KUALA LUMPUR: The Golden or Metal Rat year will bring new hopes and opportunities to many people in 2020.
As the annual Ba Zi chart of the 2020 metal year showed a more harmonious and progressive combination of elements, the keyword of the year was mutual interaction, said Kenny Hoo of Good Feng Shui Geomantic Research.
“This year, many world leaders and people will strive for closer cooperation in various fields.
“This will create more innovative opportunities and boost prosperity.
“Existing services and products will integrate and interact with new and innovative elements that will stimulate new and creative technologies, products and services.”
Feng shui master Nancy Yeoh, who is senior consultant with The Joey Yap Group, said this year would be interesting with its fair share of opportunities and challenges.
Yeoh said the strongest element in the metal rat year was earth followed by metal and water.
“With such a combination, the information and digital technology, equality and human rights movement, as well as logistics and transportation sectors will thrive.
“However, natural disasters like earthquakes, fires, tsunami and floods are predicted to happen, finance and business trades might slow down, and the probability of international conflicts and warfare is there.”
Hoo said international and domestic markets are expected to be positive in April, May, August and December, and more volatile in March, June, July, September, October and January next year.
Malaysia
On the local front, Hoo said leaders and the public should work towards promoting good interaction among cultures and ethnic groups for the benefit of all.
“If we work hand in hand, we can explore and develop a lot more opportunities for building a New Malaysia this year.
“Malaysia possesses a strategic feng shui location and landscape that can help gather all sorts of talent and resources for the development of its neighbours in information and communications technology, artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things, e-commerce, education, semiconductor and tourism fields.”
Hoo said the public’s purchasing power would be stronger this year, particularly due to the anticipated stronger ringgit and weaker US dollar.
“With a stronger purchasing power, they will have more choices. They will expect new innovative products and services with greater quality and design.”
“With the advent of 5G technology, products and services can be integrated with new technology.
“This will help companies create new ideas and gain more market reach.”
Yeoh said Malaysia’s property market might have an interesting outcome this year.
“The property market, as represented by the earth element, is the most abundant this year and that applies to Malaysia as well.
“The element represents a glut in the property market, and movement is slow as the earth element by nature is lethargic.
“However, because metal is also strong in 2020, property developers have to come up with innovative ideas to move their products more effectively.
“The methods of roadshows and festive celebrations are passé.
“The way to succeed is to be more creative and innovative, and do what has never been done before.”
World
Hoo said there would be more uncertainties and challenges in the global political arena, especially in Western countries, such as the US, the United Kingdom, Eurozone, and also the Middle East.
“We foresee more tension and conflicts in the Middle East, especially between early April and September.
“However, the chances of a big-scale war are remote.
“Hence, World War 3 is unlikely to happen as this year’s Ba Zi (the Four Pillars of Destiny) combination is more balanced and stable.
“The current tension in Iran/Iraq is because we are still in the 2019 Boar year, which, according to the Ba Zi combo, is messy, with a lot of conflicts.”
He said countries in southern regions, such as South America, South Africa and Australia, could face the emergence of more contagious diseases.
He said in terms of the world economy, China and India were expected to progress steadily and provide a huge market for many countries in the world, including Malaysia.
“Thus, the Malaysian government should seize the opportunities and move the economy forward.”
Hoo said in Sabah and Sarawak, the construction of the Pan-Borneo Highway would offer more opportunities to boost economic activities, with better road networks and infrastructure.
“The new capital of Indonesia that will be constructed this year in Borneo’s east Kalimantan will bring along a lot of business opportunities for Sarawak and Sabah.”
He said the UK economy was undergoing a reconstruction phase. Hence, there would be new opportunities in various fields.
“The US economy will continue to be smooth in the first and second quarters of the year.
“However, there will be a lot more challenges after November.
“The US-China trade is expected to simmer down this year, and both leaders of the economic giants will start to realise and appreciate a win-win principle
that could benefit all parties,” he said.
“The calmer situation could, however, present the Malaysian market with fewer opportunities.
“The trade war between both economic juggernauts could present new opportunities to emerging economies.”
He said local business players could seek opportunities, especially in the emerging “new-economy” markets like China.
“In general, the year of the Golden Rat is a year of new hope and opportunities.
“When the economy is revived, most tension and conflicts will be resolved.”