By David Koh and Joe Choo | Oct 14, 2009

Back To Bangsar

After a brief diversion to a worthy cause, we return to our tour of the Bangsar area. Thank you, dear readers, for your wonderful support to the Aged Unite To Organise Rest & Recreation (AUTORR) and our talk last weekend.

Mention the word “Bangsar” and “affluent” comes to mind. This is largely due to the nice big houses that line the main roads, which gives the impression that only the rich live here. Yet, not all houses here are so. There are still small terrace houses, single-storey and double-storey to be found. Of course, with the automatic premium tacked on to property prices in Bangsar, the occupants may very well become rich financially if they sell!

Many of these houses can be found along Limau Purut and Limau Manis. As mentioned in our previous articles, properties that do not have a good orientation tend to fare poorly, affluent area or otherwise. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)

Let us take a small section north of Lorong Limau Manis 2 (we explored the south previously). There is a small hilly range here that separates Bangsar from Federal Hill (Bukit Persekutuan), an even more exclusive area with lots of greenery and palaces belonging to the royal families from various states.

Federal Hill was established way back in 1896 out of swampland and rubber estates. It was created to provide housing for European government servants. Obviously, these guys appreciate the greenery and Mother Nature a lot more than the locals. They probably got sick and tired of the brick and mortar jungle and lack of greenery back home! Thus, they opted to preserve the lush green natural landscape instead of destroying it.

PRIME RESIDENCE
Galeria Sri Perdana, the former official residence of the Prime Minister, is located here. The orientation of the property is very good, which probably contributed to the longevity of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his premiership: 22 years, making him one of Asia’s longest-serving leaders and of course, Malaysia’s longest.

Interestingly, Tun Dr Mahathir stepped down from office in 2003, just four years after moving to Putrajaya. His successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi only stayed there for six years before making way to our current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, on April 3, 2009. A mere coincidence, perhaps?

There are also some 113 government bungalows at Federal Hill, along with more than 65 species of local and migratory birds, macaques, tree shrews and monitor lizards. There are mature forest trees such as tembusu, nyatoh, jelutong and pulai.

There are no access roads from Bangsar to Federal Hill. Obviously residents in the latter do not want their privacy to be compromised. Another benefit is that the hills and greenery are preserved, which in turn make Bangsar houses in the vicinity appear more posh and exclusive with a green lung, to boot. Most other parts of Bangsar only have tree-lined roads.

Nestled between two small hills from Federal Hill (but still in Bangsar) are Jalan Limau Purut and Limau Besar. This valley is a very conducive location as earth energy is collected here. Although the houses here look small, almost low-cost by today’s standards, make no mistake: if they are arrayed to face downhill to the lowest point in the slope, they are very good for the occupants.

NO STADIUM, THIS
On the other hand, if they face uphill, they may not benefit from the gentle homogenous pool of earth energy that typically collects in a valley. How nice it would have been if terrace houses were all arrayed like the seats in a sport stadium so that everyone (or house) sits high up and look down towards the centre.

Going north along Lorong Maarof, the road bends sharply left as it approaches Bangsar Shopping Centre. Two roads – Jalan Rumpai and Pudina – branch off Lorong Maarof before rejoining it further ahead. These roads are also nestled between two hills. However, the valley itself slopes downhill.

That means, there are multiple angles of incline (or decline, if you prefer) at this area. From a landform perspective, earth energy is not collected and remains in motion, flowing from high land to low. Thus, energy from the hills will meet at the valley and continue flowing downhill.

Moving energy is considered too strong and therefore, not conducive for success, harmony, health or advancement. The best way to handle this would be to orientate the house to face the lowest point, so that the house effectively has its back to high land.

As earth energy flows, it is like a river running downstream. Properties facing uphill are akin to someone standing neck-deep facing upstream, constantly lashed by the oncoming water. It is an uneasy and dangerous situation – the risk of drowning is high. Likewise, occupants of uphill-facing houses are likely to find themselves struggling to succeed.

SWIRLING EDDIES
Properties facing downhill are like that same person now facing downstream. The oncoming water crashes harmlessly to the back of his head and he no longer has this drowning feeling. Slowed by the impact against the head, the water slows down as it travels around the head, even forming swirling eddies in front (a “pause”) before continuing its journey downstream.

That means, earth energy can form little gentle pools in front of downhill-facing homes. This is considered very conducive for the occupants.

There is a caveat, though. The slope must be gentle to begin with. Steep slopes, more than 45 degrees, are not suitable. In fact, the land may even be unstable!

The Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) is located at a ridge off Bukit Bandaraya. Jalan Maarof crests at the traffic light intersection here and then goes downhill to join Jalan Damansara (now the Sprint Highway).

Fortunately for this shopping mall, it is not located at the top of the hill, for it is not advisable to put buildings on hill or mountaintops, unless they are places of worship or entertainment outlets of the “unsavoury” kinds, like gambling or prostitution. The former are dedicated to God and the Almighty certainly does not need to conform to any physical laws of nature since He is the creator!

The latter would not want to accumulate negative energies and instead want to disperse them quickly. Such outlets also want their patrons to do poorly as that would be better for business!

BEFORE AND AFTER
Prior to its extension and renovation, the BSC was a busy mall, constantly packed with visitors despite its modest size. It had a good tenant mix, was conveniently located in a densely populated area that had good demographics and was easily accessible. Best of all, it was not as chaotic as the Telawi area.

The BSC underwent some extensions and upgrades over the years, yet strangely it seems to have lost some of its appeal and does not seem quite as busy as before. This could be due to the economic crisis that beset the world and our country. It could be a resurgence in the popularity of the Telawi area, with the opening of Bangsar Shopping Village. We will leave that to the business consultants and experts to debate.

From an environology perspective, perhaps there is an answer. When the BSC was originally built, it had an entrance that faced south to Jalan Maarof and another (for cars) that faced east to Jalan Sena. The south-facing entrance is neutral as it did not face uphill or down (fortunately, its angle just avoided the high land of Bukit Bandaraya). The east-facing entrance was facing downhill, which is very conducive for success.

We think that was a strong contributory factor to the BSC’s early and rapid success. A large number of visitors actually drive, so the east entrance operated as the main entrance.

When the BSC was renovated, we observed several changes. First, the building expanded sideways westward toward Jalan Senuduk, and the main entrance was shifted to this wing. Though it still faces south, there is now a hill in front of it.

Second, Jalan Senuduk became the new main entrance to the car park. This was a good option in terms of traffic flow, unlike the old arrangement which typically creates traffic congestion in front of the mall. Entrances were also made on the west side for taxi drop-offs. Thus, the complex also adopts an additional uphill-facing orientation.

In terms of planning, the BSC did an excellent job to ensure convenient access, smooth traffic flow and an enjoyable experience. No one likes to begin their shopping by cursing and swearing over bad traffic. However, care should also be taken to preserve the harmonic flow of energy in and around the property to ensure continued success and prosperity.

* Log on to StarProperty.my for more. You can also e-mail any questions on feng shui and properties to Prof David Koh via annieo@thestar.com.my. This series appear courtesy of the Malaysia Institute of Geomancy Sciences (MINGS).