GIVEN our obsession with auspicious-sounding numbers, today's date - 09.09.09 is unbeatable.

It may appear just once in your lifetime, and the number nine sounds like 'longevity' or 'long-lasting' in Mandarin.

In Hinduism, the number nine is revered and considered a complete and divine number.

So it's no wonder that some 366 couples will be tying the knot today - about six times more than a normal day, said the Registry of Marriages.

On average, about 60 couples tie the knot every day, except on special dates.

But the highest number of marriages filed on such dates here was on 7Jul2007, when 765 couples tied the knot.

The number seven is auspicious in many cultures.

In Judaism, God rested on and sanctified the seventh day and Buddha walked seven steps at his birth.

There are seven heavens in the Islamic tradition and seven major chakras in Hinduism.

But back to nine.

Superstition seems to have taken a backseat to a set of lucky numbers.

Even though 09.09.09 falls right in the middle of the seventh month, some hotels we spoke to reported a higher-than-usual number of wedding bookings for today.

The Singapore Marriott Hotel said that it has three wedding dinners tonight and one solemnisation all lined up - more than the usual for a Wednesday.

Hotel Intercontinental said its ballroom is also booked for a Chinese wedding dinner tonight, by a couple who is not superstitious about the seventh month.

But hotels like Grand Hyatt and Meritus Mandarin said they've no wedding bookings today, primarily because of the seventh month.

What do fengshui practitioners say?

Ms Adelina Pang, chief executive of Adelina Pang Fengshui Consultancy, said that the numbers 09.09.09 are easy to remember and sound nice.

But just because it's a nice number doesn't necessarily mean it's an auspicious date.

This is because in the study of fengshui, practitioners don't follow the typical English calendar.

Solar calendar

They use the solar calendar, which tracks the movement of the sun.

But she said that today is a good day for harmonious results, particularly for those who want to do business deals, sign documents or even get married.

She said: 'It's not because of the 09.09.09, but because of the constellation of the stars on that day that makes it auspicious.

'It may be in the middle of the seventh month, but that's only a myth.

'Only in Singapore do you talk about seventh month festivals. There're good dates every month to do certain things.'

This article was first published in The New Paper