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GIVE WINGS TO TIGERS 
Long live the Tiger (or maybe not – see story below), the king of the jungle; all tigers have a mark on their forehead, which resembles the Chinese symbol 'wang' meaning ‘king’, and the Tiger lives up to this symbol – brave, regal and someone you’d like to have in your house – indeed a saying goes along the lines of having a tiger in the house protects against burglary, fire and ghosts. The tiger’s stripes are a balance of the Chinese forces of Yin and Yang – a positive force. For thousands of years Chinese have revered the Tiger as a protective god of the mountain and a totem against evil. Speaking of regal, we enjoyed a visit from Prince William in January – his grandmother is the Tiger in her family. In fact Charles Qin and I were guests at Government House for the Australia Day Reception – but before you ask, the Prince didn’t need our interpreting assistance – he’s a great communicator (in English anyway!). Tigers go with royalty and command respect. Just for the record, and don’t take this the wrong way, Prince William is a Dog (they get on very well with tigers though). THE EYE OF THE TIGER  Tiger years can be explosive – filled with drama and change – we might all need some of that legendary courage. Far reaching changes often eventuate in Tiger Years, including technological advances (Google was born in a Tiger Year), and at a pace, so hold on to those stripes! Our Tiger lands on 14 February 2010 and will give way to the Rabbit on 3 February 2011. Let’s get the bad news out of the way: soothsayers predict a destructive cycle in 2010 and foresee international conflicts and even possible nuclear accidents. Chernobyl was in a Tiger Year and the First World War started in one too. Other natural disasters involving fire and volcanic eruptions are also possible in 2010 as is continuing environmental destruction and drought – this is a strong theme in our Tiger Year – global warming, pollution and more unusual climate occurrences. Probably no surprises there. RIDING THE TIGER  On the up side, the Tiger loves to travel – the more unusual the location the better he likes it and this should be a boon for the airline and tourism industry. Extreme sports and exotic locations – bring it on! But there is more … a tiger in the tank … or in the stock market, so a good chance of some significant economic recovery. Industries that may do well under the Tiger include: finance, entertainment, energy, property, hospitality, mining, insurance and water. Also OK should be metal and water related businesses: banking, machinery, engineering, technology, automotive, shipping, drinks, transport, and communications. PAPER TIGERS  Wood or trees will not fare so well in 2010 following on their bad run in 2009, say the gurus: postal, forestry, furniture, fashion, textiles, paper, media, newspapers and environmental protection. Tigers are vital and energetic and in this year of the Tiger we have the Winter Olympics, the World Cup of Soccer and the World Expo in Shanghai and later in the year the Ashes – four grand events which promise much. Like the Tiger, we need to be active and ready to seize an opportunity. THE TIGER PERSONALITY BURNS BRIGHT (OR DOES IT?)  As mentioned, you can’t go past his incredible bravery, evidenced in his willingness to engage in battle, his tactical prowess, his competitiveness and confidence; he’s a bit of a rebel and will speak up for the underdog and stand up for his beliefs too. Tigers are physically powerful, gracious, independent, enthusiastic and determined – the bold and the beautiful. On the downside the tempestuous tiger can be selfish and territorial. Living on the edge can lead to regrets – Tiger Woods? They can be intolerant, argumentative and impulsive and are always searching for excitement. Perseverance, like in our ox, is a quality lacking in the Tiger. He can be a bit of a spendthrift – he’d do better to reduce debts and put some funds away for a rainy day. Getting to the top of the mountain and earning his stripes as the king of the jungle is the focus and the Tiger comes to the fore when in a position of power. Tigers always land on their feet ready to take on a challenge. They command respect and will never be inferior. Tigers, rather than burning bright forever, can actually burn out – they need to pace themselves more. CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON  (people with special talents – never underestimate anybody) Tigers like a challenge but can bore easily hence they change jobs more than other animals. Most Tigers are natural leaders who perform when able to exude power and influence. Good careers for our Tiger include: Actors, Comedians, Chauffeurs, Musicians, Racing Car Drivers, Pilots and Flight Attendants and Travel Agents, Artists, Writers, Advertising Agents, Office Managers, Politicians, Entrepreneurs, Military Officers, Poets, Designers, Theatre Directors, Stockbrokers, Athletes, Trade Union Leaders, Company Directors, Stunt Persons, Explorers, Teachers. TIGER COMPATIBILITIES Tigers are exceptionally warm and incredibly generous. Friends are always welcome in a Tiger’s home and few friends could be as caring and affectionate or as genuinely interested as the Tiger and, what’s more, they have a great sense of humour