Previously, we shared the story behind why there are 12 distinct animals used to represent each year when observing the Chinese New Year.
As a refresher, the Chinese Zodiac, also known as the shēngxiào, is a traditional classification scheme which assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. In order, the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Accordingly, it is also believed that one’s personality and destiny correspond to their respective Chinese Zodiac, with each animal having distinct characteristics.
A baby born in the Year of the Dragon is considered destined for success
That brings us to the auspicious Chinese New Year recently which brings us into the Year of the Dragon.
The only mythical creature among the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of the Dragon is considered the most auspicious of all the 12 years, with many believing that children born in this year are more likely to be successful and possess great fortune.
For illustration purposes
Therefore, it is not out of the ordinary for those who believe in the Chinese Zodiac to want their children to be born in the Year of the Dragon or even to take it a step further and plan pregnancies so that the baby will be born on the Year of the Dragon.
Malaysian-Chinese birthrate recorded a spike in the past 2 Years of the Dragon
Well, that is apparently what happened in Malaysia over the past two Chinese Zodiac cycles as the birthrate of Malaysian-Chinese in the country actually saw a significant spike in the past 2 Years of the Dragon.
As shared by Malaysian data scientist Thevesh on his X account, a neat graph he made based on the birthrate of Malaysians of Chinese descent in our country from 1998 to 2022 showed that while the overall birthrate saw a decrease, two obvious spikes can be seen on the year 2000 and 2012; both of which were the Year of the Dragon.
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Specifically, in 2000, 114,000 Malaysian-Chinese babies were born while in 2012, 85,000 babies were born.
In the caption, Thevesh wrote,
“A few people DMed me about my dragon-year births comment asking if I was joking. Absolutely not, and here’s the proof!
“If you look at the Chinese birth rates in Malaysia over the past 2 Zodiac cycles, the Year of the Dragon absolutely ROARS. Can’t wait to see what happens in 2024.”
Well, it’d be interesting to see whether this trend would also go on this year as we enter the Year of the Dragon again. Will we be seeing an influx of “baby dragons” this year? ?
For illustration purposes
In the meantime, all of us at WORLD OF BUZZ would like to take the opportunity to wish all Malaysians a Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai! (And for all of you Malaysian-Chinese couples out there, you know what to do)
