gmtPLUS09 | live from Seoul

This from an article in the Chosun Ilbo -

Sales of condoms in convenience stores and super markets have plummeted since the new year began. Industry insiders attribute the plunge to myths about the year of golden pigs, which comes every 600 years. Fortune tellers say that babies born in the year of golden pigs will lead wealthy and prosperous lives, and, fortune tellers say, the year 2007 is one of those years. The drop in condom sales could be a sign that couples are trying to conceive a child to be born in this lucky year. If that’s the case, then condom sales should stay sluggish until April, since babies conceived until as late as March will arrive before Feb 7 next year, when the year of golden pigs ends.

By the time these Golden Pig children reach the age to attend school, I’d really like to ask their parents if they still consider their chances of success to be golden? Academic competition is already considered a deathmatch for entry into the nation’s top universities. Its guaranteed not everyone will succeed yet the level of competition will be nudged to a new, higher level.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 26th, 2007 at 2:00 am and is filed under Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.