Monday, 14 April 2008

Cambodian royal astrologer says Year of Rat will bring angry wives

Sun, 13 Apr 2008
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia celebrated its New Year's Eve on Sunday, with the royal palace astrologer predicting a troubled Year of Rat ahead, including poor crops, inflation and angry wives.
Like neighbouring Thailand and Laos, Cambodia follows the Chinese horoscope, but celebrates its lunar New Year in April each year.

"This year's agriculture is not good, with half of the vegetable and fruit crop destroyed," royal palace astrologer Im Borin said by telephone.

"There will be many people killing each other, the good and kind will be looked down on by society ... the price of salt will increase, and wives of high ranking officials will be stewing in anger," he predicted.

Cambodia brought in a controversial monogamy law in 2006 which made adultery a criminal offence punishable by 18 months in jail. The law is believed by many have been devised under pressure from powerful and jealous wives of high-ranking officials.

However it has done little to curb the common practice of men who can afford to taking mistresses, or "second wives" and there has only been one successful prosecution so far.

One high ranking male official was even reported as endorsing adultery as a good way of relieving tension and spicing up a marriage in an interview with the English-language Cambodia Daily newspaper soon after the legislation was passed.

Cambodian wives have become internationally notorious for taking out the competition by hiring gunmen or dousing them with acid, making Year of Rat a year of living dangerously for many young Cambodian women if the astrologer is correct.

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