Beware the fire monkey: Feng shui masters warn of financial, political turbulence
Feng shui masters warn of political and financial turbulence in the new year
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.
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