Properties from a Feng Shui perspective: Part 157
By David Koh and Joe Choo | Sep 10, 2010
Feng Shui: Petaling Jaya and missionaries
When Malaya achieved independence in year 1957, a group of missionary nuns, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) came to Petaling Jaya and established several institutions that remain important to the community to this day.
Back then as you may know, Petaling Jaya was just a little satellite township of Kuala Lumpur. Its nucleus was the Old Town, comprising Sections 1 through 4. Land was cheap and easily obtainable. Thus, the Assunta Foundation was established as a charitable hospital. A private nursing school was also set up alongside the hospital. This was how nurses came to be called “sisters”. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
The FMM sisters did not stop there. They also offered the use of their convent’s chapel to the handful of Catholic families (local and expatriate) who lived in the wild frontier of Petaling Jaya then. Before then, the parish community had to travel to Brickfields for their Sunday worship.
The Catholic community grew and later raised funds to build their own chapel. The late Dominic Vendargon, then-bishop of the archdiocese, anticipated more growth for his flock and bought a half-acre plot of land beside the hospital on which to build a church. Funds for the actual construction were raised by the parishioners themselves through various activities. In 1960, the Church of the Assumption, dedicated to Jesus’ mother Mary, was completed.
The old Assunta Convent now serves as a retirement home for the FMM sisters, including those from South Korea, Vietnam and China.
Assumption Church
The Church of the Assumption is located on Jalan Templer and faces north, which is uphill. Ordinarily, this is not a good orientation for buildings as uphill-facing properties are bombarded by downhill-flowing earth energy. However, places of worship are usually exempt from environology requirements. After all, God is the almighty and creator of everything. As the “boss” he overrules everything!
Besides, no one actually lives inside houses of worship, so they do not affect anyone. However, there is an unintended side effect seen in practically all places of worship: large congregations of people tend to draw in energy from the surroundings like a magnet. The same goes for hospitals, as they are normally heavily populated and often visited.
Thus, properties near such places tend to be drained and the occupants are likely to fare poorly. This phenomenon is quite apparent for the area as properties here do not appear to be well maintained. This is more so for houses on the south side of Jalan Templer which also face uphill, making things doubly bad. Even those on the north side and facing downhill do not appear to fare much better.
The FMM sisters are also renowned for their contribution to academic education. The Assunta primary and secondary schools are highly regarded and much sought after by parents eager to give their daughters a good education. The schools were founded by Sister Enda Ryan who came to Malaya in year 1954 at the request of the then-Chief Justice of Malaya, Sir Michael Hogan.
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The Assunta primary and secondary schools are much sought after by parents eager to give their daughters a good education. - Filepic
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The Assunta Primary School was established to provide education for girls whose education was disrupted by the Emergency. The secondary school was started four years later, with Sister Enda as the first headmistress. The Irish-born missionary became a Malaysian citizen in year 1966 and continued to dedicate herself to her calling. Indeed, she is much loved by the Assunta alumni and much decorated by the Selangor royalty, too. She was conferred a Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (PJK) in year 1987 and a Darjah Kebesaran Dato’ Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah (DSIS) in year 2007 by the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj and his heir, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj, respectively.
Government schools
Right beside the Assunta Primary School, there is a government school called SK Jalan Selangor. This school is not as well known as its illustrious neighbour, and it is possibly due to its location. It sits at the outer elbow of Jalan Selangor. Roads have a similar effect as rivers. It is preferable to place buildings within a concave or embrace of roads and rivers, than to put them at the convex or elbow.
There is another bend in Jalan Selangor. This embraces a Chinese temple on one side and elbows some terraced houses on the other side. Properties at Lorong 3/57B and 57C sit at this elbow and the situation is exacerbated by the fact that they are also dead-end roads. Earth energy just cannot circulate well and properties in such cul-de-sacs are likely to be in a poor condition.
Section 3 is a Malay-majority segment of the Old Town, and this is likely by design. Jalan 3/60 is also known as Jalan Kawasan Melayu. A mosque is built between Jalan Templer and Jalan Masjid 3/69. The mosque happens to be well-situated too at the embrace of Jalan Templer.
The Syariah Lower Court is also found in Section 3, at the southern border, along Jalan Othman. Courthouses should ideally sit in the north-west sector which is a position of authority. Although the courthouse is not in the ideal sector, it happens to have good landform. It sits on high land and faces a downhill slope.
MARA has a campus in Jalan Othman, located at the south-eastern tip of Section 3. This section has the lowest terrain in Section 3 and is also in the embrace of a curve in Jalan Othman. These factors are very conducive for the campus, which continues to thrive to this day.
The Majestic cinema was once a landmark in Old Town. It sat between a row of shophouses and the Syariah court. The cinema did not survive the video boom and was torn down some time ago. Today, the Menara Mutiara Majestic stands at the old site, with only a hint of the past in its name. The building and shop houses sit on high land and face south which slopes downhill.
This is generally a very conducive location, evidenced by the good business enjoyed by UOB and Maybank branches here. There is also a pawnshop that has been there for ages. However, even a building with a good orientation can become stagnant overtime. Some of the businesses here may actually show signs of wear and tear. Such buildings need to be reenergised through an igniting process.
This concludes our tour of Petaling Jaya Old Town. Next, we will take a closer look at Gasing Hill.
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You can e-mail questions on Feng Shui and properties to Prof David Koh at davidkoh618@yahoo.com. This series on Feng Shui and real estate appears courtesy of the Malaysia Institute of Geomancy Sciences (MINGS). Koh is the founder of MINGS and has been a Feng Shui master and teacher for the past 36 years.
Read other Feng Shui articles by Master David Koh and Joe Choo:
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