Our Desk | Predictions for the Ox-picious new year

Renato Marques

This new year will be running under the auspiciousness of the Metal Ox. This means that it will be certainly a lucky one (as they all are).
In terms of relationships, this will be yet another perfect year to test both in-person and long-distance relationships. This is because it is most likely that borders will remain closed for the whole year (or a very large part of it).
Consequently, visiting friends and family members located anywhere other than on the mainland is not recommended as this can bring enormous complications to your life. If you still choose to visit them, you will be granted long periods of introspection while in isolation, which can be positive and give you the time you need to know yourself better.
This context will continue to work as a test on all your relationships, creating a kind of Darwinian “natural selection” in which the strong ones will survive and grow stronger, while the weak and unsuitable will perish.
Be aware that this year will also be favorable to conflicts and arguments with those closest to you.
Try to clear your house of unnecessary items like that stationary bicycle that you bought years ago and has been serving since then as a clothes hanger. Find as much space in the house as possible, as the agglomeration of people in a small space fosters conflict.
To avoid most of these conflicts, upgrade your home internet plan to at least 250Mbps so the streaming of Korean dramas does not hamper the watching of YouTube favorites, or online gaming.
Like the hardworking animal that it represents, the Year of the Ox will be definitely very prone to hard work for people employed in most activity sectors in Macau. Exceptions are to be made only if you work in gaming or public sectors. In the first case, it will be a year of long waits and prayers. In the second case, it will be just another year, no ups, no downs, as though you are living on a different planet.
Contrasting with those working in the private sector who will feel that this year will be another dry spell for career progress and salary increase, those in the public sector might be surprised with unexpected considerable savings.
Unfortunately, I also predict that many people in Macau will lose their jobs in the Year of the Ox as a result of the non-alignment of the policies of their companies/employers with the real market, causing great damage to many.
Still, and on the positive side, if you are the hardworking kind of person, this will be just another year for you. Obstacles will certainly arise but you should be well prepared to surpass them with a smile on your face. If, on the contrary, you are more of the whining kind, please be aware that this might be another terrible year for you. Find shelter as soon as possible in all Social Media platforms, gather as many likes and followers as possible, and supply yourself with as many archived photos as you can find of trips you took in the past few years, which you probably did not enjoy because you were too busy making the perfect scenario out of it. Post all those in your newsfeed interspersed with cries, calls for the reopening of the borders, rhetorical questions about when you will able to travel again, or blaming someone else for your failures.
Happy New Year! or, as we say, “Hope you get rich!”