Lunar New Year prophecy reveals ‘Hong Kong is trapped in forest’, fortune-teller says as rural leader draws ‘neutral’ stick in annual ritual
- Kenneth Lau, head of city’s rural leaders, draws fortune stick which reads ‘holding an axe and entering a forest, looking for something not yet obtained’
- Fortune-teller Chan Tin-yan outside the Che Kung Temple says prophecy means Hong Kong has lost its way
The “neutral” No 15 fortune stick, drawn by Heung Yee Kuk chairman Kenneth Lau Ip-keung on Sunday, the second day of the Year of the Dragon, said: “Holding an axe and entering a forest, looking for something not yet obtained. Wasting good material and losing one’s strength, offering oneself and waiting for the arrival of spring.”
The omen came with a brief explanation which said “financial endeavours might not be successful”.
Lau made four unsuccessful attempts at drawing the prophecy, with multiple sticks falling out of the cylinder, until he bowed once again before a statue of Song dynasty commander Che Kung and finally took out fortune stick No 15.
After the ceremony at the Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin, Lau said he interpreted the prophecy as meaning the government should outline more targeted and precise policies to boost the city’s economy.
“When you’re in the forest with an axe, there are many trees to chop down. This is exactly what the government has to do, to choose appropriate policies,” he told a press briefing after the ritual.
“Spring will come but the government should not waste time and resources.”
Lau warned authorities against waiting for the US to lower interest rates before implementing policies. “We need to be more precise and timely,” he said.
He emphasised the need to stabilise Hong Kong’s real estate and finance industries, the pillars of the city’s economy, before developing the innovation and technology (I&T) sector.
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The rural leader also said that the property market was no longer showing signs of short-term speculative activity and urged the government to ditch cooling measures and remove stamp duty taxes to boost the stock market.
“I believe politics and the economy are inseparable. We must do both well,” he said.
Fortune-teller Chan Tin-yan, who had set up a booth outside the temple, said the prophecy meant Hong Kong was trapped in the woods and had lost its way.
“The fortune mentioned exhausting both resources and energy, it is a sign from Che Kung to take a break from trying to find a way out,” he said. “However, the situation will improve from this point onwards and we can await spring.”
He added that there would be stability after the legislation of the domestic national security law required under Article 23.
The annual fortune draw involves a bamboo cylinder containing 96 numbered sticks. Each stick corresponds to an omen, of which 35 bode well, 17 bode ill and 44 are neutral.
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Participants shake the cylinder until a stick falls out, which is the one that denotes their fortune.
Lau, who inherited the leadership of the powerful Heung Yee Kuk, has taken part in the annual ritual since 2016.
He succeeded his father, Lau Wong-fat, who stepped down as leader of the rural body in 2015 due to poor health and died two years later. The kuk represents the interests of indigenous villagers in the New Territories.
The younger Lau has drawn a neutral fortune stick during the annual ritual for the past six years.
The temple, built about 300 years ago, is dedicated to Che Kung, who had a reputation for quashing not only uprisings, but also plagues.
Meanwhile, Mok Kam-kwai, chairman of the Sha Tin Rural Committee, drew a “positive” No 50 fortune stick for his community, which was interpreted as meaning things would work out eventually despite feelings of isolation in a challenging situation.
As of 6pm on Sunday, about 52,227 people had entered Che Kung Temple.
