Horoscope, horoscope on the wall

A STREAM of curious people gathered around this display of the Chinese zodiac at People's Park Complex on Wednesday morning, all angling to find out what they - regardless of their animal sign - could do to ramp up their luck in Year of the Goat that has just begun. Many shops in this mall in Chinatown had already closed for the long Chinese New Year weekend, but the promise of finding out what they could do - the lucky colours or numbers to use or wear, for example - for good fortune kept them coming.

The 2,000-year-old Chinese zodiac features 12 animals, and, with each "ruling" for a year, takes 12 years to cycle through. The goat is the eighth animal, preceded by (in this order) the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake and horse. After the Year of the Goat come the years presided by the monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

At the display yesterday, several tourists also edged up for a closer look. A few snapped pictures of the predictions with their cellphones, probably for reading later. What will this year hold for those of us living and working in Singapore? Some answers - from outside the Chinese zodiac - will come on Monday, when the nation's Budget will be unveiled.