Tough luck for 'escape goat' mascot

In a feng shui twist, a Leisure and Cultural Services Department mascot sitting on a boat gracing a Connaught Road divider is being blamed for the market slump since last year.

Two mascots - Enggie Pup and Artti Kitty - representing two major works of leisure and culture, were installed to decorate the planter of the road divider on Connaught Road Central, near the stock exchange.

But the decoration has sparked debates in the financial sector as Enggie Pup sits on a boat, while Artti Kitty sits on the shore, according to Sing Tao Daily, sister paper of The Standard.

"Sitting on a boat" is a Cantonese slang term that refers to a person who purchases a stock right before the price drops.

Some say the installation of the decorations prompted the economy to enter a slump, with the market plunging in August last year.

Since then, the Hang Seng Index has dropped 3,221 points, or 16 percent, to close at 16,790 points yesterday.

In response, the department denied that the decoration has any correlation with the stock market.

After all, the department said, the decoration "was installed in February, when the HSI was still in its upward trend."

Metaphysician James Lee Shing-chak said it was not that bad from a feng shui perspective.

"This is because Enggie Pup sitting on a boat looks more like a fox, which has always been regarded as a source of wealth," Lee said.

But he added Enggie Pup being a dog is less desirable as it coincides with the Year of Dragon.

"There are taboos in all sectors - and crabs and boats are taboos of the financial sector - which may affect the emotions of people within the sector," he said.

"I suggest treating it positively, like being in the same boat. Maybe it would be better?"

Lee suggested the department add fish catches or gold ingots on the boat to try to "make everyone happy."

Feng shui is quite important in the financial sector.Hang Seng Bank invited a veteran feng shui master to hold a ceremony after the two bronze lions in front of its headquarters in Central were set alight and vandalized in red paint in 2020.

The design of the Bank of China Tower also drew a heated debate in the late 1980s to early '90s, as superstitious people found the tower's design resembled a sharp knife, which would affect the feng shui of Government House and Hang Seng's headquarters.