Hyde Park – Richard, London

Hyde Park is one of the Palace Garden Parks where everyone enjoys a special taste of culture from the past. Although it is an authentic park, it is diminutive compared to the vast park of Richmond, which is ten times bigger. Hyde Park is definitely a place to stroll around or take a relaxing morning ride, to enjoy nature and hear and see the sights – with fresh air and a cool atmosphere.

Beside the route we were taking on our bicycle ride were The Royal Guards, who were being trained to ride horses while carrying a sword above their shoulder. It is shocking how the  British Army still celebrates their past of riding horses. The British Army doesn’t think of horses as useless animals; they think of them as a reminder of all their greatest achievements in the past, for example The Battle Of Waterloo. They practise riding horses in a sandbox, where everyone is welcome to take a glimpse of the ceremony. Beside the shock, it was a sight to see.

After a short while, we reached Speaker’s Corner with our bikes. The place was stuffed with people, banging into each other to get closer to their “hero of intellect”. The air was stiff, filled with other people’s breath and sweat, which made it warm and hard to breathe. There are rare moments of fighting. I heard a black man screaming about the corrupt world we live in, not knowing what will happen next, not knowing what Putin will do next, not knowing what will be there after Covid 19. He began a fight with another man (the reason remains unknown to me) where they pushed and shouted violently at each other. It was brief, and ended abruptly. To be plain in words, they were like peaceful rioters protesting about political and religious matters. It seems that, in their opinion, if they speak loudly and convincingly, they will be followed by more people. So, in Speaker’s Corner, there is more of a battle happening than with the Royal Horse Guards. 

We rode away from the chaos of loudness, and went into the peace and quiet in the thicket of Hyde Park. We stopped at an interesting place next to the River Thames, where there was a place with a speaking statue. My dad and brother inspected and listened to the statue, but I was distracted by a swan paddling in the lake. In Penang, where I lived for all my life, swans don’t exist, so it is a special occasion for me to spot a swan in a lake in England. Observing the swan soothed my eyes with interest. His neck was agile, able to bend 90 degrees in every direction. I have heard many people say that on the surface of water swans are peaceful and elegant, but below the water swans’ feet are chaotic and unpeaceful. However, I observed under the swan it was paddling smoothly, elegantly and was perfectly syncronised, just like the Royal Horse Guards.

Hyde Park was the place that gave me inspiration to love and study animals in England, not just in my hometown of Penang where there are very different species. It not only opened me up to all the elegant and unique animals in London, but also gave me a taste of the culture that flourishes in Hyde Park. It showed me the combination of ceremonial remembrance of historic major achievements alongside passionate debates in the present.