Properties from a Feng Shui perspective: Part 204
By David Koh and Joe Choo | 26 August , 2011
Feng Shui: Section 51A
Our tour of the Klang Valley is currently at Section 51A of Petaling Jaya. This industrial area is serviced by the Federal Highway and in recent times, many new companies have set up offices and showrooms along Jalan 51A/219, which fronts the highway. (For Google map reference, log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
They occupy lots vacated by other companies that have closed or relocated. Many manufacturers have moved to Shah Alam to avoid traffic congestion and rising costs of doing business in Petaling Jaya.
Jalan 51A/219 is a very long cul-de-sac beginning from Jalan 225 in the far west and stopping short of Jalan 222. As we wrote often in our articles, cul-de-sacs are not ideal because the lack of circulating human energy causes the ends of the roads to stagnate. Over time, the occupants would suffer and the building would deteriorate.
Interestingly, the building at the end of this cul-de-sac – Wisma O’Connor – seems to be hardest hit. The O’Connor’s Group (not to be confused with the Montreal freight and distribution company of the same name) began in 1959 as a distributor for measuring, calibration and analytical equipment. Its products were in high demand due to the boom in manufacturing services.
However, Wisma O’Connor sits on a location that violates several Environology principles. It is located at the end of a cul-de-sac; it faces high ground in the form of an elevated Federal Highway; and its back faces a river.
Earth energy
Earth energy originates from high ground and flows downhill until it reaches a medium of different rigidity, such as water. At river banks, the energy is reflected backwards and deflected sideways along the banks. Depending on the curve of the river, a concave or embrace will act like a parabolic dish to collect gentle homogenous energy, while a convex or elbow will scatter the energy in a dispersal pattern.
Ancient sages advocated constructing buildings to face pools of gentle homogenous energy because they are very conducive for success. Facing earth energy head-on as it pours down from a slope is not advisable as it can overwhelm the occupants.
At one point, Wisma O’Connor was abandoned and occasionally used for warehouse sales. Today, O’Connor’s has relocated to Bangunan O’Connor at Jalan 51A/223.
Its former neighbours on 51A/219 probably did not fare as well either. Over the past few years, many of them have closed down or relocated. In their place are newer buildings. To date, there are VW Cars, SsangYong, Cycle & Carriage/Mercedes, Samsung Customer Service Plaza, Cerebos, Avon, PJ City and Malaya Acid Works. With the exception of Cerebos and Malaya Acid Works, these are all new boys on the block.
Despite the great visibility of their frontage, these lots (except for PJ City and Malaya Acid Works) have the Penchala River running behind them. In Environology, the best orientation is to face the river, not away from it. Alternatively, buildings should follow the flow of the river. Thus, buildings here with west side entrances will likely fare better than those that do not.
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Despite being 33 years old in Malaysia, Avon exudes a young look. - Filepic
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Highway high ground
The Federal Highway also represents high ground. Over the years of continuous upgrading and resurfacing, the highway has become raised. Though its effects are similar to a river, “river” trumps “road”. Therefore, it would have been better for the buildings to face north-west or west. They can still have their glass-walled showrooms overlooking the highway.
It is such a waste that the Avon and Cerebos do not fully capitalise on the river because it actually curves to embrace them – if they are oriented to face north-west towards the embrace, the occupants would likely do very well.
Cerebos Ltd (UK) was incorporated back in 1894. It bought over Brand & Co Ltd (established in 1897) in 1959, and Brand’s Essence of Chicken subsequently became its flagship product. The company was then acquired by Ranks Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1968.
The modern incarnation of Cerebos started in Singapore. Cerebos Pacific Limited was incorporated in 1981 and acquired RHM subsidiaries in the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. This was followed by more mergers and acquisitions which are beyond the scope of this article.
Suffice to say, though Brand’s has a strong presence, the Malaysian company (established in 1960) went through many changes of ownership. Could this be a coincidence or is it symptomatic of its location’s landform? It would be interesting to study the landform of the other Cerebos factories and offices around the world.
New ground
In any case, Cerebos Malaysia has plans to move to a bigger plant in Shah Alam. The groundbreaking ceremony for its RM75mil factory was held a few years ago. If it vacates its present premises and a developer decides to level it and construct a new building, he would be well advised to conform to the landform.
The Avon Company was founded in the United States 125 years ago in 1886. Despite being 33 years old in Malaysia, the company exudes a young look in its spanking headquarters at Jalan 51A/219. The company, both local and global, prides itself on empowering women with opportunity and quality products. In Malaysia, it also champions causes, such as breast cancer awareness and raising concern about domestic violence.
It should be interesting to see how its new office will fare in relation to its surrounding landform forces. If it is any consolation, the Penchala River also runs alongside it as it crosses under the Federal Highway. With such a configuration, north-west, west and south-west are considered good or ideal directions to face. This goes a long way to mitigate matters.
On the other side of the Penchala River, there is an upcoming office complex called PJ City. The new sits beside the old, namely Malaya Acid Works. We will explore these sites next.
*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.MINGS will be conducting a two-day course on Elementary Feng Shui from Oct 22. For details, visit www.mingsweb.org or call +6012-210 3962.
A house done right
Feng Shui masters were highly regarded highly by the Chinese emperors because they were the prominent scientists of their era. Their understanding of the forces of nature enabled them to create living and burial spaces that were favourable to the perpetuation of their dynastic legacy.
A house done right could ensure that the occupants will not only prosper but also ensure a long and prosperous lineage.
There once was a rich man whose family grew to support 15 generations. At one point, there were almost 700 members of the family living in the house!
One day, the patriarch of the household was arranging the marriage of his son to the daughter of another very wealthy man. The future in-law was very proud of his ancestry, which included an imperial minister. Throughout a get-together dinner, the man tried to impress the patriarch with his family’s wealth and prestige. He went as far as saying that the patriarch’s family were lucky to have someone as special as his daughter.
The patriarch was too much a gentleman to rebut but another member of the family spoke out. “We know you are well-to-do and come from a prestigious family. That is why we allowed you to marry off your daughter into our family.
“If we ask you to hang one coin on every mulberry tree that our family owns, you will go broke. We have more trees than you have money,” he boasted.
Indeed, one acre of land can hold 500 to 600 trees and this family owned 2,000 acres (800ha)!
Other articles on Feng Shui by Master David Koh and Joe Choo:
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