Properties from a Feng Shui perspective: Part 201
By David Koh and Joe Choo | July 29, 2011
Feng Shui: Hilly Sea Park
SEA Park within the city of Petaling Jaya sits on a fairly large hill with the peak somewhere at the Shell petrol station on Jalan 21/1. Several ridges emanate from this point and the terrain slopes downhill in all directions. (For Google map reference, log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
In our previous articles on neighbouring Paramount Garden, we covered the south and south-west segments of SEA Park, specifically those in close proximity to the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) line. These are mostly properties south of Jalan 21/21. Let us look at other areas nearby.
Jalan 21/12 is a short road but one of SEA Park’s main roads. It begins from the intersection of Jalan 20/7 and 14, and is changed into 21/19 beyond its intersection with 21/1. There are rows of shophouses located on both sides of Jalan 21/12 and 19. Those on the north side have a high back and low front, which is considered a good orientation.
On the south side, however, properties face uphill and have a low back. They face oncoming earth energy and over time the occupants will likely be overwhelmed by this. Businesses here, including banks, may find it a struggle.
Jalan 21/19 curves to the north-west and forms an embrace for the shops on the north side. These shops enjoy good orientation and are likely to do better than their neighbours. Shops on the south side sit at the road’s elbow and to make matters worse, also have a high front and low back. Thus, they are likely to fare less well.
Ruby cinema
The former Ruby cinema, incidentally, sits at this elbow and faces high land. Could its continued dereliction be due to its orientation? After all, this is quite a prime piece of property and ripe for redevelopment. Further down this road is a shopping arcade that looks uninviting, almost abandoned. Again, it shares the same non-conducive orientation as the cinema, which may explain its present state.
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One of the coffee shops on Jalan 21/12, which is a short road, but one of SEA Park’s main roads. - Filepic
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There are shophouses arrayed in a north-south orientation along Jalan 21/19A and 21/1. They have a sideways slope, which is neither good nor bad. The highest sector will benefit one member of a family or organisation while the lowest sector will indicate another member having to endure difficulty.
This family-member-per-sector concept is derived from the Bagua trigram. From a compass, we can define each corner – north, south, east, west, north-east, north-west, south-east and south-west and map this to a particular sector within a property. Each of these sectors corresponds to a family member or organisation.
The highest sectors for the properties here could be north-west (father), north (middle son) and north-east (youngest son). Within a company, the organisation chart can be transposed accordingly.
Running in an almost parallel direction as 21/12 is 21/10. This road is actually a continuation of Jalan 20/5 which we covered in previous articles. This stretch sits on part of a ridge emanating from the peak of the hill. Jalan 21/12, 14,16 and 18. The land dips sharply to the east.
Generally west- and south-facing properties face uphill and are considered non-conducive while their opposite neighbours, facing east or north face downhill, which is a conducive direction.
Another ridge
Across Jalan 21/1 from 21/10, there is Jalan 21/17 which parallels 21/19. This sits on another ridge from the peak of the hill. It has a slight curve and services the commercial and retail area of SEA Park. Shops here have a slightly lower back and some are located at the elbow of the curve. These are not ideal conditions.
Jalan 21/11A, 11B and 22 run perpendicular to 21/17 and slope downhill on two planes – north-east and north-west. Given this terrain, shops facing south-east in the direction of the petrol station have a high front and low back. This is not ideal and businesses here are likely to struggle compared with those facing north-west.
Interestingly, the former Emporium Supermarket and present wet market located at the corner of Jalan 21/17 and 11B have entrances facing both these roads – all of which are uphill orientations! Could this double-bad whammy be one of the contributing factors for the supermarket’s decline and subsequent demise?
Jalan 21/22 serves as an exit point for traffic here. It has shops on the south-west side and houses on the other. The residents here probably do not enjoy the traffic congestion here, especially since limited parking spaces cause many motorists to park illegally and haphazardly here. Some are even converted into Chinese temples.
Since this road is perpendicular to and runs across a ridge, it slopes in two directions – to the north-east and south-west. Houses here have a sideways slope which means one member of the family will likely do well while another will not, depending on which sector is highest and lowest, respectively.
We will wrap up our tour of Section 21 next week, and take a look at Section 22.
*This series on Feng Shui and real estate properties appears courtesy of the Malaysia Institute of Geomancy Sciences (MINGS). David Koh is the founder of MINGS and has been a Feng Shui master and teacher for the past 36 years.
Five-court houses
In our previous articles, we discussed the uniqueness of ancient Chinese courtyard houses. Thus far, we talked about houses that contained nine and seven courts, reserved for the emperor and senior ministers, respectively.
Ordinary ministers and the very wealthy were only allowed a maximum of five courts in their houses. They could be elaborate but certainly could not outshine the seven- and nine-court properties. We related a story of a wealthy businessman who incurred the emperor’s wrath by owning a nine-court house. He did not live to a ripe old age to enjoy his fortune.
Seven-court houses usually have the benefit of good Environology, with high ground or hills behind them and an embracing river or lake in front. Such a landform also afforded security.
In five-court houses, the first court or segment is the waiting room for sedan chair carriers. Horses and sedan chairs were kept outside. The horses used to be tethered to poles placed outside the entrance. For artistic and aesthetic purposes, these poles were eventually replaced with statues.
Funnily, these ornate horse tethers came to be confused as Feng Shui “cures” or good luck charms. Thus, many modern households and businesses today place such objects outside their entrances, not understanding their original purpose!
The second court is usually the living quarters of the security personnel. These are the staff members who opened doors and received guests.
The third court is typically an open courtyard used for social events such as drama presentations, ancestral worship ceremonies and other social gatherings. There was no necessity to hire venues or block a road, as commonly practised these days!
The fourth court is used for greeting guests. Living quarters are also found within this segment, usually in buildings located at the sides. The eastern wing is the male wing and also contains classrooms for the boys and their private tutors.
The western chamber is beautiful decorated with bridges, ponds, artificial mountains and garden for the girls to enjoy.
Buildings in the fourth court invariably have attics complete with peep holes for the girls to sneak a peek at their potential suitors.
The fifth court is usually the kitchen. It also has side buildings with male servants occupying the east wing and females taking the west. This segment may also have side buildings for keeping animals. The rich reared their own fowls.
Other articles on Feng Shui by Master David Koh and Joe Choo:
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