From an AP story on Monday, Jan. 19:
...
It was a monkey year when the onetime star of the movie Bedtime for Bonzo, Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States in 1980.
In 1992, the last Year of the Monkey, Queen Elizabeth II suffered her "annus horribilis'' when a fire gutted 100 rooms at Windsor Castle and Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage publicly broke down.
Korean Pastor Lee Jang Rim also - mistakenly - promised the world would end and the Michaelangelo computer virus threatened to wipe out millions of hard drives, but passed over, affecting only a few thousand computers worldwide.
Apart from bluffs, tricks, and mayhem, the coming year may be a boon for babies among the many Chinese who use the 12-symbol Chinese horoscope as a guide when planning pregnancies.
Expectant mothers in Shanghai are already trying to delay their babies' births so that they will be born under the sign of the monkey, the English-language China Daily reported last week.
They "superstitiously believe that people born in the current Year of the Sheep are deemed unfortunate,'' the paper said.
This doesn't surprise Pearl Chen, a Singapore-based writer from China who was born in a monkey year.
"In the Chinese zodiac, it's one of the favorite signs,'' Chen says.
"People believe babies born in Year of the Monkey will be very smart and have a very lively character.''
Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming, former New York city mayor Rudy Giuliani, American actresses Lucy Liu and Jennifer Aniston and New Zealand opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa are among those born in the year of the monkey.
But according to Chinese lore, a person is more vulnerable to bad luck every 12 years when their astrological sign comes around.
Chen plans to buy a bracelet or earrings in jade or gold when she returns to China for the new year holiday to wear throughout the year to protect herself.
The monkey business has begun early for Singapore's Chinese majority - who are snapping up men's red briefs and pink panties emblazoned with monkey faces to bring them luck in the new year, says Jeannette Cheong, owner of the underwear store ButtOn Trendy Undies.
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Please! No monkey-faced undies for me!
Think I might pop down to DC Chinatown on Sunday to partake in the New Year festivities. Hope it's not too cold.
Posted by raacluse at January 21, 2004 08:28 PM