Ox: Symbol of strength and hard work

It’s the eve of New Year’s Day. May I again use an old, old line in greeting you ... Happy New Year!

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Every year as the New Year comes marching in, a lot of people wish me to have a Prosperous New Year. Pure wishful thinking this. As you can see, I’ve never been prosperous.

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I know of many people who are prosperous and will always be prosperous even if you don’t greet them a Prosperous New Year. Some of these people are my friends. Tomorrow I’ll simply greet them: “It’s New Year, Bai!” They’re already Happy and Prosperous.

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So the rat is out. The ox is in. That’s the marching order in the Chinese lunar calendar. In easing out the rat, the buffalo says: “No ox to grind.”

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A Chinese professor in Hong Kong says the coming in of the ox augurs well for a world suffering from financial crisis. The ox being a symbol of strength and hard work.

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You know in Pinas the ox is the carabao. In Cebu, when a man works hard to earn a decent living, he is described as “Nagkinabaw sa trabaho.”

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My kumpadre Teddy H. is reluctant to accept that Hong Kong professor’s claim that the year of the ox would bring us a lot of good, because the ox symbolizes strength and hard work. “I got second thought,” Teddy says. “The ox, like the carabao, likes to wallow in the mud and I fear our economy might do the same.”

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Before I forget, I received a beautiful t-shirt from a US-based friend. It carries a patriotic embossed message that reads: “America the powerful.” The label inside says: “Made in China.”

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 The Muslim rebels — correction: Moro rebels — under the MILF launched attacks on three towns in Sultan Kudarat last Christmas eve. Nine civilians were killed, many injured. And GMA keeps on talking still about peace with these people who don’t know what peace is all about.”

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E-mail from Honesto de Lara: “If she (GMA) could not make peace with the political opposition and the street parliamentarians, how could she make peace with heavily armed bastards who have gunpowder for brains?”

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BOBIT SAYS: “In a season of love and friendship we count our blessings and realize that the most priceless treasures in life are the irreplaceable people who help support and are one with us.”

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