Bad Luck Events; Then and Now

Years and years ago, my late mother used to tell us kids that we must not be naughty on the first day of the New Year because to be spanked on the first day of the year would be bad for the rest of the year. She also said it was bad luck to sweep the floor on the first day of the year because it was likely to sweep away the good luck for the rest of the year. So I noticed mother used to sweep the house on the evening of the last day of the year. Those were days before we discovered ‘feng sui’ and the concepts of the house facing hills or having rivers behind the house, and such like.

Today, I don’t hear parents telling kids not to clean the house on the first day of the year anymore. In fact, they say, ‘Tidy up the place now! We have relatives coming.’ Today, many folks also don’t care too much whether their flats or apartments face the hill, or face another block of apartments, or even face the cemetery. I have come across many blocks of condominiums that face cemeteries and they are still fully taken up (I mean the condo, not the cemeteries). Such units usually cost less than pool-view or sea-view ones. I don’t know about other folks, but for me the mantra is ‘If the price is right, the location is right.’

Having said that, however, hospitals in this country today still do not have a ‘4th Floor’, preferring to name it ‘Floor 3A’ instead. In fact, the block of apartments where I stay also does not have a ‘Floor 4’, but ‘Floor 3A’ too. Have you heard of a local hospital that faces a cemetery? I wonder if hospital wards that face a cemetery would cost considerably cheaper for patients to stay than pool-view or sea-view wards.

In Primary school, we read of how one would encounter bad luck if, while walking, a black cat dashed across one’s path. Today, I have no qualms whatsoever about any black cats dashing across my path, but I would consider it real bad luck if, while driving, a motorcyclist dashed across my car and crashed right into me.

We also read of bad fortune befalling folks walking under a ladder (like a pot of paint may just land on one’s head). Today, really bad fortune would be having an inconsiderate flat dweller throw a pot of plants or an unwanted sofa onto the roof of your car.

Tom and Jerry cartoons often show ‘bad luck’ people stepping on and falling over banana skin thrown on the road, but today I would consider it really bad luck if I stepped on dog’s poo and it would not matter if the dog were black or otherwise. Perhaps it is time local municipalities set aside little areas in parks and gardens for owners to take their dogs to poo. (If you’re laughing, you haven’t been to many of the parks and gardens in England and Europe.)

Some of today’s ‘modern time’ bad luck events would include:

- driving your car over a huge pot-hole at night and getting your wheel damaged (worse if you were a motorcyclist),
- having your handbag (or brief case, in the case of men) snatched while crossing the road or even while just having a meal with friends outdoor,
- getting involved with a road-bully over a very minor incident and then have him smash your headlights with his crash helmet,
- getting hit by a crazy Schumacher wannabe driver who loses control of his vehicle, through absolutely no fault of your own,
- getting caught in a massive 10 kilometer traffic jam because there was either an accident ahead, a landslide, or just a police block.

All things considered, perhaps I should be glad I didn’t sweep my room on New Year’s day after all.

(The original version of this article, by the same author, was first published under 'Times and Chimes' of the Borneo Post, dated 6 Jan)