Ms Amanda Khan, in her 30s, a catering manager, and Kevin Wong, in his 40s, Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore Vessel Traffic Management Assistant Director

Mr Wong and Madam Khan are not worried that their first child, a girl due in May, might grow up to be a fierce, rebellious and ill-tempered woman.

'We're living in a modern world. I'm not the superstitious kind and I don't believe in all this,' says Madam Khan, who is five months pregnant.

'As long as the baby is healthy, it doesn't matter which year she is born in.'

How a child behaves, she adds, boils down to upbringing and education.

'If you want to train your child to be demure and ladylike, you have to train her from young,' she says.

She is thankful for a pragmatic mother and mother-in-law, both of whom do not give her any pressure or stress about her decision to have a baby in a Tiger year.

From experience, she knows that such freedom given by older folks is 'very rare'.

She has friends whose parents have cautioned them against having a baby in the Year of the Tiger as it is believed that baby girls grow up to be very fierce, especially if they are born in the morning or night - the time when a tigress is on the hunt.

The couple do not believe in this superstition, but say there is nothing wrong if other parents act on it and avoid having children in a Tiger year.

Mr Wong says: 'Parents are just being cautious. They just want what's best for their children.'

This article was first published in The Sunday Times.