Year Of The Rat

It's also the cold and flu season. I sense this because there is a cacophony of coughing and rowdy throat clearing throughout the MRT cabin. I have also managed to catch the head cold virus that is going around and for the past couple of days it has laid me low.

At least it happened now and not next week when we will be getting ready to board a long haul aircraft to the States.

Preparations are in full swing for the forthcoming New Year. This Chinese New Year is the Year of the Rat, my sign. Equally importantly & according to Chinese mythology it is more precisely known as the year of the Earth Rat.

Talking of Rattus Rattus, there is a nest of them just outside the entry of my place of work. Sometimes in the early morning I will spot one disappearing under the large concrete slab that protects their nest.

Also at this time of year the price of Bak Kwa rises dramatically. I note that this traditional barbequed meat has joined the age of the internet and one can actually purchase it online. In older times it was only available around New Year but now one can buy it at any time. The current online price is $43 but this will no doubt rise further, which is more than can be said for world share markets at the moment.

Buying shares is a passion for many Singaporeans and I fear many of them got burnt in the spate of panic selling that has traversed the globe in recent days. It is hard to know if the worst is over as today there has been a 4% rise in value across the Singaporean board.