Properties from a feng shui perspective: Part 131
By David Koh and Joe Choo | Mar 12, 2010
Old Klang Road
According to the sparse information on Wikipedia, Old Klang Road is the oldest and first major road in the Klang Valley. It was built during colonial times by the British Federated Malay States government. Work on it began in 1905 and it was completed in 1908. That makes it a very old urban highway!
The then Klang Road was built to link Kuala Lumpur to Klang and its port. As with naming conventions of the past, the road was named after its destination. As the highway system improved and provided more alternatives between the two destinations, the road adopted the “Old” prefix.
Old Klang Road was the “seed” from which the Klang Valley’s Western Corridor of today sprang from.
Many satellite towns sprouted over the decades to tap into this transport link, and of these two, are now elevated to city status – Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
The road follows the Klang River on its south banks. Typically, no development is allowed near riverbanks due to flood concerns. Thus, many squatter settlements took root in the spaces between the river and the road.
This – and the many housing estates – created a terribly congested road. Today, despite major upgrades and road-widening, there are at least seven sets of traffic lights blocking the path of commuters from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya!
FEDERAL HIGHWAY
This led to the construction of the Kuala Lumpur-Klang Highway in 1965, to provide an alternate link. The highway bypassed the many satellite towns by branching off Seputeh and rejoining the road in Sungai Way. The link was necessary as Singapore separated from Malaysia that year and Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) was elevated as the nation’s national port.
The highway was subsequently upgraded between 1974 and 1977 to become the Federal Highway. This highway spurred the growth of Petaling Jaya (as it bisected the township and provided convenient access) and Shah Alam.
This week, we begin our tour of Old Klang Road and its related townships. The road as we know it today begins at the intersection of Jalan Syed Putra and the Federal Highway. This is where Taman Seputeh is and the Mid Valley Megamall sits right at the beginning of the road.
Travelling from Seputeh to Old Klang Road, we can see a row of very old shophouses to the right. There are a number of wood-and-brick houses behind them, accessible via Jalan Halimahton. This road leads to Jalan Chekor, Jalan Penghulu Mat, Lorong Serai and Lorong Halia.
Properties located along riverbanks are a mixed lot, from an environology perspective. This is the area where earth energy collects, it being the lowest point, after coming down from the mountains. As such, the rebounding energy is gentle and homogenous, which is ideal and attractive to life and success.
VICES
However, apart from the risk of monsoon floods, this concentration of energy also attracts the unsavoury side of human nature. We have seen how living quarters in crammed spaces led to a proliferation of gambling activities, gangsterism and prostitution in other parts of Kuala Lumpur. It is no surprise that Old Klang Road was once notorious for gangsterism.
Properties between the river and road are in a good location, but to tap into this beneficial energy, they have to face the direction of the rebounding energy, namely towards the river. Thus, homes facing west are likely to do better than the ones facing east, where the high land – Bukit Desa – is located.
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Old Klang Road is the oldest and first major road in the Klang Valley. - Filepic
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The next best direction would be south, to parallel the river’s flow. Properties facing the opposite direction have a tendency to attract “detritus” which causes emotional problems or distress to the occupants. They are like nets placed to face upstream: they can snag and trap all kinds of rubbish coming downstream.
The shops on this side of the road, facing Old Klang Road, have their backs to the river. This is not a very conducive location. Thus, the operators here may find difficulty achieving success. It would be difficult to come by or sustain.
This could be in their relationship, finances, health or career achievements. Wealth, if attained, could only be for one generation. There may be no heir to inherit it or such an heir may squander it. That is the typical result for such a landform, as observed over the centuries since the times of the ancient sages.
LONGEVITY OR MERELY SURVIVING?
One can say something about longevity – these shops have been there for many years and seem unchanged. Then again, if they were prospering, surely the owners or proprietors would have upgraded or maintained the premises better.
Shops on the other side of Old Klang Road ought to fare better as they have a high back and low front, with a river to boot. Thus, properties here that face west or south are likely to do well, compared to their opposite numbers.
This area is still a part of Taman Seputeh but it is separated by the East-West Link that joins the Federal Highway to Cheras. It is located at the foot of Bukit Desa. There are a number of houses and condominiums here, and a very large furniture mall.
Overall, the landform is quite good; the area is embraced by a confluence of highways with a hill on the opposite end. This confluence has a similar ability to rivers to reflect and deflect earth energy. However, a few factors go against it.
ELBOWED OUT
To face the confluence and gain its benefits, properties should face north-west. However, the Klang River is close by and it flows from north to south in this area. Therefore, there are conflicting influences that put a dampener on things. The best compromise would be to face west.
This area is also very close to the East-West Link, which is alongside the KTM Komuter track. Furthermore the highway and railway form an elbow towards Lorong Seputeh. An elbow feature disperses energy instead of collecting it. Fast moving cars and trains generate wind turbulence that also disperses earth energy.
The good points are watered down by the not-so-good points, so the area’s success and development is limited.
This part of Taman Seputeh shares the space between Bukit Desa and the East-West Link with Taman Bukit Desa. Access to this development is via Jalan Taman Bukit Desa off Old Klang Road. The town has internal road links to Taman Seputeh and Taman Desa.
Most of the properties here are arranged in a grid, following the road layout. Many of them are either north- or south-facing properties. Some, at the perpendicular roads, face east or west.
Landform wise, this section is located in a valley between the hills in Taman Seputeh (north) and Taman Desa (south). The river is at the west. Due to the undulating nature of the terrain here, it is impossible to provide an accurate description for each property street-by-street.
Suffice to say, properties that face uphill are not ideal as they face oncoming earth energy which can overwhelm the occupants. Those facing low land or west to the river, are likely to fare much better.
Also, properties near the East-West Link are likely to be not-so-conducive to their occupants as the earth energy is dispersed by wind turbulence.
Several properties are also located within dead-end roads. These are also not conducive landforms and the occupants may find it a struggle to achieve success. Dead-end roads do not enjoy a movement of traffic and renewal of energy. The energy here is usually stagnant.
Related stories by Master David Koh and Joe Choo:
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