Properties from a Feng Shui perspective: Part 225
By David Koh and Joe Choo | January 27, 2012
Feng Shui: Quiet corner
Our Environology tour of the Klang Valley is currently focused on the city of Petaling Jaya. Today we begin our look at SS3. This is a relatively quiet corner of Petaling Jaya, notable for its minimal commercial development.
(For Google map reference, log on to maps.google.com.my and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
The only significant “commercial” area comprises a few rows of shop-houses along Jalan SS 3/29, 33 and 35. The rest of this section comprises residential properties and schools.
The roads here are generally laid out in a grid, running north-south and east-west. It is apt, given the sense of orderliness here, that SS3 is also known as Taman Universiti, although one wonders how it got that name. There is no institution of higher learning here!
In terms of landform, the terrain is high on the north-east/east side and slopes downhill to the west, with a gentler gradient going from north to south. This is part of the undulating hills coming down from Section 14.
As seen in our visit to SS1, the land rises and dips to create very uneven ground that complicates the landform Environology of SS1. The landform of SS3 is certainly less quirky.
Furniture mall
The Damansara-Puchong Highway or LDP forms the southern boundary of SS3. This highway runs briefly east-west before curving sharply south near the LDP Furniture Plaza.
Interestingly, the furniture mall is located outside SS3. The mall and its neighbouring apartments – Kelana Impian and SS8 apartments – are classified as SS8 which is largely a free trade industrial zone. Even the dead-end road serving the mall is given the prefix SS8.
This little pocket of SS8, separated from the rest of SS8 by the LDP, is slightly lower than SS3 to the north. In such a landform, the ideal orientation is south as it keeps the rear higher than the front and it also faces the direction of flow of monsoon drains running southwards in SS2.
The SS8 apartments sit within the embrace of Jalan SS 8/39 which branches off from the LDP and curves northwards to form the eastern border of SS3. Somewhere past the SS8/8A junction, the road’s name is changed to SS3/39.
All things being equal, the SS8 apartments should be doing well, thanks to the embrace of SS 8/39. However, access into the south-facing apartment is via Jalan SS8/7. This forms an elbow or convex bend against the apartment.
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The LDP Furniture Mall sits at the immediate elbow of the LDP. - Filepic
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Convex side
It is such a pity because the apartments would have fared very well, had the road been properly designed. Properties that sit facing the elbow of a road – the convex side – tend to fare less well than their opposite neighbours.
Earth energy originates from the mountains and flows downhill. When it encounters a medium of different rigidity, such as a river, it is blocked, deflected and reflected. It is similar to ripples in a pond that rebound when they come to a solid object.
A road behaves like a river because the substrate beneath the surface has a different rigidity to the surroundings and the constant movement of vehicles creates a similar energy-disrupting effect. A road or river that curves to embrace or surround a piece of land acts like a parabolic dish to collect rebounding earth energy into a pool. This pool is gentle and homogenous, making it very conducive for success to occupants of properties here.
The caveat is, such properties must be correctly aligned towards the river and their configuration, such as the main entrance, kitchen and master bedroom, are suited to the occupants. In properties that are well-matched in all these aspects, the occupants enjoy optimal success.
On the other hand, properties that are misaligned or not well configured are afflicted by unstable or overwhelmingly strong energy. This disruptive force can affect one’s mental health that can lead to deteriorating family relationships; finances; health; and academic performance.
Energy dispersal
One of the least conducive locations for a piece of property is at the elbow or convex of a road. This landform is the reverse of a parabolic dish. Instead of collecting energy, it deflects and scatters energy in a dispersal pattern.
The LDP Furniture Mall sits at the immediate elbow of the LDP. Thus, earth energy is also dispersed. There is a constant bombardment of energy from oncoming vehicles onto the site.
SS3 proper begins from Jalan SS3/2 and 46. They are basically the same road running east-west, separated by SS3/29, a main access road. Jalan Majlis forms the western border.
