By David Koh and Joe Choo | Oct 29, 2009
Feng Shui: Embracing Ara
Let us complete our tour of Bangsar today. Previously, we visited a section of Lorong Pantai Baru and the section that connects to Jalan Riong. Nearby, we have the Tempinis area. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
The name is derived from a species of ironwood trees and a derivative of it, Tampines, is used in Singapore.
This section of Bangsar is a circular tract surrounded by Jalan Tempinis, Maarof, Ara and Ara Kiri. This is quite a good design as the entire section is in a complete embrace, which has a tendency to focus energy. The internal roads are also laid out parallel to Jalan Maarof. Houses on one side on these roads face downhill and enjoy a good orientation.
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Jalan Ara forms an embrace around the Jalan Telawi area.
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Unfortunately, their opposite neighbours face uphill, which is not very conducive. Therefore, one side of the road will have nice houses which are conducive for their occupants while the other side will be less well-maintained with the inhabitants finding success to be a struggle. Of course, not all will be good or bad. The life profiles and Gua numbers of the heads of each house also play a role.
Even if a house’s orientation is good, it may not suit the occupant if the direction does not suit the head of the house: the success will be moderate. If the house has a bad orientation but the occupant’s Gua is good, then he will still enjoy moderate success. It is just a matter of degree.
Nearby, off Ara Kiri are several blocks of old shophouses that seem to be very busy all the time. The search for parking is usually a nightmare for people who frequent this area. Its most well-known landmark is probably the TMC supermarket.
Original giant
This was originally TMC Giant and it started out as a simple grocery store by the Teng family. It grew in size and popularity due to the low prices it charges. This grew to become Giant hypermarkets, which the family sold to Dairy Farm in 1999.
However, the original shop, now simply “TMC” is still here in Bangsar. The secret of its success and those of the other shops here, we believe, is due to the terrain on which they sit. It is a little bowl valley which acts to collect energy.
Of course, not all shops will perform equally well as half the shops face uphill (not so good) while the other half faces the lowest part of this valley (very good).
Jalan Cenderai, Cenderai 1 and Cenderai 2 all climb uphill towards the west. Houses on either side of these roads have sideway slopes. Therefore, depending on which sector is highest, one member of the family will benefit most. Conversely, the lowest sector will afflict another member of the family, where applicable.
We also notice however, that houses on Cenderai 1 actually face high land as Jalan Ara rises like a ridge. Therefore, houses here face uphill, which is not ideal.
Embracing Ara
Jalan Ara remains this way for the most part as it curves and embraces the Terasek and Telawi areas. The road branches off Jalan Maarof at the Saidina Abu Bakar mosque and climbs uphill until the junction to Jalan Penaga. Then it tapers downhill until it rejoins Jalan Maarof. Despite its curve, the entire road is generally higher than the surrounding properties, which means properties here tend to face high land, which is considered neither conducive nor ideal.
Under ordinary circumstances, a circular road is considered good – like Tempinis – as earth deflecting and rebounding off the circle will focus and concentrate within the inside of that circle. However, there are caveats.
The orientation of the land needs to be considered. If a circular road embraces a hill or mountain, the best location would be on the inside of that circle, facing out. This puts the mountain behind the property, low land in front of the property, and an embracing road to boot.
However, this does not apply to Jalan Ara. The land slopes from west to east but the roads do not generally conform to the contour.
Properties along Jalan Ara, such as Sri Wangsa Ria and Nusa Rhu Apartment, are located within the embracing road, which is good. However, they face highland and slopes downhill at the back.
Trendy address
Across the road, a number of new developments have popped up over the years, to tap into the demand for trendy condos in upmarket Bangsar. Indeed, the designs are very attractive. If these condos face Jalan Ara, they have a downhill-facing orientation, which is good. But, they also happen to be on the outer elbow of the road, which is not so good.
Generally speaking, Jalan Ara is a ridge that rises higher than the houses along it. Houses that face the road at these points are likely to face uphill, which is considered not very conducive.
