A Number Game

When Lim Guan Eng, ( 林冠英) (inset),  the 4th Chief Minister of the State of Penang in Malaysia turned fifty one, he reportedly received a cake shaped in the number 4. Numbers, to some Chinese could be auspicious (吉利) or inauspicious (不利). Most of the time, it depends on the Chinese word that the number sounds similar to. It is auspicious if the numbers sound like the words which have positive meanings and inauspicous if they sound like the words with negative meanings. The numbers 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are therefore auspicious because they rhyme with words that mean birth, I, fluid, prosper and longlasting. 4 and 7 are inauspicious because 4 sounds like death while 7 is more associated with the Ghost Month which is deemed unlucky. A kind and thoughtful person would therefore, not present you anything with the number 4.