8.88

Went out for my 8km this morning, to complete my weekly 30km target when I saw Tey running on the opposite side of the road. Tey is a sports journalist with Sin Chew Jit Poh and over the last 10 years that I had known him, we have used each other well. I would give him the inside scoop for sports and he will use the press to promote an idea, event or an athlete that I am supporting! It helps that both of us love running and live within the same neighbourhood. So, as long as we keep on running, he won't be able to run away from me! 😃 (I digress)

Me: Happy New Year, Tey!

Tey: Thank you. 

Me: How far are you running today? 

Tey: 8.88  

I smiled at his response, remembering that amongst the Chinese, the number 8 is viewed as an auspicious number. Even the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics  was held on 8/8/08 at 8:08:08pm! 

Not wanting to lose out on my fair share of fortune and good luck, I decided to add on .88km to my original plan.  

Upon returning home, I googled to find out the significance of number 8. The facts below were unearthed within less than a minute on Google:

A) Malaysia's iconic building, Petronas Tower for example, has 88 floors. Taipei 101 although has 101 floors, features a series of 8 segments of 8 floors each and the list goes on!

B) The British Airways' route from London to Chengdu is BA88 and Cathay Pacific's from Vancouver to Hong Kong is CX888! Apparently these were not mere coincidence. Airlines like Etihad, Air Astana and KLM were found to share the same practice for their flights to China.  

C) Instead of using "9" for price point, it is common to see "8" being used in Asia to achieve the same psychological effect. 

 I was surprised to discover how significant number "8" is and how deeply entrenched it is even in our daily lives! So, I am glad I bumped into Tey this morning who inspired me to start the Ox year right. 

Gong Xi Fa Cai!