Good business prospects for the Year of the Ox

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): The New Year will arrive in three days. But according to the Chinese calendar, the new year begins on Feb. 7. It is called the Year of the Ox, or, more precisely, the Fire Ox.

The ox works hard. It pulls yokes, cultivates land and is obedient to its master.

What does this imply?

"Obedience, commitment and hard work are the three elements of the Year of Ox," Mauro P. Rahardjo, an expert in Feng Shui or Chinese geomancy, said recently.

"This is the year to take action with commitment and persistence," he said.

The Chinese lunar year is divided into 12 months named after the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig and Rat. Each year has 354 days.

The years are believed to be influenced by the elements of fire, soil, metal, water and wood.

Fire influences 1996 and 1997, but 1998 and 1999 will be influenced by the soil, 2000 and 2001 by metal, 2001 and 2002 by water and 2003 and 2004 by wood.

This year is the Year of the Fire Rat (Feb. 12, 1996 to Feb. 6, 1997). The Rat has the element of water. Water is the enemy of fire so there were many conflicts this year, according to Mauro.

He is optimistic the Year of the Fire Ox will be better than this year.

"The Ox has the element of soil. Soil and fire makes a good combination. Therefore, the Year of the Fire Ox will give good fortune," Mauro said.

Mauro, a lecturer at Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, presented his predictions on the Year of the Ox at a seminar at the four-star Parahyangan Hotel, Bandung, earlier this month.

Chinese geomancy or Feng Shui literally means wind and water. It is the old Chinese way of achieving harmony between people and nature.

It deals with theories on nature, focusing on dualism; and the five elements of water, wood, fire, metal and earth.

Dualism theory focuses on the contrast of human life, Yin and Yang. In this theory, also called the theory of balance, men are contrasted to women, strong to weak, light to dark, etc.

The five elements in nature form the symbol of energy. This theory is elaborate: water produces wood; wood produces fire; fire produces soil; soil produces metal; and metal produces water. Water controls fire; fire controls metal; metal controls wood; wood controls soil and soil controls water.

In the Year of the Rat, the businesses that had something to do with soil -- such as real estate -- were slow. Mauro explained that the element of the Rat was water and water controls soil. Accordingly, the business of soil, such as real estate, was sluggish.

Things would be different next year, Mauro said. Because the ox was close to the soil, there was good prospects for businesses dealing with land, farming and the environment.

"Next year will be good for real estate developers," he said.

Because soil produced metal, businesses that had something to do with metal also had good prospects.

Businesses related to fire were also looking good because fire conformed with fire, but people should be careful, too, because the energy of fire could be absorbed by the soil.

"In conclusion, there will be good prospects for businesses related to soil, fire and metal," Mauro said.

But this does not mean that people involved in these businesses should relax. They must work hard and be careful because the unexpected could happen.

Those running businesses related to water and wood should work harder because they would face more threats.

Fire and soil were not elements which were friendly to water. Soil controls water, and fire is the enemy of water.

The energy of wood could be taken by fire, while wood did not correspond with soil. Therefore wood businesses needed more attention, Mauro warned. (sim)