Hong Kong is going to be fine as long as everyone does the right thing and is not greedy, a rural chief has said after drawing a fortune stick at an annual Lunar New Year ritual.
Heung Yee Kuk chairman Kenneth Lau Ip-keung drew the stick on the second day of the Year of the Snake on Thursday and gave his interpretation of the fortune.
He also called on authorities to spend within their means given the higher-than-expected deficit of the current financial year and urged them not to raise taxes.
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The No 24 “neutral” stick read: “Do not do anything wrong during your life or cause trouble because of your greed, unless you have a noble person helping you, you should not waste your efforts.”
Interpreting the fortune, Lau said: “This fortune means that everyone should do good things and everyone should do what is right.
“As long as you are not greedy, it will be OK. Things that are done should also be practical.”
The ritual is part of an annual ceremony at the Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin, where community leaders draw fortunes from a cylinder containing 96 numbered sticks. Each one bears a prophecy, 35 of which bode well, 17 are ill-omened and 44 are neutral.
The fortunes are drawn by chance as participants shake the container until one falls out.
Lau drew his fortune for Hong Kong, while Sha Tin Rural Committee chairman Mok Kam-kwai did it for the district.
Offering his interpretation of the prophecy, Lau pointed to the budget delivered by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.
“The financial secretary needs to make a decision amid the HK$100 billion (US$12.8 million) deficit, I believe that everyone has very high expectations,” he said.
“Besides spending within his means, I hope the financial secretary will look after the middle-class and low-income residents and not raise fees or taxes.”
The rural leader added that Chan should act practically, noting that the government must also encourage economic development with its spending.
When asked how he interpreted the first line of the fortune, Lau said it meant that everyone should do the right thing and not harm others.
He also said that people should not do anything just to make money, pointing to the recent news surrounding scam farms in Southeast Asia.
This year’s fortune drawing was not without drama as Lau had mistaken the No 24 stick for the No 20, which was also a neutral fortune.
Lau, who inherited the leadership of the powerful Heung Yee Kuk, has taken part in the annual ritual since 2016.
He succeeded his father, Lau Wong-fat, who stepped down as the leader of the rural body in 2015 due to poor health and died two years later. The body represents the interests of indigenous villagers in the New Territories.
In 2024, Kenneth Lau drew the No 15 “neutral” fortune stick, which said: “Holding an axe and entering a forest, looking for something not yet obtained. Wasting good material and losing one’s strength, offering oneself and waiting for the arrival of spring.”
The rural community leader said the prophecy meant that the government should outline more targeted and precise policies to boost the city’s economy.
The temple, built about 300 years ago, is dedicated to Che Kung, who had a reputation for quashing not only uprisings, but also plagues.
More from South China Morning Post:
- ‘Spectacular’ Hong Kong Lunar New Year parade ushers in Year of the Snake
- Cat’s head found on tray in Hong Kong village at start of Lunar New Year
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