways or suburban roads can be exasperatimg experiences instead of witnessing how oversized and self centred egos can transform driving into acts of putting others down in aggressive behaviour. If a Sunday happens to be a part of a long weekend, in Australia, be prepared to pay more when eating out - these can be to compensate eatery staff more on a weekend or public holiday, on top of whatever surcharges when taping a card. Busy dates at popular restaurants can also mean limited seating time when dining. Weekends were times to encourage greater socialisation in communities and generally across society. Now there can be greater congestion on the roads, less dependability and regularity of public transport schedules and a greater reluctance to go out on Sundays. So that is why I have sentiments for those beautiful Sundays many years ago. #yongkevthoughts

Throwing Your Hat In

If we are not at the table, we will be in rhe menu. Taking part, doing our part and having our say is more significant in an age of lowering ethics, more aggressive making use of others and rising manipulation by those we think we can trust. At times it can be mental, physical and pyschological fatigue we experience, if we dare walk up the hill of opposition to us when we purposefully have to make things right. At the same time, we can discover our hidden resolve, unexpected positive fulfilment and a twinkle in our eye, when we do the right thing. We meet roadblocks, devious games, toxicity and sheer fraud when we persist. On certain days we have disappointment on our shoulders or our hearts dampened, but it is a true adage that tomorrow is another day. We may be abandoned by some or encouraged by others. It can be a lonely journey - but it can be experiencing episodes of fellowship on the same weary road. The bottom line is that it is always a personal sojourn. The fascinating thing is that we can understand and see others better along the way. We do not expect the level of passion in others to be the same as in us. We know that it is all just a game with varying levels of intensity. We fall at times, but we get wiser. We are more mindful when others stir, gaslight or provoke us. We also have moments or stages that uplift us. We discover that we have set up personal boundaries and values for others to acknowledge. What is the vulnerability or weakness of the individual or group that opposes, harasses and bullies us? Perhaps we have found their Achilles Heels in their facade and behaviour. There are more than sea shells in the sand when the tide goes down. Such is the state and nature of the process, whether in politics, small organisations, social movements, making an invention or in promoting an idea or good cause. If you do not throw your hat in the ring, you can only watch from the side. Hear no evil, say no evil and see no evil? It is burying our heads in the sand, but the matter asking for our attention and help will not just go away. #yongkevthoughts

The Irony and Paradox

The Irony and the Paradox. To constantly use our eyes each day from screen to another screen. To not recognise that those in power and influence may not reveal the full story to us. To not allow for consumers to change preferences and think that if they buy a product or service once, they will keep using it in the future. To become so dependent in old age like an infant. To realise that pets are more reliable and comfortable company compared to some human beings lurking to inflict toxicity. To not use our limbs and mind in regular activity and continue to degrade them in illusionary comfort. To wake up from the propaganda disguised as entertainment. To feed ourselves in daily doses of sugar, fat, microplastics and artificiality of over processed ingredients in our daily habits. To not use our own intelligence and protect our trust when roped in by manipulators, dishonesty and selfishness. To treat only symptoms and not the root causes. To not use it can mean losing it. That the human pysche and mindset can wallow in circuitous enmeshment of problems that can never be resolved. To not build up the resilience of our future generations and continue to pamper them. That continuing to take more than give upsets the flow and rhythm in so many things - politics, religion, Nature, relationships and more. To be in denial that addiction can be in so many disguises and forms. To not recognise the so called proverbial train wreck that is likely to happen. To not see that misuse and abuse of policies and rules do happen, especially with no effective monitoring. To allow our personal time use be dictated by others. To service our private vehicle more than our health. To not acknowledge and realise the opportunity waiting in front of us. To not have the courage to change instead of embedding ourselves on the obvious wrong track. To not realise that some business sectors are essentially finance accumulation commercial mechanisms, rather than purporting to take care of their human customers. To not see that many things remain the same in human and world affairs. To be not able to personally step back and see the disillusion and distraction of contemporary society. #yongkevthoughts

Will It Still Matter?

Will it matter, after all is said and done? The hydrangea shrub has its leaves and stems roasted after three days of extraordinary temperatures in summer. I cut the damaged parts off and await new growth. There are moments when one does not feel like having a full meal. This is an opportunity to fast and do other things away from the kitchen. There are also occasions when our appetite is spiking up so well, that we eat more than usual. We have found the optimal time to treat our culinary desires, so why not? We may not have all the ingredients on hand when cooking, so we improvise with substitutes and experiment with other techniques. We may create a new recipe, or we make do with whatever on hand to use up what is available right now. What does it matter, when we open our mindset and just move on? When our known and usual routes we take are blocked or hindered, we can go on the path less trodden. When we have unexpected spare time, we can dabble in something our inner longings have pondered upon. When wifi supply breaks down, we can read a book instead of device screens. We can walk when the car is not available. We can consciously choose to have fresh produce instead of manufactured and processed packaged food. We can opt for not following the masses and not worry about missing out on what a herd mentality demands. What matters at a single point of time can differ in various individuals, but when we take a longer view over time, a lot of things truly do not matter. At the end of the day, many things are forgotten, the heat of opinions dissipitated, the relevance of matters no longer there. This is especially for transactional matters in micro politics, social interactions and irritating inconveniences. Like delays at airports, machine breakdowns and on the road. When touchy episodes involve religions, there is a different kettle of fish. Things that then matter can fester in individuals because of long held beliefs, so called education and hardened attitudes. While one realises that some matters do not matter due to the grace of time and distance, such matters dissolve into less and zilch importance. When and where it still matters, the human pysche and wiring makes us do something about it - challenge, flee or accept. #yongkevthoughts