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single son or daughter means everyone wants the best for their “adored” child. Here’s where ordinary Chinese are feeling the pinch. Education costs are soaring.


From Kindergartens to Primary to Secondary through to University, money is the key to a better life. Ask any taxi driver, any sales person, any hotel worker you meet and it is the same story. Everyone is busy making money for their child, but there is no time to spend with family. Spare moments are for resting to get ready for the next day. Many work 15 hour days and taxi


drivers even work 18 hours without a break. The resilience behind the striving to rise above their economic level is very Chinese of course; this is after all probably the most hardworking race of people in the world. But it also means a very unbalanced existence. China has become a wealth generating machine, but it is also a nation of exhausted workers. But this is the older generation. What about the younger generation - the kids for whom the parents work so hard? Here, China’s one child per family policy has generated some interesting trends.


Single children live lonely lives. Many having no siblings to play with and with such busy parents live a three- screen existence (the TV, the computer and the cell phone).


Single children are doted on. Designer brands, first class travel, big houses, cars and fancy education are normal fare and the wealthier the parents, the more doted their kids are. Te richer families give their kids at least two years’ of overseas education – usually in the United States. For the young “super-rich”, money is not a problem. Many fly to Hong Kong for a day’s shopping.


Single children are not “hungry” like their parents were. It’s hard to see them becoming China’s next generation of entrepreneurs. Unlike their parents and grandparents, many have never cooked or made their own beds. Tey may have had superior


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schooling, but China’s system stresses on learning by rote. Creative thinking is not encouraged and there seems no need for innovation.


China thus can imitate but can it innovate? There is amazing talent to copy. China for instance has plenty of fake Apple stores and even more imitation Apple phones. China has a long way to go before it will be anything like the United States in its ability to motivate creative brilliance or foster visionary entrepreneurship.


THEN THERE IS THE ECONOMY Everyone thinks of China as being super rich – gee whiz, isn’t China holding the biggest chunk of American debt? But ordinary Chinese may well resent this. (Note


has improved 1.3 billion peoples’ lives in such a short span of time –


has prospered; taken its place in the world. No other nation in history


China is changing. It


and without going to war too!


China currently holds over 1 trillion USD dollars worth of US bonds… equivalent to about 6000 ringgit being lent to the US by each Chinese citizen!) But the problem is of course a


lot more complex. With so much cost cutting and budgeting, so much shrinking taking place in so many of China’s largest markets, the effect must surely filter down to the factory floor. And it has. China’s manufacturing base, perhaps 30 to 35 % are being forced to close down due to markets drying up. Tis is sure to have a multiplier effect and once rocketing house prices once fuelled by money from manufacturing could cause the “property bubble” and


maybe the stock market bubble to burst. China is changing. It has prospered; taken its place in the world. No other nation in history has improved 1.3 billion peoples’ lives in such a short span of time – and without going to war too! But China’s free market economy is only 30 years old. In spite of its strength, wealth, power and being a force to be reckoned with, needs the WEST more than ever. China cannot afford to let the America and Europe go too far down on a downward spiral.


GOOD NEWS IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON Happily, the feng shui chart of 2012, the coming year of the Water Dragon, shows


the super number 8 flies


to the West… HELLO!!! 2011 has indeed been aggravating for the West, but the 2012 chart suggests that by January, and maybe earlier, there might manifest signs to suggest that pessimism about the US economy and its financial strength might be overblown, and that China’s financial position might not be as stable as people think. Tere are underlying aggravations exerting pressures on the Economy. To continue to prosper, the Dragon needs the Phoenix. The Water DRAGON it seems


must frolic with the Western Phoenix in 2012. China must fly with the soaring BIRD of the WEST – the PHOENIX risen from the ashes in the guise of an EAGLE? Many surprises await many people in the year 2012. I will so enjoy sharing more observations indicated by the charts and look forward to meeting you at any of my Extravaganzas in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Las Vegas, Penang or Kota Kinabalu. I’m eager to share ways to successfully pursue the Phoenix in the Dragon Year.


Extravaganzas ticket Hotlines: 603-20803488 (WOFS.com Sdn Bhd, Malaysia – Monday to Friday, (10am to 5pm), 65-6348 5555 (Sistic Singapore) Online: www. wofs.com or www.sistic.com.sg or Email: cnyspecials@wofs.com


NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 | F ENGSHUIWORLD 35


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