Receiving a clock as a gift at company christmas p

[myfs_98904]

I recently attended our company christmas party. We played a gift giving game, where everybody brought a wraped gift. Everyone was then allowed to randomly pick a piece of paper out of a hat. This paper had a number on it.I picked 18. They started with the number one who got to choose the first gift on the table. When my turn came up I could have taken another persons gift who had oicked before me or choose a wraped gift off of the table. I choose to pick a wraped gift off of the table. It turned out to be a 10 inch in diameter clock with a 2 inch border. I am now reading Lillian Too's book titled: Lillian Too's easy-to use Feng Shui,168 ways to success. In her book Tip number 98 titled the feng shui of watches and clocks. She states that it is very inauspicious to receive a watch or clock as a gift.
She speaks very strongly about this. Can anyone give me some advice on this matter. How can I turn this into an auspicious event?
Thank you.

[Cecil Lee]

Dear Michael,
In Mandarin; gift of a clock (phonetic - sounds like) "sending one to a funeral ".
Thus, many Chinese never accept a clock as a gift.
As since you are not a Chinese, the main excuse is that you do not use the Chinese mandarin language and thus, is ignorant of this.
I believe, this has to do more with "culture" and "culture shock" than Feng Shui. Since, one culture's practise does not necessarily mean anything bad to another culture.
Thus in the west; a clock or "sounds like" does not resemble anything inauspicious - I personally feel that it should not be a major issue for another culture. Be it a western culture.
For example, in some Chinese dialect group, it is a custom to make "sounds" while drinking soup e.g. from a spoon. But, in other cultures, this can be considered pretty rude.
For the Chinese, if a guest (for a dinner) eats to the "last drop" or empties the dish, the host may consider that he had not provided enough to the guest. And would immediately order more food.
Therefore, it is more practical to take it as "culture shock". Since, it may not need to be applied to all other race.
Warmest Regards,
Cecil

Quote

On 12/18/2003 4:10:51 PM, Anonymous wrote:
I recently attended our
company christmas party. We
played a gift giving game,
where everybody brought a
wraped gift. Everyone was then
allowed to randomly pick a
piece of paper out of a hat.
This paper had a number on
it.I picked 18. They started
with the number one who got to
choose the first gift on the
table. When my turn came up I
could have taken another
persons gift who had oicked
before me or choose a wraped
gift off of the table. I
choose to pick a wraped gift
off of the table. It turned
out to be a 10 inch in
diameter clock with a 2 inch
border. I am now reading
Lillian Too's book titled:
Lillian Too's easy-to use Feng
Shui,168 ways to success. In
her book Tip number 98 titled
the feng shui of watches and
clocks. She states that it is
very inauspicious to receive a
watch or clock as a gift.
She speaks very strongly about
this. Can anyone give me some
advice on this matter. How can
I turn this into an auspicious
event?
Thank you.