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In my column last week I said Hong Kong people were waiting with bated breath for the decision by the National People’s Congress on what kind of democracy we can expect. The NPC (abbreviation for National People’s Congress) made its decision four days ago. Pan-democrats are extremely (very) dismayed by the decision. They have angrily rejected the NPC’s decision on political reforms as fake democracy. They have said the reforms are so conservative (careful, cautious) voters won’t have a genuine choice of candidates in Hong Kong’s first chief executive election through one person, one vote. The democracy camp will now rely on the Occupy Central civil disobedience protest to pressure the central government to change its mind.

A big political showdown is coming soon. Brace yourselves for it. The showdown will be between the democracy camp and the central government. Leaders of the democracy camp set the wheels in motion for this showdown last Sunday when they gathered outside the chief executive's office to announce details of their civil disobedience action, which will end with the Occupy Central protest. The word "showdown" is used when there is a final confrontation between two sides to settle a dispute or disagreement. For example, triad gangs often settle a dispute with a big fight. This is called a showdown.

Are you waiting with bated breath? Many Hong Kong people are waiting with bated breath for a very important decision this coming Sunday by the National People's Congress. The abbreviation (shortened form) of the National People's Congress is NPC. A reader recently pointed out to me that an abbreviation is different from an acronym. An acronym is an abbreviation that is formed with the first letters of words to become a word that can be pronounced. For example, APEC is the acronym for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Hong Kong is a member of APEC. This year's APEC leaders' meeting will be held in November in Beijing.