Thoughts from FIFA
Su and I are not exactly keen on football, but we followed the 2022 World Cup series because John Lee’s Administration had bought the broadcast rights and required the TV stations to broadcast the matches live. Ritualistically, we tried to follow the matches of the 2026 series, beginning with watching the matches in a hotel in Shenzhen where we stayed overnight in late June. Su had also asked me to mark my diary with the broadcast times of the 2026 matches, and we had taken taxis for a few live broadcasts at KCC. Viu TV had decided to broadcast selectively some matches live, and I stayed up for most of them. Su joined me for the one between Argentina and England; and now we await the last two matches to watch at home over the weekend. We had canned beers and comfort food to go with the matches, again as a ritual. But then, as a generality, spectator sports such as World Cup Football are to be watched with friends or between crowds, not alone, with or without beer in hand.
Nevertheless, one doesn’t always have friends or a crowd around, not at home anyway and particularly when one gets older or elderly. It follows that one should practice doing things alone and learn to enjoy life as it presents itself. In between watching the matches and following the scores, I happened to stumble onto a few reels on the phone on aging, old ages and living alone, which struck a chord such that I shared them with Su. Her first responses were that handphones are notorious eavesdroppers and would send their owners messages and videos that they think they would need. I enjoy reading the parts which remind me that the elderly should be mindful of their appearances, particularly personal hygiene and ugly habits. Some reads also urge the elderly and those living alone to slow down and to learn to live with and to love themselves, which is all rather good advice.
On growing old, there was a video from an old lady called Dorothy was said in the beginning that she was 120 years old, having lost most of her friends and buried many of those near and dear to her, including her husband, some kids and grandkids. She said she did not have any secret recipe or advice, except to live each day as it arrives. I suppose she meant living mindfully. Later in the video, she said she was 110 years old. It doesn’t matter anyway.
I recall listening to an insurance broker who had made tape recordings for coaching purposes. He advised people not to be afraid of dying by going to many funerals, suggesting that it helps one get older. He also mentioned that he went to a wrong funeral and ended up selling a few policies to those at the funeral. I have also been attending more funerals and wakes recently, including one billed as a service of thanksgiving to celebrate the life of the departed, during which the preacher underlined that the readings, hymns, prayers and music were all selected by the very dear departed who was a great friend of Su and me. The music before service he had selected included Nimrod from Enigma Variations (Edward Elgar), Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen) and Song for Guy (Elton John), which are all our favorites. I am also going to two funerals in the next two days; and someone recounted that our Lodge, which was once billed as a young lodge, had lost a few brethren to the Grand Lodge Above recently.
Meanwhile, life is not all about funerals or watching the FIFA World Cup matches. I have been attending a fair share of Masonic meetings at Zetland Hall, mostly Installation Meetings and a few reunion lunches, and last night, Su and I went to a dinner meeting of a Rotary Club which marked their 52nd Anniversary. The outgoing President was a very old friend of mine and whom I had known since the early 70s from the Café Amigo days when life was much simpler and when there was no drink-driving law such that we would demolish a bottle of whisky each and drove home afterwards. As I sometimes recall with fondness and a wicked smile, those were the drunken days; and I had thought I had written something in my first memoir. If not, I may do it in the sequel. We are also going to at least two other Rotary club anniversary dinners shortly.
The other things I did recently included visiting Block K of Princess Margaret Hospital Physiotherapy Department as an out-patient, having been first referred there two years ago when I felt pain on my left knee, but since when I had it replaced and the Department decided to work on my right knee and asked me to visit the therapists there every week. We will see what transpires later.
