This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 7, 2019

LONG regarded as the embodiment of good fortune and abundance, of fat purses and wallets, the Year of the Boar has trotted up for a visit once again. With the dawn of this new lunar year, much is expected from this 12th animal of the Chinese zodiac cycle. This is especially so after a disappointing Year of the Dog, which kicked off with spirited barks and excitement but, alas, ended its run on pitiful whimpers.

To begin with, it is an Earth Boar this year, which has been likened by some Chinese metaphysics practitioners to a bed of lush garden soil that is filled with abundant resources. Symbolised by the Chinese characters Ji Hai — with Ji representing the yin earth element seated on top of the Hai, which denotes the boar and is a water element — this is an Earth Boar that is expected to largely be peaceful and harmonious (probably quite a muddy one too) despite some undercurrents of uncertainties.

Chinese philosopher Confucius once said: “Study the past if you would divine the future.” Well, just a brief look at the past three Boar years (1983, 1995, 2007) shows that they were generally good, stable ones for Malaysia.

In 1983, for example, the FBM KLCI made its debut after being separated from the Singapore Exchange and recorded an impressive 31% gain. It outgrew Japan’s Nikkei 225 (which posted a 25.44% growth) and the US Dow Jones (10.5%). In 1995, the KLCI registered a commendable 17% growth. In 2007, the benchmark index climbed 10.77% despite the onset of some turbulence in the financial markets in the second half of that year. In fact, Malaysia’s 2007 gross domestic product growth came in at a strong 6.3%.

But, interestingly, the Boar seems to also precede times of great volatility, which was evident in the economic depression that struck Malaysia in 1985/1986, the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998, and the global financial crisis of 2008.

With no crystal balls or luopan used, Wong Ee Lin and Tan Xue Ying have put together some data culled from the past 24 years and lined them up according to their corresponding zodiac animal years to check out what the Boars have been like. Perhaps the data can give an idea of what this Earth Boar will be about.