What’s In Store For The Year Of The Goat?

Malaysians are both anxious and excited on what’s in store in 2015, also known as the Year of the Wooden Goat. It will unfold on Chinese New Year in February.

The goat has been seen as a symbol of renewal, purification, compassion and gentleness since the ancient times.

Ranking the eight position of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac, people born in the year of the goat are polite, mild-mannered and is said to have exquisite taste. However, they also tend to be pessimistic, unrealistic and can be very passive.

How will your finances fare in the Year of the Goat? Here’s what the feng shui experts have to say:

1. “Everyone has the chance to make money in Year of the Goat.” – Lillian Too

The Year of the Wooden Goat will herald an abundance of new financial opportunities, according to feng shui expert and popular author Lillian Too.

The coming lunar year of the Wood Sheep is blessed with all five feng shui elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth. This indicates that a year is well-balanced and goodwill can take seed and flourish into new opportunities for all to achieve success, the World of Feng Shui founder was quoted saying in a recent report by The Edge Markets.

Too, who has an MBA from Harvard Business School and is widely credited for popularising feng shui in the US and Europe predicted that the “middle of the year” would be the best time to buy shares as the market is expected to rise by year-end.

“Prospects for making gains from short-term investments are high,” she said.

However, she advised property investors to go slow on purchases during the first half of the year.

On business, Too said the Wooden Goat should bring opportunities and the second half of the year is a good time to start due to the presence of the powerful “Mentor Star”. It will bring entrepreneurial wisdom and experience to the table.

Metal-related industries, which include automobile, travel and electronic gadgets will do very well, she opined.

2. “Market and economic growth may experience a slowdown.” – Dato’ Joey Yap

Popular feng shui consultant and best-selling author Dato’ Joey Yap predicts that water-based industries could suffer in the Year of the Goat.

“Although fire is weak in 2015, water is also in very short supply this year. As such, the outlook seems unfavourable for water-based industries such as logistics, tourism, travel, aquatics, drinks and fisheries,” he said in an interview with Smart Investor.

There could be a market slowdown. “When we study an astrology chart, we look at how the people feel in general. Many people are fearful this year. This indicates that the market and economic growth may experience a slowdown,” he said in the interview.

However, Yap said he expects the real estate sector to do rather well this year due to a strong earth element.

“Since the wood element is in control, it may not do exceptionally well. However, the combination of the wood/earth factor indicates that it is a good time for buildings and projects to be launched,” he explained.

3. “Economic activities and stock market will continue to be very active particularly in spring and summer.” – Raymond Lo 

The fire element present in the Year of the Goat will spur economic activities and the stock market this year, particularly in spring and summer, local feng shui consultant Raymond Lo noted on his website.

“The strong fire and absence of water this year will be positive for the economy and the optimism will continue to bring confidence to buy,” Lo said.

According to Lo, the wood-earth element of 2015 will bring prosperity to wood and metal-related industries. Wood industries such as textile, environment, paper and magazines, and metal industries like hi-tech, banking, machinery, cars and engineering will thrive, he said.

Fire industries like finance, energy, power-generation and oil could also flourish. Elsewhere, earth industries such as property, agriculture and construction could see a decline due to the absence of the water element, which drives those industries.

4. “Malaysians in general are going to have very weak material gains in 2015.” – Master Soon

 

Local feng shui expert Master Soon predicts a downward trend for Malaysia’s economy this year. According to Master Soon, the Year of the Goat is “disastrous and devilish by nature,” because the animal is often associated to sacrifice in religious sectors.

On his website, the feng shui expert predicts that “Malaysia’s economy 2015 in general is at highly critical and alarming level. Malaysians in general are going to have very weak material gains.”

He also believes that the horrible flood situation the country faced last month could be the turning point of a new “ten year luck cycle” for Malaysia.

He says that the new luck cycle, which will begin in April, could herald a new kind of political environment and socio-economic change. He predicts that “Malaysia’s economy (2015-2025) is going to have a big transformation to turn away from labour intensive industry to service and information based industries.”

Industries that could prosper include airlines and tourism, he adds. “The sufferings of airlines (MAS and AirAsia) and tourism in 2014 is only restricted to 2014 and 2015 only. They will pick up in year 2016.”

Whatever tomorrow brings, the future is always in formation and not everything in life should be left to chance. Your fate and fortune ultimately lies in your own hands.