South Africa today celebrates Freedom Day which commemorates the first democratic elections held in South Africa on 27 April 1994.

Freedom Day is celebrated annually as a reminder of the struggle for a free and just South Africa culminating in the first democratic elections held in 1994 where South Africans of every walk of life participated in the making of our new country.

I found this funny ‘educational video‘ on YouTube.

Do you remember Clarence Keyter who used to work for the SABC back in the days? He made a series of video (in the guise of Clarence the puppet) on the eve of South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994.

Can you identify some of the personalities (some latter-day billionaires) in the clip?

Anglicans accross Hong Kong ushered in Holy Week today with a Palm Sunday Said Eucarist at 8am.

A peaceful, tranquil area  in the midst of the concrete jungle that is Hong Kong’s Central district, St. John’s Cathedral is located at 4 Garden Road. 

The oldest Anglican building in the Far East, it is surrounded by other famous buildings such as the Bank of China Tower, HSBC Building, Legislative Council Building, Central Government Offices and the Court of Final Appeal.

My family has been worshipping at St. John’s ever since we first arrived in the city 4 years ago, and my kids have been blessed with their first Holy Communion at the Seat of the ArchBishop of Hong Kong.

For those who are interested, here is the schedule for Holy Week:

Palm Sunday 17th April

8.00 am Said Eucharist

9.00 am The Liturgy of the Palm and Solemn Eucharist

10.30 am The Liturgy of the Palm and Sung Eucharist (Mandarin)

11.45 am The Liturgy of the Palm and Sung Eucharist

2.00 pm The Liturgy of the Palm and Sung Eucharist (Filipino)

6.00 pm Taizé Eucharist

Monday in Holy Week 18th April

8.00 am Said Eucharist

6.00 pm Stations of the Cross & Eucharist

Tuesday in Holy Week 19th April

8.00 am Said Eucharist

6.00 pm Stations of the Cross & Eucharist

Wednesday in Holy Week 20th April

8.00 am Said Eucharist

6.00 pm Stations of the Cross & Eucharist

Maundy Thursday 21st April

8.30 am Diocesan Eucharist with Blessing of Holy Oil and Renewal of

Ordination Vows

1.15 pm Said Eucharist

7.00 pm The Liturgy of Maundy Thursday. Solemn Eucharist with the

Washing of Feet,the Stripping of the Sanctuary and the Watch

Good Friday 22nd April

9.00 am Morning Prayer

10.30 am Good Friday Service (Mandarin)

12.00 noon All Age Worship

1.30 pm Liturgy of the Day

Easter Eve 23rd April

9.00 am Morning Prayer

6.00pm Evening Devotions (Cantonese)

8.00 pm The Easter Vigil Liturgy with lighting of the Pascal Light (English,Chinese & Filipino)

Easter Day 24th April

8.00 am Said Eucharist

9.00 am Sung Eucharist for Easter Day

10.30 am Sung Eucharist for Easter Day (Mandarin)

11.45 am All Age Easter Liturgy with Baptism and First communion followed by

Easter egg hunt

2.00 pm Sung Eucharist for Easter Day (Filipino)

6.30 pm Solemn Choral Evensong

Monday of Easter Week (Public Holiday) 25th April

9.00 am Said Eucharist

Easter Day, as are most religious celebrations at St. John’s, are very family-centered. The church’s Easter Egg Hunt, one of my kids’ favourite events, takes place in the lush garden adjacent to the church.  While the kids have their fun scurrying around the shrubbery, parents are treated to hot cross buns and tea and the church hall.

————————————————————————————————————————————————–               HowzitHongKong.com stays in touch with home listening to Soli & Grant, only on The Taxi

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To continue with the focus on South Africa created by the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African Consulate-General proudly presents the very first South African Contemporary Art Exhibition 2011 in Hong Kong.

The theme of the photo exhibition includes lifestyle, people and wildlife, adventure and natural scenery, to present the richness of South Africa in different angles.

