By David Koh and Joe Choo | Sep 11, 2009
Feng Shui: Bangsar Streets in the Lime-Light
Jalan Bangsar, as you may know, is not the main road into the Bangsar area. Back in the old days, the suburb was a rubber estate found outside the small town of Kuala Lumpur. The main road that runs into Bangsar is actually Jalan Maarof. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
It was formerly a small road that ran through the rubber estate. Today, it has been upgraded, of course, in a major artery servicing Bangsar and connecting traffic from Brickfields to Damansara.
The road follows the undulation of the terrain, bobbing up and down as it runs from Jalan Bangsar towards the ridge at Bukit Bandaraya. It also curves and bends like a snake, which creates some interesting situations from an Environology perspective.
From Jalan Bangsar, Jalan Maarof begins at a gentle incline in a north-west direction. Driving along in this direction, one would see Dataran Maybank and Kompleks Niaga Utama on the right. On the left was the former Lever Brothers factory.
The Lever Brothers factory was an iconic landmark in Bangsar’s early days. It began operations in 1949 to produce soap and margarine. Back then, it boasted of being the biggest in the country, with the capacity to wrap 124 pieces of soap a minute.
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View of Jalan Maarof leading into Bangsar.
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Unilever
In 1965, Lever Brothers – now Unilever – added a new factory to produce Wall’s ice cream. It continued to expand with an edible oil refining plant in 1973. However, manufacturing activities were eventually relocated to Bukit Raja in Klang. Unilever eventually moved out of its Bangsar premises in 2003, settling into nearby Menara Telekom.
Environologically speaking, the original headquarters and factories at Jalan Bangsar were very conducive locations for the company. The site faced the Klang River which curves in a slight embrace. Backing it is high land from which earth energy flows.
Thus, earth energy streaming down from the highland is collected at the riverbank in a gentle homogenous pool. Offices and factories that faced the main road are in a good position to tap into this pool and thrive. This probably explains the company’s longevity and prosperity over the years.
Should the company remain at the old premises, then? Perhaps not.
For one thing, everything changes in cycles. After 56 years, the premises would have exhausted its internal energy and require re-ignition or to re-energised to infuse it with fresh energy.
Different scenario
Then again, today’s landscape is far different. There is an LRT track very close by. Furthermore, Jalan Maarof has been “extended” to join Mid-Valley Megamall, which resulted in a flyover running just outside the premises.
These structures have a disruptive effect on the energy pool. Fast-moving traffic and trains generate air turbulence that can disperse earth energy. The flyover creates an artificial high landform that now exerts energy.
Therefore, staying on may not be such a good idea after all. It would be interesting to see how this vacant plot of land will be developed. There certainly will not be a lack of interest since this is considered prime property by real estate developers and agents. We will also be watching to see if they can defy Environology principles and succeed.
Continuing up Jalan Maarof, we also notice that it has become somewhat of a “twilight zone”. The properties on the right all face the busy main road and thus become unsuitable for residential living. The high rentals charged for such prime properties also make them too expensive to be rented out as homes.
Thus many of these buildings are now re-designated as commercial properties, and converted into shops and offices. Some have even been demolished to make way for multi-storey buildings and showrooms.
Low back, high front
A good idea from a land utilisation perspective, but based on the landform, it may not be so. The right side of the road actually tapers downhill. That means properties on this side have a low back and high front, which is not very conducive.
Properties that face uphill are bombarded with moving energy from the high land. This is unstable energy and should be avoided. Properties that face downhill are sheltered from this influx as they are turned toward the opposite direction.
This is quite evident in the segment between Jalan Bangsar and Jalan Ara. There are many converted houses here, which look really nice and chic. They even provide exclusive parking for their clients in the driveways.
Yet these driveways are almost always empty, and there does not seem to be much business done here. Some also have a high rate of turnover, indicating how poor business had been for the previous tenant.
On the other hand, there are some shops in the row behind them, fronting Lorong Maarof, that seem to be very well. The parking lots are filled and business is doing okay despite their hidden location away from the main road. This is likely because they have a high back and a low front.
Undulating terrain
Like Lorong Maarof, Jalan Limau Manis, Limau Nipis and Limau Kasturi, run in parallel with Jalan Maarof. Since these roads are long and go through undulating terrain, it is difficult to give a general description of the landform without breaking them up into smaller segments.
Take the area south of Lorong Limau Manis 2, for example. The “Jalan” roads run parallel in a north-south direction, curving to one side as they approach Lorong Maarof 1. Here, there is a gentle valley along Jalan Limau Nipis. The land inclines on both sides, toward Jalan Maarof and Limau Kasturi.
Due to the layout of the road, houses here are arrayed on each side. Therefore, one side will face downhill and the opposite will face uphill, with the exception of Jalan Limau Nipis. Houses on both sides face the downhill slope.
Technically, this valley is considered a virtual river. This is the natural path for rainwater to run. Also, according to Environology sayings: “Between two mountains there is a river, between two rivers there is a mountain” regardless of the presence of water or a big hill.
The houses here are among the earliest to be constructed when Bangsar was first developed from a rubber estate. Therefore, they look quite small by today’s more demanding standards. Nonetheless, most properties here are well maintained, suggesting that the inhabitants are not doing too badly.
Of course, there are some houses that look a bit neglected and run-down, but there are not many. The affected houses could be for a variety of reasons, such as their Life Profile (based on their birth details) may not be ideal for the master of the house recently.
Mixed fortunes
Remember, Lorong Maarof, Jalan Limau Manis, Nipis and Kasturi all curve like they are part of some concentric rings near Lorong Maarof 1. This presents an interesting situation.
Curves are considered good and bad because they create an embracing arm and an outer elbow respectively. Properties within an embracing road would do well if they are facing the curve of the embrace. Like an embracing river, this structure enables earth energy to rebound at an angle and collect at a focal point, much like a parabolic dish. Properties that face this pool can tap into the energies there.
On the other hand, those sitting at the outer elbow are not likely to do well, regardless of their facing direction. This is mainly because earth energy that arrives and rebounds of the elbow (like with a river) will be scattered and disperse due to the convex angle of the surface. There is no chance for the energy to collect into gentle homogenous pools.
Judging from the landform, properties along Lorong Maarof, Jalan Limau Manis and one side of Limau Nipis at these bends may not be very conducive. Low-fronted houses face the elbow while high-fronted ones face the embrace.
Thus, the fortunes may be quite mixed. The good is cancelled out by the bad; the bad is mitigated by the good. The occupants of houses along this stretch may also experience yo-yo-like ups and downs.
However, the opposite side of Limau Nipis ought to do better as houses here face lowland and are embraced by the curve. Likewise with Limau Kasturi, the embrace is also an embracing curve.
Alas, that also means their opposite neighbours are likely do fare worse. They have a higher front which is compounded by sitting at an outer curve.
*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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