By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
THE fire element will dominate 2016, making it a generally “good, no problem” year for the economy.
Speaking to the BusinessMirror before the launch of his book, titled Feng Shui Essentials for the Year of the Fire Monkey, at the Manila Hotel on Monday, noted feng shui expert Joseph Chau said 2016 will be lucky for industries dominated by the fire element, such as electronics, electricity, gasoline/fuel business, computers, telecommunications, restaurants and financial market.
“The metal elements—machinery, banking, car sales, raw materials for medical supplies—are also lucky,”
he added. The Year of the Fire Monkey swings in on February 8, 2016.
He also said it will be a “bittersweet” year for the country: “Before the elections [May 9, 2016], it will be bitter. It means the relationship between the government and the people won’t be harmonious; there will be much discontent. Businesspersons have to wait and expect some change. After the elections, it will be sweet, and businesspersons will have the clear picture from the government, and then they are able to cope with the change to the new President. Everything will settle down in the handover to the new President and new Cabinet members. That means after August 8, everything will be better and better, and go on the right track; businesspersons will adapt to a new policy.”
He explained that August is a lucky month for the Philippines.
A respected geomancer based in Hong Kong, Chau gives a general forecast of the economy and political climate of the Philippines every year, based on the country’s official birthdate of 3 p.m., June 12, 1898, or the first declaration of Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite. “That means the Philippines has too much of the fire element. We need a president that has a lot of water [to cool the fire] or a lot of metal [i.e., fire can forge metal].”
This is why, he also stressed, that the one “who wants to be President of the Philippines should be born in autumn [or the months August, September, November, December of any year]; it cannot be summertime. It’s better that they have the water or metal element. So the chance for them to win in next year’s elections is higher.”
He added that, in the Year of the Fire Monkey, “women will be luckier than men.” He declined to confirm that this would mean the winner of the presidential elections in 2016 will be a woman, underscoring that “becoming president is not so simple. There are so many external and internal factors that influence [one’s destiny to become a president],” adding that exact hour and day of one’s birth is crucial in forecasting a person’s chances in any undertaking, whether it be running for higher office, a promotion, a love match or wedding, etc.
The monkey, he said, is smart, intelligent, cunning “and also cheats; everyone must be alert to swindlers, because there are so many.” Thus, he warns of investment scams or get-rich-quick schemes, fake medical practitioners who charge an arm and a leg for their services and the like.
Meanwhile, the feng shui expert said it will be a challenging 2016 for industries dominated by the wood, water and earth elements. He singles out the tourism industry (water element) as one of those that will face “so many challenges, because of the unstable situation in the country.” Unstable, not because of the coming elections, he explained, but because of taxi drivers, who he said, “will fool you or they will rob you.”
Chau said this can be remedied easily by following Jakarta’s lead, i.e., certify taxis that will cater specifically to tourists and which charge a lower fare than the regular cabs that ferry ordinary citizens. “If the Philippines does it this way, no problem,” adding that the so-called reports on the alleged laglag-bala, or bullet-planting, scam at the Naia, which have gone viral, will not deter tourists, but dishonest taxi drivers would.
Since the tourism industry is forecast to bring in tepid numbers next year, the famed geomancer said the local hotel industry will also find itself in a slump. “There are so many hotels that have established in the Philippines, but there are only a few guests. We Chinese have a saying, ‘A bucket of congee, but there are so many monks, so how can you share?’ Even the casino is not a good business; they are losing money now.”
A recent report by the United Nations-World Trade Organization noted the dip in hotel-occupancy rates in Manila to 68 percent in the first half of 2015, almost two percentage points lower than the same period in 2014. (See, “Hotel occupancy slipped in H1 2015—UN report” in the BusinessMirror, November 3, 2015.)
Others with a water element, such as transportation and logistics, will also not do very well in 2016. Chau also stressed that even though there are many ongoing construction projects, this does not mean the industry will be lucky next year. He advises large construction firms or companies developing new properties to “draw attention to quality. If the quality is no good, even if they have a good name, they will destroy the brand.”
Other industries that will experience a slowdown in 2016 are real estate (“because they are full already”), garments, fashion, health, food, lumber and furniture.
The lucky signs in 2016 are Pig (1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007); Rat (1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008); Ox (1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009); Snake (1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013); and Goat (1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015).