The word for "eight" in Cantonese sounds like that for "prosperity," so on top of being a dragon year, 1988 is doubly auspicious, meaning even more births and marriages.
「八」在廣東話的發音接近「發」，一九八八，自是加倍大「發」，加上是龍年，更是吉祥無比，可望有更多人在今年結婚，人口出生率也會增加。