STARTING WORK AFTER CHINESE NEW YEAR

It's a new twist to the way we start work after the Chinese New Year.

And it all boils down to one change. The presence of and our living with Covid 19. Gone are the days when the company will be arranging a lion dance, company lunch or an inhouse party to gather everyone for an auspicious start for the company's business.

For many years, choosing an auspicious date to start work after the Chinese New Year holidays was significantly done with the physical return to the office after days of celebrations and laying off work. As it was traditionally observed and practiced, it is extremely important for one to choose an auspicious date to start work on the right note and hopefully, with a bang.

Starting work after the Chinese New Year symbolizes an opportunity each year to create a brand new start to your career and business. It shall then kickstart the energies set for the rest of the next twelve months. If it starts right, success shall follow. Should it begin with a fault, difficulties and failures are sure to consistently show up.

Choosing a good date involves several layers and it starts with it being an auspicious day itself. Where it can be helped, the first two days of the Chinese New Year are sacred and left to celebrations and rest.

Next, the criterion of the Day Officer's energy is considered. It is best to avoid Destruction and Close Days. Then comes the personalization of the day itself matched against the year one is born, so that there is no clash to the individual. Finally, it all nails down to the exact hour so that it all aligns to the best possible outcome one can desire.

What used to be going back to the office to start work has drastically changed. Even with relaxation of rules, a big propoartion of the work force can be considered to work from home. This calls for some different sets of rules to continue this practice effectively.

If you are going back to the office space, observe the dates in this chart in your respective local time. Dress up, be on time, turn on the lights, put on some music and if you have a humidifier or an electric fan within your work space, turn it on. At that given time, send off an official email, make a business call or attend a virtual (Zoom or any other platform) meeting in your business capacity.

Working from home is a different setup altogether. All the same, dress up. Clean up your dedicated working space at home and set it all up and ready for a business call or a virtual meeting.

The point is to take it seriously so that the takeoff is done with sincerity and good faith.

What if one does not have a condusive dedicated work apace at home ? Plan early, find an alternative office space or arrange to start work from a co-working space such as WeWorks, ServeCorp or other brands in your respective country.

As important as it is for one to start work on an auspicious date, it is most effective if one could control the day to effectively stop work in preparation for the long holiday in Asia and other Chinese communities around the world.

Plan your dates so that you are well prepared to take on 2022 with better control, renewed energies and a greater fighting spirit.

WHEN THE TIGER in 2022 COMES IN BETWEEN THE SNAKE AND THE MONKEY

A unique situation is created when the Tiger comes in between the Snake and the Monkey.

It is known as the Ungrateful Punishment which cannot be dismissed as trivial especially when one deals with others at work, in business or involves a personal relationship.

First, the Snake and the Monkey have a fiery arrangement. It's like a love-hate union. They technically combine and then 'destroy' one another.

Rooted in the Monkey is the Yang Metal which symbolizes all things official, reserved, rules, protocols and strictly doing 'the right thing'. In comes the Snake which has the Yang Fire as its main element, humanizing everything along the way, generous, forgiving and predictable.

While supposedly meant to enhance the Monkey, this Yang Fire becomes redundant and waiting for the perfect moment to justify a breakup. By themselves, they look like a passionate pair, sometimes even amorous. Internally, it becomes a trapped situation, combining and destroying each other while benefitting from being together, nothing acrimonious between them.

When will one be affected by this arrangement ?

Snake years are 1953 | 1965 | 1977 | 1989 | 2001 | 2013

Snake month is between 6th May and 5th June

Snake hour is between 9am and 11am

Monkey years are 1956 | 1968 | 1980 | 1992 | 2004 | 2016

Monkey month is between 6th August and 5th September

Monkey hour is between 3pm and 5pm

How do you know if you have such a pair in you ? Check it out here https://www.hofs.sg/bazi-calculator It is especially intense if the Snake and the Monkey reside next to each other in your chart. Much depends on what it means to you but there should be some expected changes, movements and discomfort when the Tiger (as it happens to be the year itself in 2022) comes it to instigate and tear them apart.

