By Sherilyn Goh
With the ringgit tumbling alongside oil prices, Feng Shui master David Koh thinks that the economy is far from recovery. As changes loom over the political scene, he expects 2016 to bring on more challenges for businesses and investors alike.
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Feng Shui experts are anticipating a turbulent year of the Fire Monkey in 2016, with lots of economic and political challenges awaiting in the new lunar year.
Feng Shui is the study of life and the environment based on the Chinese philosophies of Yin and Yang (negative and positive forces) the Five Elements (metal, earth, water, wood and fire) and the Trigrams (Gua).
Each element has its potentially productive or destructive impact on the other four elements. The interaction of these elements could cause auspicious or inauspicious effects in one’s life.
Economic outlook, according to Kenny Hoo of Good Feng Shui Geomantic Research, is derived from the Spring Cow Revelation in the Chinese Almanac, which in ancient dynasties, was used by rulers to predict the outcome of crops.
David Koh, founder and honorary life president of the Malaysian Institute of Geomancy Sciences (Mings) said that the tail-end of the Global Financial Crisis will always be the most volatile.
With 2016 being the seventh year since the onslaught of the crisis, growth prospects is to remain subdued, according to Koh.
Economic cycles, meanwhile, have an average length of about 69 months, a little less than six years. While it is not all doom and gloom with oil prices slumping to record lows, Koh said 2016 is likely to prove itself to be a challenging year.
Oil prices, however, he said, are unlikely to recover this year. Hence countries including Malaysia and Indonesia should look into other means of boosting their economies. What Koh said is different from predictions of some economists, who have said that a rebound is imminent by the second half of 2016 as demand catches up with supply.
With oil prices going below the US$30 per barrel mark recently, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is set to revise the Budget in order to meet its fiscal deficit target.
David Koh
Koh remained pessimistic on the prospects of a recovery in 2016, saying that it will be difficult for oil prices to breach the US$50 per barrel mark. He equated the current situation to a traffic jam, saying “you know what’s happening but you can’t get out of it”.
At writing time, oil prices fell as low as US$27.67 per barrel, its lowest since 2003.
As for the ringgit, Koh said with borrowings reduced and good gross domestic product (GDP) growth, there is no reason that the ringgit cannot cannot regain its strength.
“Certainly something is not right,” Koh said. He expects the ringgit to hover above the RM4 mark, with the best being RM4.10 to US$1.
Amid the economic headwinds facing the country, Koh advised one to watch their spending and earnings, as retrenchment across companies is expected to persist into 2016. “Prudent spending will bring into better financial health come 2017,” he said.
On the other hand, Hoo forecasts that 2016 will be a year of resolution, he said: “The previous year saw many uncertainties where people are safeguarding their fortunes. But come 2016 people will come to making decisions, be it buying a property or making life-changing decisions.
“Tensions will also be resolved, albeit with violent means,” he added.
Unravelling political turmoil
On the political front, Koh said his predictions made based on the hexagram showed that the first quarter will see turbulent events that is likely to unsettle the people.
Kenny Hoo
“The first two quarters are likely to see a lot of clashes, which may result in uncertainty. However, from September onwards, everything will turn out to be better,” conceded Hoo, who similarly based his readings on the hexagram.
A hexagram, or bazi, is a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines, where each line is either Yang (an unbroken, or solid line) or Yin (a broken, open line with a gap in the centre). Hexagrams are formed by combining the original eight trigrams in different combinations, while Feng Shui masters draw their deduction based on the readings.
The 2016 hexagram for Malaysia is “Zhen”, which translates into shock or thunder.
“The hexagram implies that 2016 will be one where we deal with the aftermath of events that occurred in 2015. There will be some major, dramatic and possibly drastic events that create fear like the sound of a thunder,” he explained.
He added that stabilisation will ensue by the third quarter, with situation likely to normalise and improve by the fourth quarter.
“Based on the hexagram, it is very likely the flashpoint will come from the northeast sector, namely Sabah. As discontent and security fears grow in the “Land Below the Wind”, the federal government will likely make more concessions to keep the state happy.
“It will also have to address the problem of incursions by pirates and kidnappers from Southern Philippines,” he explained.
“The southwest sector that is likely to also benefit in 2016 refers to the state of Johor, which is seeing rapid development in the Iskandar project,” he added.
With the flying star chart favouring the eastern regions, Hoo agreed, saying: “We believe that the government will pump in a lot more funds for the redevelopment of Sabah and Sarawak.”
Incidentally, Sarawak is due to call for state elections in 2016, whereas both East Malaysia states were collectively allocated RM29.2 billion in Budget 2016.
Koh said it is only by the second half of 2017 – towards the end of his nine-year cycle prediction – that the economy will reboot on certain catalysts, with oil prices rebounding to between US$60 per barrel and US$80 per barrel.
Towards the end of the second half of 2017, Koh said that we are likely to see positive changes uplifting the economy. 2018 also happens to be the year in which Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is due to call for elections.
Prodded further by KINIBIZ if the 14th general election is also likely to bring about winds of change in the political scene, Koh merely smiled while declining to comment further, maintaining that he will only be able to predict on a yearly basis as circumstances are fluid and constantly subject to change.
“There is only one constant – and that is change,” he quipped.
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