As the Lunar New Year of the Monkey swung into action yesterday, fortune tellers foresee 12 months of political and financial turbulence at the hands of the mischievous, unpredictable creature.
Hong Kong’s feng shui masters expect an incendiary mix as the monkey combines with the fire element, but also say the year ahead will be a boom time for clever innovation and women will be in the ascendant.
The monkey is seen as belonging to the hard metal element, while fire represents the sun, Hong Kong-based celebrity feng shui master Alion Yeo (楊天命) said.
Photo: Reuters
“When the two things combine, it creates an extremely high temperature. We have to be prepared for a lot of disputes, sickness,” he said.
“One can even associate fire and metal with missiles, bullets or rockets,” he said.
Feng shui is influential in many parts of Asia, where people adjust their lives and renovate offices and homes to maximize their luck and wealth according to its tenets.
It is based on ancient philosophy and the belief that all events are dictated by the varying balances in the five elements that make up the universe: metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
Feng shui masters in Hong Kong also combine astrology into their art. Hong Kong-based soothsayer Thierry Chow (周亦彤) warned of shocking events at the hands of the “fire monkey.”
“Fire is dominant in the five elements. When fire is atop monkeys they will be swinging around, they will be difficult to predict. A lot of things will be unexpected,” Chow said.
The last fire monkey year happened in 1956, when Britain and France invaded Egypt during the Suez Canal crisis, a pivotal event that historians believe marked the demise of British imperial power.
While the money might bring instability, it could also herald major innovation, as technology falls into the “fire” category, Chow said.
“There could be major breakthroughs in solar-powered energy, fire-related technologies, or the Internet,” she said.
The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and Chinese folklore ascribes 12 animals in rotation. The monkey is in the ninth position.
In its annual tongue-in-cheek “feng shui index”, CLSA, one of Asia’s leading brokerages, predicted a “volatile ride” for financial markets.
“There are going to be a lot of ups and downs. The monkey is a creature who is tricky and cunning,” Cherry Ma of the firm’s feng shui team said.
“There will be fluctuations, but it also means opportunities for fast movers,” she said.
Last year — the Year of the Sheep — saw turbulence in global markets and a rout in China stocks with fears of an economic slowdown on the mainland.
Yeo predicts that this month and August will be the roughest times for investors, as the months clash with the presiding cosmic deity of the year, known as the Tai Sui (太歲).
“There will be a transfer of wealth [this month and in August]... money will be lost,” Yeo said.
The Year of the Monkey may look foreboding, but feng shui masters say women may benefit, as they fall within the fire category. This is particularly true for Taiwanese president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), born in a fire monkey year in 1956, Chow said.
Tsai won a landslide victory last month, unseating the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party to become Taiwan’s first female president. She will take the reins in May.
“Women are compatible with the fire element. They will be empowered. They can go to the front of the stage or get promotions,” Chow said.
The year promises a “big change” and “house moving” for Tsai, she added.
It could also spell trouble for US presidential hopeful Donald Trump — heavily criticized for his sexist views — as he campaigns for the Republican nomination. Former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton is campaigning for the Democrat nomination.
“The divination for the US is that the sun will be eaten by the moon... the sun represents men and the moon represents the women,” Yeo said.
“The sun eaten by the moon means the woman will dominate and win,” Yeo said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia