As the presidential campaign heats up, fortune-tellers are joining the fray by giving advice to the two candidates and predicting the election outcome.
The fortune-tellers -- from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and the US -- claim to have psychic power, but many Taiwanese think they are fakes.
The nation will hold its presidential poll on March 22 to elect a new leader to succeed President Chen Shui-bian (
The geomancers have made their own, mostly ambiguous, predictions about the chances of Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh (
Li Jianjun (
"Ma's left shoulder is lower than his right shoulder. And when he talks to the public, he is not looking them in the eye. These are bad signs for his health," Li said in Taipei on Dec. 13.
Li foresaw two potential disasters for Ma, one in December and one last month, but his predictions failed to materialize.
Hsieh has a bigger "posture" problem than Ma, Li warned, because when Hsieh addressed public rallies, he sticks his neck out, like a duck waiting to have its head chopped off.
Last month, Elizabeth Fotinopoulos, a self-proclaimed US psychic, visited Taiwan to promote the Chinese translation of her book, but made headlines with her comments on the presidential polls.
"There will be an attempt on Ma's life, probably with bullets," she told reporters.
Echoing her prediction, Shih Chi-ching (
Hong Kong fortune-teller Li Kui-ming (
Regarding the presidential election, Li Kui-ming said Ma is not fit to be president but has a bigger chance of winning.
"His surname is Ma -- it will be a strenuous job for him because he is a horse. If I were him, I would not run for president," Li Kui-ming said.
Hsieh will also face obstacles in the election, but he can remove them by wearing a yellow tie and yellow clothes, Li Kui-ming said.
Both candidates refused to comment on the fortune-tellers' predictions.
Master Hsing Yun (
"Although there is fate, human beings can change their fate by doing good deeds," he wrote in the Buddhist daily Merit Time. "So people should free themselves from superstition and create a logical and democratic society."
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