If it involves a platonic relationship, it raises suspicions. In business, it can lead to changes in opinions, be it a client, vendor or general community. At work, disorientation can set in, stress over performance and the anxiety of being left out. Personally, if one is in a close relationship, the feeling of betrayal and wrongdoing consistently haunts you. One can also overthink that someone is trying to cheat him or her over their assets and money.

The next common thread amongst the Tiger, Snake and Monkey is that they are all travelling horse stars. This indicates changes involving movements, physical and emotionally.

Supported by the strong Yang Water in the Year of the Water Tiger in 2022, the interjection of the Tiger between the Snake and the Monkey motivates separations and parting of ways.

In love as in business, they happen unexpectedly and mostly unplanned but the devastation is often bitter. However, not all individual ways turn out bad. Some go on to form better lives while others find their perfect match after the split.

The story of Mark Zuckerberg (the smart Monkey) benefitting from his friendship with Eduardo Saverin (the innocent Snake) only to be instigated by Sean Parker (the crafty Tiger) to part ways was told in the movie, the Social Network. Amongst them, each would believe that they were doing their own 'right thing' at that time. We must understand that the Tiger cannot be demonized, because left to their own designs, their relationships, in pairs or all three provide some challenges.

The Facebook founder must be thinking 'You don't make 500 million people 'friends' without making some enemies'.

What should you do if you have such a combination ? It is psychological. A state of self awareness will moderate your expectations. It is a case of one thinking that he or she has been taken for granted, or worse, being betrayed for doing something good for others. As mentioned in my other articles, 2022 itself is a time of rapid movements, forceful, mysterious, overthinking without clear leadership but within it all, an opportunity of tapping into the massive liquidity of wealth.

CHASING AWAY THE BEAST OF THE PAST YEAR

There once lived a beast which came down from the hills to devour the crops meant for harvest in the villages, causing much fear, despair and disharmony amoung the villagers. This took place at or around the Chinese New Year season or the Spring Festival when it was time for the past year's efforts to bear fruit.

Unable to tolerate it any longer, the villagers gathered and decided to take on the beast and drive it back to where it belonged. They dressed up as a ferocious lion, manned by one for the head and the other, the rear. With the consistent banging, fire torches, war cries and prancing of the lion that matched the ferocity of the beast, the villagers managed to overpower it and return the deserving peace to the village. They broke into a celebration known to us today as the Chinese New Year celebrations.

This beast came to be known as the Year （年）and the act of valour is what we know now as the Lion Dance（舞狮）. This was of course, the myth carried down by the generations but the celebrations and tradition carries on today as 'crossing into the New Year' festival（濄新年）. Lion dances have evolved into a branch of Chinese martial arts that instil core strength, dedication, discipline and the observance of reviving new energies.

In another legend, the emperor Qian Long（乾隆）was said to have dreamt of a mystical animal that resembled the lion (at a time when lions did not exists in China) and ordered a manifestation of this creature as a symbol of celebrations for festivities. As he was touring Guandong province, the Southern China lions, which are more colourful and acrobatic in moves, were born.

These are the lions we know today that will make its way to homes and offices when someone moves in a new premise, bringing along the hope of a new beginning and prosperity. Together with the drums and gongs in perfect unison, the lions, usually in a pair, will breathe life into the corners of the homes and offices to symbolize a fresh new start. In the past, asian societies lit the firecrackers to add to the pulsating and boisterous atmosphere. Most prevalent during the fifteen days of the Chinese New Year season, lion dances are also featured in many celebrations and opening ceremonies of events.

The lion dance captures the imagination of all Chinese, local and overseas, and are enjoyed by all races and cultures. The significance of it all boils down to its original intention of 'chasing away the evils of the past year'.

Today, in the midst of the pandemic, lion dance performances are prohibited for good measure of public safety. The image of the lion is also symbolic of courage, strength, vigour, tenacity and the wisdom to make the new year a good one. Chinese families continue to paint and put up drawings or pictures of the lion dance on their front doors in the hope of putting behind the miseries of the year's past, so appropriate as it is today.

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