By Park Moo-jong
The "cruelest" month of April, as T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) described it in his 1922 poem "The Waste Land," is gone whilst South Korea is effectively containing the coronavirus pandemic as a beacon to the rest of the world.
The months-long social distancing rules have been eased with lots of citizens escaping from their "voluntary house arrests" to the palaces, resorts, restaurants and elsewhere to enjoy outdoor activities and "freedom."
Churches have resumed Sunday services as usual ― while Europe's places of worship are still deserted ― gyms are opening again, and various sports events, including the K League soccer and KBO pro baseball games, will soon return to their annual format.
Though the authorities warned of a possible second wave of infections during the holidays that began today, the Day of Buddha's Coming, and will continue until Tuesday, Children's Day, people appear to be returning to their daily routines to greet the month of May.
May is the undisputed queen of the seasons for it is young and fresh, as English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) wrote in "The Canterbury Tales" that "He was as fresh as is the month of May."
Noh Chon-myong (1912-57), a pioneer poet of modern women's literature in Korea, also praised the month of May in her poem, "The Green May":
"… In the woods of lilac,
in the noon when my young dream
sits down like a butterfly,
before the green goddess of May,
the queen of the seasons,
what has made me feel shame and loneliness,
the blue sky of May, oh, my sun."
Adding more lustre to this brilliant time of year are the special days for sharing gratitude and grace. May is the "family month" full of celebrations with May 1 Workers' Day (Labor Day), May 5 Children's Day, May 8 Parents' Day, May 15 Teachers' Day and May 20 Coming of Age Day.
Emerging from the darkness thanks to a national consensus featuring social responsibility backed by medical teams' devotion, citizens' voluntary cooperation, governmental foresight and state-of-the-art technology, people are set to return to their everyday life in this month of the family.
Taking a lesson from the months-long social distancing campaign, we have had a a chance to renew the meaning of family. To respect parents and teachers and to love children used to be the traditional virtues of our society, no matter how the world changed.
What enables us to maintain these virtues is the family. There can be no difference between the West and the East.
Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote in "Anna Karenina": "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), an English nonconformist minister, regarded as the father of English hymnody, also said in "Love Between Brothers and Sisters": "Birds in their little nest agree; and 'tis a shameful sight, when children of one family fall out, and chide, and fight."
Saying that the family is the basic unit of the social community is like teaching "your grandma to suck eggs." It is basic common sense that a sound family builds the foundation for a sound society and sound state where people fulfil their given duties and take responsibility for what they do.
Our people are indeed doing what they have to do in the successful battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, to the astonishment and admiration of people around the world, particularly Westerners still in the grip of the storm.
Irrespective of the parliamentary election results a fortnight ago and the mysterious disappearance of the young North Korean leader Kim Jong-un from official events, our society remains calm and stable owing much to its members' adherence to democracy.
For its own part, the government also "seems" to be doing its best by providing financial support to all households for a happy family, both rich and poor, in recognition of their cooperation with the authorities in the campaign to tide over the coronavirus crisis, though it remains a question how it will overcome the national budget deficit.
A happy family makes its members and their society happy. All human affairs start and end with the family. This green month forces people to have thinner wallets. But they are happy for they have a family and have someone on whom they can spend the money.
Koreans of today deserve to enjoy this bright month of May; yet, the pandemic is not gone. We have to continue to cooperate with the authorities, living up to the basic rules, to be completely free of the virus, with the firm belief that happy persons of happy families have a stronger level of immunity against diseases than unhappy ones.
How about listening to "First of May" by the Bee Gees for the start of this lovely month, though this is a sad love song?
Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.
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The months-long social distancing rules have been eased with lots of citizens escaping from their "voluntary house arrests" to the palaces, resorts, restaurants and elsewhere to enjoy outdoor activities and "freedom."
Churches have resumed Sunday services as usual ― while Europe's places of worship are still deserted ― gyms are opening again, and various sports events, including the K League soccer and KBO pro baseball games, will soon return to their annual format.
Though the authorities warned of a possible second wave of infections during the holidays that began today, the Day of Buddha's Coming, and will continue until Tuesday, Children's Day, people appear to be returning to their daily routines to greet the month of May.
May is the undisputed queen of the seasons for it is young and fresh, as English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) wrote in "The Canterbury Tales" that "He was as fresh as is the month of May."
Noh Chon-myong (1912-57), a pioneer poet of modern women's literature in Korea, also praised the month of May in her poem, "The Green May":
"… In the woods of lilac,
in the noon when my young dream
sits down like a butterfly,
before the green goddess of May,
the queen of the seasons,
what has made me feel shame and loneliness,
the blue sky of May, oh, my sun."
Adding more lustre to this brilliant time of year are the special days for sharing gratitude and grace. May is the "family month" full of celebrations with May 1 Workers' Day (Labor Day), May 5 Children's Day, May 8 Parents' Day, May 15 Teachers' Day and May 20 Coming of Age Day.
Emerging from the darkness thanks to a national consensus featuring social responsibility backed by medical teams' devotion, citizens' voluntary cooperation, governmental foresight and state-of-the-art technology, people are set to return to their everyday life in this month of the family.
Taking a lesson from the months-long social distancing campaign, we have had a a chance to renew the meaning of family. To respect parents and teachers and to love children used to be the traditional virtues of our society, no matter how the world changed.
What enables us to maintain these virtues is the family. There can be no difference between the West and the East.
Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote in "Anna Karenina": "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), an English nonconformist minister, regarded as the father of English hymnody, also said in "Love Between Brothers and Sisters": "Birds in their little nest agree; and 'tis a shameful sight, when children of one family fall out, and chide, and fight."
Saying that the family is the basic unit of the social community is like teaching "your grandma to suck eggs." It is basic common sense that a sound family builds the foundation for a sound society and sound state where people fulfil their given duties and take responsibility for what they do.
Our people are indeed doing what they have to do in the successful battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, to the astonishment and admiration of people around the world, particularly Westerners still in the grip of the storm.
Irrespective of the parliamentary election results a fortnight ago and the mysterious disappearance of the young North Korean leader Kim Jong-un from official events, our society remains calm and stable owing much to its members' adherence to democracy.
For its own part, the government also "seems" to be doing its best by providing financial support to all households for a happy family, both rich and poor, in recognition of their cooperation with the authorities in the campaign to tide over the coronavirus crisis, though it remains a question how it will overcome the national budget deficit.
A happy family makes its members and their society happy. All human affairs start and end with the family. This green month forces people to have thinner wallets. But they are happy for they have a family and have someone on whom they can spend the money.
Koreans of today deserve to enjoy this bright month of May; yet, the pandemic is not gone. We have to continue to cooperate with the authorities, living up to the basic rules, to be completely free of the virus, with the firm belief that happy persons of happy families have a stronger level of immunity against diseases than unhappy ones.
How about listening to "First of May" by the Bee Gees for the start of this lovely month, though this is a sad love song?
Park Moo-jong (emjei29@gmail.com) is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974.
