Move With The Times

Towards the Christmas time of 1969, the mood in my secondary school was such that students would prefer listening to peers' singing than teachers' teaching in class. I volunteered and sang to my heart's content, hoping to win admiration in some quarters. Then I daydreamed what songs to sing if the next opportunity arose.

I thought about singing "First of May" on the first of May in 1970. Not only that I liked the melody and the lyrics (inspired by the composers' dog birthday), it was a song I could sing comfortably. But when the date came, nothing happened: "...don't ask me why, the time has passed us by..."

Since 1997, Labour Day on first of May has been a public holiday in Hong Kong. Since I retired in 2014, I have forgotten about it as every day has been a "holiday" or work day for me. I even work longer hours at home as I enjoy in what I do and am not aware of the clock ticking!

Labour is an economic measure of work done by humans and the skills possessed are regarded as human capital. In the intellectual property economy, I think workers' creative or innovative judgment in extracting or capturing value in the "make" process would enhance their role. If we all exercise labour, skill and judgment to create or innovate, and move with the times, we can re-invent the 21st Century Labour Day!