too. Horse Horse Tiger Tiger  – the Tiger’s Best Friends are Horses (and Dogs); he’s good with Pigs, Rabbits and Goats too.Mortal Enemy: Monkeys. FAMOUS TIGERS Tiger Woods is not a Tiger by the way (he’s a rabbit!).The real tigers are: Mohammed, Marco Polo, Beethoven, Mary Queen of Scots, Louis XIV, Karl Marx, Emily Bronte, Oscar Wilde, Beatrix Potter, H.G. Wells, Queen Elizabeth II, Agatha Christie, Charles De Gaulle, John Steinbeck, Sir Alec Guinness, Rudolf Nureyev, Kenny Rogers, William Hurt, Stevie Wonder, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, Bill Murray, Demi Moore, Jodie Foster, Hilary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sir David Attenborough, Roberta Flack, Frederick Forsyth, Julie Walters, Karen Carpenter, Jon Bon Jovi, Michelle Yeoh, Robbie Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Lionel Ritchie, Sun Yat-Sen, Ho Chi Minh. Sporting stars past and present: Rod Laver, Rafael Nadal and Dinara Safina, Brad Hodge and Ricky Ponting. In the political landscape: Federal MPs Russell Broadbent, Pat Farmer, Belinda Neal, Brendan O’Connor and Senators Jacinta Collins and Stephen Conroy are Tigers, Jim Cairns was a Tiger too. GET A TIGER BY THE TAIL  The Tiger’s Last Stand? Tigers were placed at the top of the 10 most critically endangered animals in 2010. Three of the main species the Bali tiger, Caspian tiger and Javan tiger are now extinct. And there has been no confirmed sighting of the South China tiger for 25 years (or has there? see our story below). A Chinese Year of the Tiger may actually hasten the process as hunters go after the much prized catch used in Chinese medicine and aphrodisiacs; even the tiger’s whiskers are valued as lucky charms. The number of tigers in the Greater Mekong — an area that includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam — has plummeted from an estimated 1,200 during the last Year of the Tiger in 1998 to about 350 today. Indochinese tigers historically were found in abundance across the Greater Mekong region. Today, there are no more than 30 individual tigers per country in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The remaining populations are predominantly found in the mountain border between Thailand and Myanmar. There is still time to save the Greater Mekong’s tigers. The region contains the largest combined tiger habitat in the world. Forest landscapes covering 540,000 square kms (about the size of France), are priority areas for current tiger-conservation efforts. ‘Just as with many of the other challenges of sustainability—such as climate change, pandemic disease, or poverty—the crisis facing tigers overwhelms local capabilities and transcends national boundaries,’ according to World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Nick Cox, coordinator of the WWF Greater Mekong Tiger Programme said: ‘This region has huge potential to increase tiger numbers, but only if there are bold and coordinated efforts across the region and of an unprecedented scale that can protect existing tigers, tiger prey and their habitat’. Source: Imelda V. Abano Business Mirror 26/1/10 Are you a Tiger? Go to our website to find out: Are You a Tiger? The Story of Zhenglong and the Great Tiger Hoax  (zhenglong pai hu) With sightings of a panther in Victoria’s Otway Ranges recently, this true story from which a new Chinese saying emerged resonates. The new idiom means a lack of credibility; committing fraud for profit and refusing to acknowledge it after exposure – literally ‘zhenglong photographs a tiger’. It could have been a paper tiger after all! Zhou Zhenglong was sentenced to two and a half years jail (suspended) in 2008. A year earlier, he had been rewarded 20,000 yuan by a local forestry department in Shaanxi Province as a prize for finding and photographing a tiger in the jungle – the first in over 20 years. The County even erected a billboard promoting the area as a special tiger conservation zone and waited for tourists to pour in. He was exposed as a fraud, the 20,000 yuan was returned and suspected accomplices disappeared – how could a simple farmer produce such images the experts pondered? … Find out more and see one of the images at: Zhenglong Tiger Photograph It all started in 2007 when digital photos taken by a 52-year-old farmer of a South China tiger (thought to be extinct) crouching in the woods were released. Farmer Zhou became a hero and his tiger a treasure. The photos were confirmed by experts but have been hotly debated since around the world – its hair was too shiny, eyes were not frightening enough, fur was the wrong colour, the leaves were wrong, it struck the same pose in all photos, didn’t leave footprints, and, what’s more, who would be brave enough to take a photo of a live tiger up so close! It appeared to be a tiger on a poster or a calendar; indeed the man’s son claimed to have been asked to find some tiger posters and a publishing company has since declared it was one of their images. How did a farmer with no computer skills pull off such a great hoax? There’s a lot of money in tiger protection and tourism! Since confessing and being sentenced it has been announced that he will appeal the sentence and he now insists that the photos were real after all! [back to top] |
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