The groundbreaking event will also introduce the work of an emerging abstract artist Lee Chaldecott.

Oliver Kingston an emerging digital photographic artist has this to say:

“Photography has always held the allure of essence through images. The ability to communicate hidden meanings and subtext has previously been a form of subconscious prompting limited to film and literature. The birth of the digital photographic medium has now changed that in an exciting and beautiful new way”.

An excited Tembi Tambo, Consul-General of South African Consulate-General, Hong Kong/Macau added:

“Through this exhibition, we would like to exhibit the contemporary art and beautiful scenery of South Africa, to introduce South Africa in a different and more sophisticated way than people are traditionally used to. We hope that this first exhibition will be enjoyed by the Hong Kong community as we would like to do a bigger and more diverse event next year. “

South African Contemporary Art Exhibition

Date: 18 April to 1 May 2011

Time: Monday to Sunday ( 10 am – 10 pm)

Venue: The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Atrium Painting Corner

If you’re interested in attending, or for more information, please the South African Consulate-General:

Eva Yan

Email: sacghgk1@netvigator.com

Tel: + (852) 2577 3279

Hot on the heels of our report on the return of Nando’s sauce to Park & Shop, we have some more good news.

On another trip to the shops for some last-minute shopping (we’re making some good old Cape Town-style trifle tonight!) we came upon something rather unexpected:

Cape Apricots!

Needless to say, we found this Western Cape gem in the fruit & veg-section of Park & Shop in Whampoa Garden, near Howzit-HongKong.com HQ in Hung Hom.

This is the logo that drew my eyes to the golden fruit:

I am from the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town and used to often pass the headquarters of CapeSpan where this logo was emblazoned on their gates and buildings in Bellville.

I am happy to report that, just in time for winter…

Nando’s is back on the shelves at Park & Shop.

A trip to the shops here in Hung Hom turned out to be a happy one.  Ever the scout for South African products here in Hong Kong, I was delighted not only for the Nando’s but that Park & Shop is also still selling the Nederburg 2010 FIFA World Cup selection at a great price no less.

This is how Howzit-HongKong.com reported when the Nederburg 2010 range was first released in Hong Kong.

I stand to be corrected, but it could be selling for around $79 for 2 bottles.

I bought this baby two days before Christmas!

President Jacob Zuma has defended China’s surging investment in Africa, telling an audience at Beijing’s Renmin University that China was making an important contribution to the development of the continent.

“We are still at an early stage of what will be an exciting journey, a journey out of poverty, a journey to sustainable improvements in the lives of our people, here in China, and on the African continent,” President Zuma said on Wednesday, the second day of his state visit to the country.

Zuma’s comments come as the debate over China’s role in Africa continues to rage. Critics have raised concerns about China’s support for countries like Sudan and Zimbabwe, as well as its questionable worker safety rules.

“Chinese assistance in infrastructure development in some of the less developed parts of Africa is certainly making an important contribution to future African development,” Zuma said.

African countries remain an attractive destination for Chinese investment funds, though Africa is looking for China to expand its investments beyond mining and resources.

South Africa, for its part, is looking to the world’s second-largest economy to increase its investment in the country. South Africa is strategic for China in that it is Africa’s largest and most advanced economy.

South African President Jacob Zuma and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed the Beijing Declaration, outlining 38 cooperation agreements, following their one-hour talks in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.

And on the same day, Chinese and South African companies signed more than a dozen agreements covering investments in railways, power transmission, construction, mining, insurance, telecoms and nuclear power.

Zuma is being accompanied on his trip by over 370 representatives from the business community, the largest ever contingent from South Africa to visit China.

The effects of South Africa’s MultiChoice’s (MIH) decision to change their satellite server will be fully felt in Hong Kong this weekend when the Springboks play Wales in the first of the June international rugby tests.  Supersport, a channel on the MultiChoice digital satellite bouquet has been unavailable since June 1, 2010. (read why here)

A quick search on the Australia Network channel does not bade well for this rugby junkie (for this weekend) as the channel will not show the Wales/SA test.  The Aussies will carry the AUS/Fiji test while they will show the SA/France test next weekend.

