I’ve been here before. In a situation when it was hard for me to wish everybody a happy new year.

Back in December 2017, the economy was bad among other things. The political scene was troubling as well. So how could I say to friends and all happy new year? When things were not looking up for in the coming year.

I ended up saying or rather writing: let’s pray for a good year ahead.

Perhaps for some their prayers were answered with a change of government and what not. Let’s not go there..All is now water under the bridge.

Now I find myself in a similar situation, except this is worse than the situation back then!

Now we’ve got the pandemic. It’s all gloom, and the gloom can lead to doom if we don’t get things right.

For everybody in this beloved nation of ours, and now I got to wish everybody Happy Chinese New Year as it is just around the corner. Not easy!

Look around and we see sufferings. We read heart-wrenching news. We see tears and hear cries.

People have lost their jobs, can’t pay for food, for rent, for everything. Children are struggling to keep up with their studies. Online learning is not helping much. Many businesses have folded.

We hear of suicides of people who simply cannot take it anymore.

Everybody is struggling. Sadness is everywhere, And sad is such a timid word to use during these times.

And the pandemic is not about to go away anytime soon.

Yes, there’s the vaccine, but we have not got it yet.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases keep on rising. The numbers are frightening.

The government seems to have lost the plot, not knowing what to do.

Maybe you do not agree, but that’s how I see it.

All that but I must wish everybody a Happy Chinese New Year like what I’ve been doing since I was a little boy a long time ago.

It would have been easy if not for the pandemic. Someone sent me a graphic in red with pictures of lanterns telling me, “CNY falls on 12022021. Look at the date, read it backwards, it’s the same. It’s called palindrome.”

I admit I don’t know what that word means. I had to Goggle and was told “palindrome” is a word, phrase or sequence that reads the same backwards as forwards.

To the person who sent me the graphic, 12022021 is an auspicious date. I felt it would be nice to put this in my CNY greeting. And add on to what I learned about the Chinese zodiac years.

This CNY, according to the Chinese zodiac, is Year of the Ox.

An Ox year occurs every 12 years. That information plus the palindrome would make my CNY message interesting, wouldn’t you say?

But, as said earlier, the current sadness makes it hard to come with a happy greeting.

As early as January, an old friend posted this on Facebook: “I think I might have to reserve my hopes for a bright new year for Chinese New Year — 12th February. Things are getting grim right now, a bit hard to be optimistic.” 

“Same here,” another friend responded.

And I must say I felt the same. But said yet another friend, “Hang in there bro. I know it’s hard to be positive but must try.”

Yes, finally I agree despite my own reservations and gloominess, that we must be positive. Not COVID-19 positive (a joke to lift the spirit in times like this. But it’s no joke actually as we don’t want that kind of positive.) Positive in outlook of better things to come!

Hence, like my new year greeting in December 2017, I once again say to everybody: Let’s hope for a good and indeed happy new year.

According to astrologers, the OX “denotes hard work, honesty” and yes, “positivity that will manifest in all of us in the coming 12 months”.

Never mind whether you believe in astrology or not. Let’s hope the Ox brings good health, prosperity and peace not only to us but the entire mankind.

And never mind if you’re an atheist. Let’s pray that it will be a good and a truly happy new year.

GONG XI FA CAI, everybody!

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)