RED panties may tide Filipinos over this Year of the Water Dragon. Seriously.
As the economic drag dragged on—World Bank estimates said it would continue to do so for some time yet—Filipinos flocked to shops like Charmee’s to invest in charms and amulets.
“Wala namang mawawala kung gagawin mo,” said a female patron holding a dozen fist-size red lanterns.
She didn’t say, however, if she bought or will buy the red underwear that proprietor Maxima “Maxie” Tiu said is her bestseller.
“Mabagal ang pasok ng pera ngayon but steady,” Tiu, fondly called Mommy Charmee, told the BusinessMirrorthree days before the Chinese Lunar New Year.
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“It’s as if people are holding on to their money for as long as they can and then buying at the last minute,” she says as customers brushed each other’s shoulders along the one-meter aisle inward to where Tiu sat.
“Naku, they would just ask me for a lower price; they would haggle. I just ask them to negotiate with my girls.”
Tiu said this year’s sales are different from last year’s when Filipinos, Chinese and Filipino-Chinese community were ushered into the Year of the Golden Rabbit.
“This year, it’s January—too close to the December spending.”
But Tiu said she’s still thankful that “I’m still alive.”
“We still have a home, food on the table, and a good business. I tell my children to be thankful na buhay pa tayoand not yet on the streets.”
That people are flocking to her store and competitors across Ongpin Street in Binondo, Manila, reflects the Filipinos’ near-desperation to cling to someone or something to tide them over what Tiu said may be a disaster-filled year.
“Water Dragon kasi, so fire and flood; disasters ’yan.”
Blair Robertson, who claims to be a psychic and allegedly predicted March’s Japan earthquake and tsunami, predicts “a ferryboat capsizing in the Philippines with more than 60 lost in February.”
However, an executive at the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said early January that if ever that occurs, “weather couldn’t be blamed.”
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Usually, typhoons never arrive in February and when one does, it wouldn’t be as strong as during the typhoon season, the official said. The cause of such disaster could be man-made or sheer bad luck, he said.
Hence, Tiu recommends the red panties, especially for those born under the Chinese zodiac signs incompatible with the Water Dragon, like those born in 1969 or under the Earth Monkey sign.
Likewise, she said of those who like to wear black, to “negate the negative energy.”
For those less adventurous in fashion, there are other charms, bracelets, trinkets, amulets and ceramic icons on silver keychains.
The streets of Binondo also teem with vendors selling decorative items made of fruits and vegetables that they say are also as powerful in driving away evil spirits or bad luck.
There’s the kiat-kiat, a fist-sized pineapple encircled by golf ball-size green orange (Citrus aurantium Linn. or Zhi shi) sewn together with a metal wire and sold for less than a dollar or P35 each.
A red envelope (hóngbāo in Mandarin, ang pao in Min Nan, lai see in Cantonese) dangles from the pineapple while a red ribbon is tied to the topmost orange.
There’s also the earth-colored taro shaped like a turtle that sells for P35 each and palm-sized ginger that goes for P40 to P60 each. The vendors said while the kiat-kiat couldn’t be eaten, the taro and ginger could be.
Tiu said that the color red is important for the Chinese since it signifies luck and power over evil. She said she plans to wear red the whole week of the Chinese New Year.
But Tiu said the best option to lure luck is to give away the food served during the eve of the new year, like the rice on a bowl topped with 13 coins.
“Usually, on the third day, we give it away to the poor Chinese—and there are many of them here—or to the Buddhist monks. They would cook it and share it with their family members.”
Tiu added that being generous, sharing the wealth, “especially those needing it today, and they are many, even not only to fellow Chinese or Filipino-Chinese,” is the best charm one should carry every day.
“There’s no other amulet as greater than being compassionate,” Tiu said.
Maybe greater than red panties, seriously.
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