Here’s the good news though: RugbyZone will show all the June Rugby Internationals LIVE, including the SA/France game on June 12, as well as the 2 SA/Italy tests (June 19 & 26).

Eish! It’s not going to be such a bad month after all.

From (a relieved) Mike Jansen

Here are some images from last weekend’s Super14 Final at WoolooMooloo:

And just because the Stormers lost, here’s one of their cheerleaders:

Enjoy!

Today (May 25) is Africa Day.

Africa Day is the annual commemoration on May 25 of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). On this day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 1991, the OAU established the African Economic Community (AEC), and in 2002 the OAU established its own successor, the African Union (AU or UA). However, the name and date of Africa Day has been retained as a celebration of African unity.

With the excitement back home building around the 2010 World Cup, this is indeed Africa’s YEAR!

Happy Africa Day.

As a young boy I grew up virtually on the beach.  My home was 5 minutes walk from the white sands of Strand (near Cape Town) and I used every opportunity to be in the water. 

Unfortunately, because of South Africa’s apartheid laws, I was restricted to the “non-white side” of the beach. 

The bad old days…

The Strand municipality had erected a series of red and white concrete poles that stretched from the sandy beach, onto a rocky outcrop about 100 meters into the waters of False Bay.  Fortunately for us the red and white pole that jutted out from the rock was also where our favourite swimming spot was and during high tide indicated it clearly.  We called this spot “ENO” named after the bubbles that formed when we dived into the water.

On 2 February 1990, in a groundbreaking speech to Parliament, President FW De Klerk announced the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) and the imminent release of Nelson Mandela.  With this he formally ended the State’s apartheid laws. 

Nine days later, on Sunday 11 February 1990 Nelson Mandela walked through the gates of the Victor Verster Prison… a free man after 27 years.  I was amongst the masses who gathered in Cape Town when he uttered his first words from the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall.

South Africans celebrated our first democratic elections on 27 April 1994.

Today my children can swim anywhere they like.

However, the reality in South Africa today is far from the  simplistic scenario I sketched above and, even after 16 years, a lot needs to be done to make South Africa a truely ‘free’ country.  I nevertheless wish you:

Happy Freedom Day.

Aluta Continua *

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Rural South Africans wait to cast their vote in the first-ever democratic elections

Freedom Day commemorates the first democratic elections held in South Africa on 27 April 1994.

It is celebrated annually as a reminder of the struggle for a free and just South Africa culminating in the first democratic elections held in 1994 where South Africans of every walk of life participated in the making of our new country.

* Aluta Continua or “the struggle continues” is the name of a song we sang at university during apartheid.

After typing up the story above, I found this video posted by our friends over at Zoopy.com: 

With the Hong Kong Sevens 2010 and Hugh Bladen’s appearance at the SAAHK’s Sevens Dinner fast approaching,  I was planning to introduce all our readers to a blog called “Over to Hugh.”  Run by two very enterprising young blokes called “Blades” and “Chowgaps,” Over to Hugh parodies the famous South African commentator using everything from the real Blades’ love for a good Scotch to his trademark words and phrases. 

Catch Hugh Bladen at the SAAHK’s Sevens Dinner in March 2010.

However, in the light of the sad passing of “the voice of rugby” Mr Bill MCLaren last month, a video on their website made me decide to use this opportunity to give you a sneak preview of “Over to Hugh” while paying tribute to the great Scotsman.

William Pollock “Bill” McLaren CBE (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator. Until his retirement in 2002, he was known as ‘the voice of rugby’. Renowned throughout the sport, his enthusiasm and a memorable turn of phrase endeared him to many rugby lovers the world over.

Here’s to you Bill McLaren.

Farewell.