Properties from a Feng Shui perspective: Part 151
By David Koh and Joe Choo | July 30, 2010
Feng Shui: Petaling Utama
Our tour of Old Klang Road took a detour via Seri Sentosa, and so far, we have reached Sri Manja Court. At this point, Jalan Taman Seri Sentosa ends and we enter a new territory called Petaling Utama which merges with Taman Sri Manja.
The most visible landmark in Petaling Utama is Wisma Peter’s, the headquarters of Peter’s Holdings, which developed Petaling Utama. The company started as a brick manufacturer and ventured into property development with a penchant for salvaging abandoned housing projects in Perak and Kuala Lumpur.Its maiden project in Kuala Lumpur was at this very site – the 150-acre Petaling Utama. It was formerly a large tin mine. Earlier attempts by other parties to rehabilitate and redevelop the land failed.
Today, it is a different story. PJS 1 is located at the northern section of Petaling Utama, adjoining Old Klang Road (now part of the New Pantai Expressway). The area comprises mostly commercial properties. To the west is the light industrial area. Between the light industrial and commercial districts, there are several residential properties, namely Taman Petaling Utama flats and Permai apartments.
This is a strategic layout from a developer’s point of view as the commercial lots are more eye-catching than mere rows of houses. The pockets of high-density and high-rise residential properties provide a source of manpower and customers.
Ex-mining land
Further south, closer to Taman Sri Manja and Jalan Taman Seri Sentosa, the development is predominantly residential. In between these two sections, there are still tracts of ex-mining land awaiting development. Here, there is SJK(C) Yuk Chyun at PJS 1/35 as well as PJS One apartment, Rumah Insaniah Dr Siti Hasmah rehabilitation home for the physically disabled and Damai Senja apartment.
The developer had a relatively easy time planning the township as the reclaimed landform is flat. It did not have to worry about hills and undulating terrain. Thus, the layout of properties for PJS 1 is generally in a grid. Properties here face north, south, east or west.
It gets trickier at the south due to the boundary between Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Jalan PJS 1/52 adopts a curvature to accommodate this. Interestingly, access to the Taman Seri Sentosa flats (which is in Kuala Lumpur) is via Selangor’s PJS 1/52 or Jalan 18/17 at neighbouring Taman Kanagapuram. The latter was formerly a small housing estate with only one entry and exit point. Today, thanks to development all around, there are more access roads.
Properties along PJS 1/52 through 1/56 are landed residential units. Many of these are constructed in cul-de-sacs to provide a sense of safety and security. The layout of houses here and the adjoining PJS 3 is in a grid, so they face north, south, east or west.
Jasa and Sri Manja
Nestled within PJS 1 and 3 is a cluster of roads that do not follow the area’s naming convention. These are the Jasa and Sri Manja roads. They somehow merge for no clear rhyme or reason.
Lastly, at the southwest corner of Petaling Utama, we find Sri Manja and PJS 3 flats. They are located close to the Klang River to their south. Beyond the river is Kesas Highway and Taman Kinrara, Puchong. There is an intersection and bridge constructed here to link Petaling Utama to the highway for easy access to Shah Alam, Klang and Kuala Lumpur. It would certainly alleviate some of the congestion of Old Klang Road and the Federal Highway.
Yet for some reason, the final connection remains uncompleted. Perhaps the highway operators fear losing revenue if travellers find ingenious ways to bypass toll plazas and ride for free. Or perhaps they need to upgrade several roads or build additional bypasses to prevent traffic snarls within Petaling Utama and to minimise headaches for the residents here.
In landform environology, we need to consider the location of the mountains or hills. In this case, there is a large one called Gasing Hill to the north-east. Second, we look for the river. Here, it is the Klang River to the south, flowing from east to west. The river is slightly curving in a convex shape.From this perspective, the most conducive facing directions would be south to the river, south-west to the river and with the hills at the back, or west in parallel with the river’s flow.
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| The most visible landmark in Petaling Utama is Wisma Peter’s, the headquarters of Peter’s Holdings, which developed Petaling Utama. |
Earth energy
Earth energy flows from high land to low. When it reaches a medium of a different rigidity, such as a river, it is deflected along the riverbank and reflected back inland. The rebounding energy is considered gentle and homogenous. The effect is more pronounced when the river is curved in a concave to embrace the land. This is why south and south-west are good directions while the opposite are not as conducive.
Properties that follow the flow of the river are also considered good but properties that face upstream are likely to collect negative energies. However, there are several other factors to consider here. Firstly, the land is reclaimed from an old tin mine. Therefore, the soil structure is loose and porous. It is not sufficiently compacted to transfer earth energy smoothly. Think of a sponge and its ability to absorb, rather than transfer, vibrations. Overall, that means the whole area will not be strongly infused with energy.
As a whole, it will likely be lacklustre compared to solid land. It will take years for the land to settle. Even then, it is devoid of minerals and other elements. Reclaimed land is considered “lifeless” or “lack energy” in environology.
Secondly, there is a railway line to the north, separating Petaling Utama from Petaling Jaya. The KTM Komuter plies this route. Train tracks are “bad” in environology because of the wind turbulence created by trains running back and forth over them. Turbulence disrupts and disperses earth energy. Properties that are close to train lines often do not fare well.
Turbulence
Third, there is additional turbulence from fast-moving traffic. The Old Klang Road used to run in parallel with the tracks. It was annexed to form part of the New Pantai Expressway. Klang-bound traffic moves on the existing road (which has been upgraded) while those heading for Kuala Lumpur from Bandar Sunway run on elevated highways at several stretches. In a bid to alleviate rush-hour jams in the evenings, the authorities are preventing traffic from Kuala Lumpur from turning off into Jalan Templer in Petaling Jaya. Cars are required to travel further ahead and make a u-turn at Petaling Utama.
Elevated highways behave like mountains in environology. They are huge and exert energy downwards. Thus, properties along that main road that face these man-made mountains are meeting with fast-moving and powerful earth energy head-on. These can be overwhelming to them.Fourth, the presence of cul-de-sacs is not helpful; there is limited circulation of human energy, which may lead to stagnation.
Despite Petaling Utama’s seemingly ideal location – easy access to highways, close proximity to Petaling Jaya, Sungei Way, Bandar Sunway and Subang Jaya – it may take awhile before it rises in stature. Once the land is more settled and infused with more life – humans, animals, plants and so forth – it should improve. Then, the other landform factors will come in play as well.
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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.
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