Andrew Sheng

Race is staring us in the face. Confronting and dealing with it is highly emotional and disturbing, so much so that in polite company, it’s unspeakable. But we can’t avoid it, because racism has become global.

Life is extremely complicated and will only become more so.

What is Hong Kong’s pathway to 2047? Since HKSAR’s return to China in 1997 under the 50-year One Country, Two Systems principle, which is due to end in 2047, Hongkongers have emphasised Two Systems, neglecting the timeline to One Country.

As tensions over the Taiwan Strait mount, everyone needs to think about whether war is inevitable. Ukrainian revolutionary Leon Trotsky once said: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” And if we slip into war by what World War I historian Barbara Tuchman called the March of Folly, can the Great Powers step back from mutual nuclear annihilation?

At the end of this month, the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), under the presidency of the United Kingdom, will begin.

Two weeks ago, US President Joe Biden, in announcing on video the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) pact, called Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison “that fellow from Down Under” in what appears to be a senior moment.

Technically, on Saturday, the US War on Terror came to an end.

To be fair, modern media is white men’s invention. Even though the Chinese invented paper and printing, Gutenberg’s type-set printing of papal indulgences and the Bible launched media into the religious, commercial and cultural space, which initiated the Industrial Revolution and imperialism.

Man and nature are running out of time. That’s the core message of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released this week.

August 15, 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of US President Nixon delinking the US dollar from gold. Instead of a crisis, the ensuing half century marked the pre-eminence of the US financial system to global dominance.

We criticise more than praise. Good news is no news. Sensationalising everything to attract attention for revenue, modern media spins everything just to prove the point that free speech is an end in itself.

As the rich countries get their vaccination numbers up, whilst poorer countries are still struggling, there is some hope that we are getting to grips with the pandemic. On the climate change front, there has been some remarkable achievements in the last two months.

Is the Coronavirus racist? Of course not. The Covid-19 and its variants do not discriminate between race, creed or borders. They simply infect everyone indiscriminately, so the only defence is vaccines and social distancing.

Is democracy in decline, retreat or under siege? This is a soul-searching question by many who agonise over a lost golden age of democracy, freedom and rule-based world order.

On April 29, the US will celebrate the first 100 days of 46th President Joseph Biden. After four years of chaotic Trump governance, the world is relieved how quickly Biden was able to deliver calm and competent professionalism in tackling the pandemic, economy and setting the tone on foreign affairs.

Late last month, the Biden Administration unveiled a USD 2 trn infrastructure programme that aims to modernise American infrastructure.

"April is the cruellest month”, so said the poet TS Eliot in his 1920s poem, the Wasteland. The April Spring meetings of the IMF/World Bank will be held virtually this year, locked down by the pandemic that is raging into its third wave worldwide.

The pandemic has left us a terrible mess to clear up. What policies will get us out of the huge debt that we have incurred to pay for the health, wealth and job crises? 2020 was a year of terrible devastation, cushioned only by massive government spending.

As vaccines begin to roll out, there is increasing awareness that vaccines are not the silver bullets to kill the pandemic.

Where is Wall Street going in the post-pandemic world? Finance is supposed to serve the real economy (Main Street), but the US and global economies are in the midst of a pandemic and recession, while Wall Street profits are higher than ever.