Thus a sign on the chest of a T-shirt worn by a Chinese fellow in his late fifties or early sixties I spotted on the hotel terrace earlier today. And in English. I did my best not to burst out laughing aloud. As he was walking past me, I had a great wish to ask him where he was from. Taiwan or Hong Kong, I would guess, but I let him go in peace. Indeed, I was eager to know where optimism of this ilk was hailing from. It had a definite religious touch, too. Divine optimism, as it were. Ah, would that Jesus had hailed from China, of all places!

Addendum (July 17, 2019)

The title of this piece makes my mouth twist into a smile whenever I chance upon it. By and by, I realized that the expression “bright future” was quite common in my youth. In the aftermath of World War II, it was very much a part of socialist dreams. Actually, pipedreams. The future indeed appeared bright to most of the people I knew at the time. The very word “future” kind of invited the word “bright” as its faithful comrade. So many years later, it has taken me a while to remember all this. As well as to start feeling something akin to longing for the unbridled optimism of my early years. Which is perhaps why the Chinese fellow’s T-shirt has attracted my attention in the first place. To be sure, the past I now remember was exceedingly bright!