Malaysia’s wealth star will continue to shine

Things don’t look to be all that rosy next year but astrologers tell TAN CHOE CHOE and P. SELVARANI that Malaysia’s inherent good fortune will help it overcome any challenges it may face

New Straits Times

AS the clock ticks away the last hours of 2007 tomorrow night, many of us will be hoping that the  new year will be an improvement over the old.

But will it?

The answer is "no", according to some astrologers, because all of the elements that had a negative influence on 2007 would still be present in 2008.

"Clashing elements, missing elements, no lap chun (Spring) — we'll be having the same bad signs in 2008 but they'll affect us in a different way," said astrologer and feng shui consultant Lillian Too.

"It's (going to be) a very weak time," said Chinese astrologer and feng shui master Datuk Yap Cheng Hai.

But all is not doom and gloom, said Too, because Malaysia was in a favourable geographic location.

"The West will see more argument and instability but countries in the East and Southeast will continue to do very well.

"In addition, our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was born in the Year of the Rabbit, will be having a very good year.

"So that bodes well for the country."

Yap predicted that Malaysia's wealth star would continue to shine brightly so there would be money to be made for everyone.

Their predictions were echoed by Hindu astrologer and member of the Malaysian Astrological Society, Subramaniam Kandiah, who predicts the year ahead to be a "generally good one".

But, he said, there would be troubled times, especially during the period before and after the eclipse of the moon (chandra grhanam) on Feb 21.

"There is a tendency for fights and natural disasters to occur during this period.

"There will also be more chaos as I see some people will take to the streets again," said Subramaniam.

POLITICS

The unanimous opinion is that the Barisan National will emerge victorious again in the general election.

But Subramaniam, who predicted that the general election would be held in early March during the inauspicious chandra grhanam, advised that it be postponed until after Hindu New Year on April 14.

Yap also thinks BN would emerge victorious, but warned that it could lose some 10 per cent of its votes.

ECONOMY

"Wood and water-related industries" will, likely, suffer in the coming year. Publishing, printing, education, textile, fashion and shipping industries are likely to have a rough time as competition stiffens.

"Foreign investments will be slow but local traders will not be so badly affected," said Subramaniam.

On the upside, oil prices would start to ease and the US greenback would stabilise, said Too.

"Fire-related industries such as restaurants, entertainment outlets, the share market and pubs will enjoy good fortune, and so will metal industries like mining," said Too.

"Earth-related sectors like construction and property will be average — property prices will rise and commodities like rubber and oil palm will probably maintain its good run from 2007."

SOCIAL

Racial relationships would largely be stable, although the astrologers generally said there would be some hiccups along the way.

Yap said Kuala Lumpur, being in the west of the country where "the stars of two generals" sit next year, would probably see an increase in "noise" level in that people would be more argumentative than usual.

Tarot card consultant Meetah Kaur's cards tell her there would be a sense of loss and disappointment among the people, but there would be efforts to bring them together.

"Sometimes it seems they are united, but the relationship seems to be fragile. It looks as if it'll fall apart easily. But the next few months will see stronger efforts to unite the people and the future looks bright."

Too feels that good sense would prevail eventually because "the country has a sound base, the people are generally well-educated and there's positive energy all around".

NATURAL DISASTERS

While none of the astrologers could guarantee there won't be floods next year, Too thinks their severity will be "subdued" because 2008 is the Earth Rat year, "and earth suppresses water".

"(Flooding) is not going to be as bad as this year. But next year, earth rules, with missing metal and wood elements.

"There's also shortage of fire. But, luckily, Malaysia is in the southeast and the fire energy will fly to the southeast sector, so we're ok.

"But I think there'll probably be more occurrence of landslides as the excess earth, combined with the missing elements will cause much instability," Too added.

Subra said he did not see any major natural disasters occuring in the region, but thinks there would be man-made ones such as landslides. He also predicted a major earthquake in the northwest region of Africa, where many lives would be lost.

INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK

Will Hilary Clinton be the next US president? Yes, said Too and Subramaniam.

"Hilary has the stronger personal chart compared to Barack Obama. Even if he wins in Iowa, he'll not win the presidential election. Hilary is the one," said Too.

Subramaniam, meanwhile, said there might be an assassination attempt on Philippines President Gloria Arroyo.