Beware the fire monkey: Feng shui masters warn of financial,
political turbulence
With the Year of the Monkey swinging into action yesterday, fortune
tellers foresee 12 months of political and financial turbulence at
the hands of the mischievous, unpredictable creature.
Hong Kong's respected feng shui masters expect an incendiary mix as
the monkey combines with the fire element, but they 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, says Hong Kong-based celebrity feng shui
master Alion Yeo.
"When the two combine, it creates an extremely high temperature. We
have to be prepared for a lot of disputes, sickness.
"One can even associate fire and metal with missiles, bullets or
rockets," he told AFP.
Hong Kong-based soothsayer Thierry Chow warned of shocking events
at the hands of the "fire monkey".
She said: "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."
The last fire monkey year happened in 1956, when Britain and France
invaded Egypt during the Suez Canal crisis.
While the monkey may bring instability, it could also herald major
innovation, said Ms Chow. Technology falls into the "fire"
category.
"There could be major breakthroughs in solar-powered energy,
fire-related technologies, or the Internet," she told AFP.
Mr Yeo predicts 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".
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 Taiwan's president-elect Tsai
Ing-wen, who was born in a fire monkey year in 1956, according to
Ms Chow.
Ms Tsai won a landslide victory last month, unseating the ruling
Kuomintang to become the island's first female president.
Last year, Year of Sheep / Goat was no better. With many
disasters and more terrorism took place. Even before the
year of the goat ended, the terrible earthquake in Taiwan took
place. The goat wanna leave already still created
disaster for people. In 2003, also year of goat / sheep,
there was SARS. A number of celebrities passed away.
Hope year of monkey will not be worse than year of goat.