Properties from a Feng Shui perspective: Part 141
By David Koh and Joe Choo | May 21, 2010
United Garden
Mention the word “united” and visions of Old Trafford and the Red Devils may come to mind. Of course, if you come from the older generation, the Whites or Peacocks would be your pick. Who knows, Leeds United may someday revive its fortunes but that is a tale for another day – in the Sports section!
United in Old Klang Road refers to one of the earlier housing estates that was developed off this main road linking Kuala Lumpur to Klang. United Garden is nestled among Overseas Union Garden (OUG), Kuchai Garden and Happy Garden. Calling a housing estate “garden” was all the rage then. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
It evoked images of green lawns and an idyllic environment for the average Joe to return to after a long day’s work, and a great place to raise a family. “Gardens” and “Parks” fitted the bill. Of course, this is considered passé today, especially when condominiums are all the rage and shared landscapes do not a private garden make.
The main road running into United Garden is Jalan Sepadu. As we enter this road from Old Klang Road, we can find some flats and apartments on the left. The Pearl Point complex, with Pearl International Hotel, shopping mall and condo, sit at the intersection on the right. This was the site of a sawmill called Aik Bee.
We discussed houses and shops on the left, stretching from Jalan Sepadu to Kuchai. Here, we noted that the hilly terrain is part of the “dragon’s claws” from the Main Range. The claws terminate here with small talon-like protrusions, which give the terrain its undulating character.
NATURAL EARTH ENERGY
We mentioned that properties which face downhill and a river are conducive for their occupants. Natural earth energy flows from high land to low and rebounds off a river. Thus, the appropriately oriented property will be shielded against oncoming earth energy from the hills and at the same time tap into the gentle, homogenous energy that rebounds off the river.
United Garden homes give us the opportunity to test this hypothesis, since it has been around for some time. A drive through this area will confirm this. Properties with a downhill orientation are likely to do well, compared wiht the opposite and rear neighbours who face uphill. Those facing the curving embrace of roads are also better than those on the outer elbow or convex of the road.
Properties that sit on roads that slope from one side to the other are likely to exert mixed influences on the occupants. If you divide a house into a 3x3 grid, each of the outer boxes in that grid can be represented by a compass direction. According to I Ching principles, the directions represent one member of the family: north-west is the father; south-west, mother; east, eldest son; north, middle son; north-east, youngest son; south-east, eldest daughter; south, middle daughter; and west, youngest daughter.
Think of it as an ancient Chinese version of the Brady Bunch. The highest sector will benefit the corresponding member of the family, while the member who corresponds to the lowest sector is likely to fare poorly.
UNITED VALLEY
Jalan Sepadu is actually a valley. Thus, it is like a river. In the old days, the road was prone to flooding during the monsoon. Properties that face this road are likely to do well, especially those facing west. This direction parallels the flow of the Klang River. Those facing east will still do well but the operators are likely to do stupid things as a contra-river direction is often associated with mental stress and the inability to think clearly.
There is quite a popular and well-known coffee shop known as Beng Huat. Apparently, it offers good sweet and sour pork, mantis prawn and fried rice. As we observed in other parts of the Klang Valley, riverbanks and valleys are rich pools of earth energy by virtue of being the lowest part of the landform. This is very attractive to life and people are also drawn to such a place. Thus, it becomes abuzz with activity and settlements. There is a downside, though. Where there are people, there are also vices. Illegal gambling, prostitution and loan sharking would be commonplace. Gangsterism will be rife, as gang members run protection rackets and enforce the vice trade.
It is interesting to note that the talons here are not parallel to each other: they actually curve away from each other and thus do not form an embrace. Energy coming down from the talons meet at the base and leak out through the splayed opening.
There are more houses in United Garden along the various Jalan Sepakat. These properties are surrounded by hills to the west, south and east. The extended Jalan Gembira, which connects OUG to Kuchai and Happy Garden, forms part of the southern boundary of the homes here.
Generally, the ideal direction to face is north, towards the Klang River. This also means the property is cocooned by the surrounding highlands, which is a very good idea. But not all properties have such an orientation as the layout of the roads does not permit it. The next best thing would be to face west, to parallel the flow of the Klang River.
Apart from Pearl Point, Old Klang Road residents can do their shopping in two other malls: Lucky Plaza and OUG Plaza. These sit within the Bandar Park commercial district, which is one of the busiest sections of Old Klang Road.
The grid-like layout of the streets here ensures that properties face south-east /north-west or south-west / north-east. At this point the Klang River has a south-west orientation. Therefore, properties that face north-west (to the river) or south-west (parallel to the river) are considered the most conducive.
LUCKY PLACE
This is quite obvious, from the conditions of properties here. Pearl International Hotel and Lucky Plaza face the river, and thus are more conducive than properties facing the opposite direction. Plaza OUG faces south-west and is not doing too badly either, compared with those facing the other way.
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It may not be possible to enhance the good sectors and diminish the bad sectors in buildings that are oddly shaped. - Bloombergpic
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Can these properties do better? Yes and no. First, we must note that the Klang River is actually curving away at this point, to form a convex elbow. This is not a conducive landform as earth energy from the hills is dispersed rather than collected when it rebounds.
Second, there are too many one-way streets here. Vehicles entering an area carry energy. As they enter a one-way street, the energy is strong and infuses properties at the entrance. These properties typically do very well, as can be seen by the roaring business enjoyed by restaurants and coffee shops here.
This energy is gradually depleted further along the street. Thus, properties at the tail-end or exit of the one-way street will be dull and experience a lacklustre business. They are typically more run-down and poorly maintained, too.
A combination of these factors, plus the personal Gua of the operators, will create a net effect that either benefits or harms the businesses here. In short, those with good landform, orientation and a strategic front-end spot in the one-way streets will do well. If the person’s Gua matches, the success will be superlative but even if it is not, it will not be too bad.
HEAVY TOLL
On the other hand, if the landform and so forth are not conducive, then only the operator’s Gua can prop up the operations. A good Gua in a good period means that he will do well, but the extent of success will be muted by the poor landform. Then, when the person enters a period where he would struggle, his problems will be compounded. Thus, over time we can see that poor landform and orientation will exact its toll, regardless of the person’s personal Gua.
Interestingly, when this area was first developed, Lucky Plaza and OUG Plaza had different anchor tenants. For example, Kimisawa was doing great business at OUG Plaza, alongside a cinema that shared the premises. Then, due to some dispute with the cinema operator, the department store began sealing off its connecting entrances (actually their northwest door, which is conducive for business).
Staff and visitors started using the rear entrance, which faces a poor direction and the rest is history. Eventually, Kimisawa was closed down. The cinema went bust due to the rise of home videos and the entire complex would have deteriorated further. Lucky Plaza could have capitalised on this situation but the anchor tenant also committed some landform faux pas and it also went out of business.
Today, the cinema at OUG Plaza has been converted into a food court with several small and cosy restaurants. This created a vibrant north-west entrance which is very conducive for success. Parkson has taken over as anchor tenant while Giant took up the supermarket floor. Of course, more can be done but that is beyond the scope of this article.
Next week: We will explore OUG.
*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.
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