The even-numbered roads generally run east-west. They slope downhill from east to west and north to south. Properties that face south have the most conducive orientation. This can be seen in the condition and maintenance of houses that seem to be better on the north side than the south.
Side slope
As these properties also have a sideways slope, another factor comes into play. According to I-Ching principles, each sector of a property corresponds to a specific member of the family. A sector that is elevated highest will benefit one member of the family while low or sunken sectors will indicate another member faring poorly.
Since the land slopes downhill to the west, the people most likely to encounter difficulties are the father (north-west), mother (south-west) and youngest daughter (west). There could be health problems afflicting one of them or possibly a tumultuous relationship at home.
Odd-numbered roads are more clear-cut. Properties here face either west (downhill) or east (uphill). There are exceptions in areas where undulations in the terrain may mean the west is high while east is low.
The slope is very obvious especially in the shop-houses between SS3/29 and 31 or 33. Those on SS3/29 itself face a steep drop in front. This is quite a good orientation and of all the businesses operating here, they are the most successful.
However, the distribution of successful businesses is not even. The slip road servicing these shops is a one-way street. The infusion of human energy starts at the entrance located in the north end. This is where businesses will be most vibrant. Besides, people tend to stop at the first few shops because of convenience. They also usually grab the first available parking spots they find.
Less vibrancy
As traffic exits the one-way street, the energy is depleted and does not inject as much vibrancy to the last few units.
Nevertheless, shop-houses on this side perform much better than their counterparts facing SS3/31 and 33. They have a high front and a drop down the rear. Therefore, success for businesses here are likely to be a bigger struggle to achieve.
Companies here may still succeed on the strength of their owners’ Life Profiles. They may have lucky stars in their profiles that enable them to succeed but theirs will be moderate, capped by the unfavourable landform.
Businesses may also do well on the strength of the managers’ Life Profiles. However, they are also more likely to leave the company and venture out on their own.
Even if a company does well in spite of the difficult terrain, it will struggle to sustain it. There is also a high chance that the success will last for only one generation – the successor may not have as good a Life Profile and may yet squander the money or lead the company to ruins.
Next, we will visit SS4.
How it all began
Some people have the mistaken notion that the practice of Feng Shui started during the Jin Dynasty, because the term “Feng Shui” (Wind and Water) was only mentioned then in the Burial Canon written by Guo Pu.
In actual fact, Feng Shui was practised much earlier and went under different names. Over the centuries, the practice had different names to suit its purpose. It is interesting to examine these ancient names as it reveals an insight on the importance of Feng Shui as a scientific discipline.
The problem with the term “Feng Shui” is that it has connotations of being an occult or superstitious practice. This is especially so when practitioners seem more interested in selling merchandise dressed up as “powerful” cures. They seem to be akin snake-oil salesmen (our apologies to snake-oil salesmen).
Snake-oil was used by Chinese migrant labourers in the American Wild West as a liniment for muscle aches. Some opportunistic folk started to tout it as a cure for all kinds of ailments. Thus, a harmless traditional Chinese medicine became associated with fake medicine.
We hope “Feng Shui” will undergo another name change and regain some semblance of respectability and authority. Hence we coined the term Environology.
According to ancient historical records of events dating back circa 2000-1500 BC, there was a ruler called Pan Gen. His capital city was located in Ti-di. The records stated that after a “pu zhai” was conducted, the land was found to be unsuitable for agriculture. It was too acidic and flat (rivers come from mountains).
As an agrarian society, good fertile ground is of paramount importance. Without a good harvest, the people would starve and revolt.
Pu Zhai is often mistranslated as divination or fortune telling with turtle shells. As shown in this example, it meant “survey”. Thus, the rudiments of “Feng Shui” were already used since then. Stay tuned for more next week.
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 37 years.
Other articles on Feng Shui by Master David Koh and Joe Choo:
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