20110401

Every Day is April Fool's Day, Except 1 April


Today is the day to look out for pranks, especially in the media.

I used to fall for such reports, but after years of being an April Fool I have become less gullible. On Koptalk, the website for Liverpool FC fans, there is a report today that says the Club will not renew Kenny's Dalglish's contract and will turn to José Mourinho instead. I have learned to expect it and so the fun is somewhat lost. It is interesting that sometimes even governments play such pranks. For example, last year the French government announced that the navy would use octopuses for its special operations.

Unfortunately, not only do the Chinese generally lack a sense of humour but also the government is especially dead serious about everything, so having such fun is out of the question. Come to think of it, though, we can take many official announcements by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments, especially those regarding human rights and dissidents, as April Fool jokes too? In that sense, the Chinese people are entitled with such fun throughout the year except perhaps 1 April.

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