Jalan Ara forms an embrace around the Jalan Terasek and Telawi areas. Terasek and its branches are residential while Telawi is the commercial heart of Bangsar, the so-called “strip”. It is Kuala Lumpur’s answer to Singapore’s Holland Village. It is often frequented by Caucasian expatriates and young locals.
Over the years, many entertainment outlets and restaurants have set up shop here. Many have come and gone. This is most likely because rental here is so high that any slump in turnover – economic pressures or perhaps just the opening of a new, more trendy joint nearby – will push the business over the brink.
There was once a shopping mall here that started with a bang and ended with a whimper. Many years later, it was redeveloped into Bangsar Shopping Village. It initially adopted a community centre theme and later expanded into another block nearby.
Big-time malls
Today, both buildings look like full-blown big-time shopping malls capable of giving the Bangsar Shopping Centre a serious run for its money. Incidentally, the Bangsar Seafood Village, which used to occupy the land on which the second Bangsar Village sits, is now a restaurant – the Bangsar Seafood Garden – within that new mall.
The Terasek-Telawi area slopes downhill from west to east, and the lowest point is actually at the Saidina Abu Bakar mosque. This mosque is ideally oriented to face east, disregarding the shape or direction of Jalan Ara to which it opens. As a place of worship it need not to comply with any environology factors since God does not need conducive energy to operate it.
Yet here, as with many mosques we encountered in our tour, it still conforms and complies with the rules. Could this be a coincidence or perhaps there are some instructions in the design of mosques that stipulate so? An interesting question, don’t you think?
If we take a hard look at the Telawi area, we will notice that not every row and every shop is doing well. Those facing downhill, particularly the McDonalds side of Jalan Telawi 5 and corner lots facing Telawi 4, do particularly well and have longevity.
Shops between these two roads slope down sideways from north to south due to the land’s undulation, but nevertheless, also slope down from west to east. Therefore, east facing outlets tend to do better than their opposite neighbours.
The newer Bangsar Village may need to reorientate its main entrance to face east or south-east, while the older building should do better if its entrance opens east, facing the mosque.
The residential Terasek area comprises mostly two-storey terrace houses. Its proximity to the night-life of Telawi also increases the perceived value of properties here. They are not exactly big or even well-designed houses, but these properties fetch a handsome price.
Recently, the residents opted to close off the side lanes that connect Terasek to Telawi, due to security concerns. They do not appreciate snatch thieves and muggers using these lanes to rob people and make their quick getaways.
In short, they restricted the movement of traffic in and out of the area, which in turn could affect the energy flow of the Terasek area. Fortunately there are no cul-de-sacs in this area, and if traffic continues to circulate or whirls within this embrace, it could be a good thing.
We will not belabour Terasek any further. The same rules apply – houses that face downhill are conducive; houses with sideways slopes will benefit only one member of the family; and houses that face uphill may not be good for the occupants.
2010 Outlook
Last year, we published and announced several forecasts of what would be in store for us this year. Most of them have come true! You can check out of our 2009 quarterly review at www.mingsweb.org.
We derived our predictions from calculations based on the I Ching. Our regular readers will remember a multi-part series of articles we did on periods of change in Parliament. The same principles were used in our forecasts.
Anyone can read the I Ching texts, but not all can interpret its meaning. This separates masters from novices, and takes years to perfect.
Find out what is in store for us next year, at our 2010 Outlook talk on November 8 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Will the Year of the Tiger roar for you or take a bite out of you?
Date Sunday 8th November 2009,
Time: 10am – 3pm
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
Admission Ticket : RM 78 per pax
Price inclusive of a Bilingual MINGS 2010 Forecast book worth RM48.
Proceeds from this talk will go to MINGS for further research into Environology.
Contact: 016-9089147 or log on to www.mingsweb.org
*This series on feng shui and real estate properties appear 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 35 years.
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