Properties from a feng shui perspective: Part 114
By DAVID KOH AND JOE CHOO | Sept 3, 2009
Feng Shui: Middle Valley, Big Mall
It is interesting that in the Klang Valley, very few people seem to capitalise on the name, except perhaps for the Mid Valley Megamall, or to be precise, the Mid Valley City.
Mid Valley City consists of the Megamall, the Gardens and North Point (currently under construction). However, mention the word “Mid Valley” and the Megamall comes to mind. Commuters between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya cannot miss this massive landmark, especially during sales and festive seasons: the Federal Highway is always choked, to their chagrin! (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
The Megamall complex comprises a six-storey shopping mall (including a convention centre), an office tower block, 30 “signature” offices and two hotels. It opened in 1999.
The Boulevard Hotel opened in mid-2005 while the Gardens was completed in 2007. The latter is positioned as an upmarket and exclusive property. It comprises another shopping mall and several towers including a six-star hotel, residential suites and offices. The mall is positioned as an upscale shopping centre catering to those with more refined tastes and a budget to match.
Perhaps it is too upmarket and exclusive, for the crowd here is very noticeable by their absence! Is there some kind of incompatibility between Malaysians and upscale shops? After all, did not the same thing happen to Lot 10?
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From a bird’s eye view, the Mid Valley Megamall looks like an eye, or perhaps a pearl in an oyster.
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Poor draw
Attempts have been made to draw attention and clientele to the Gardens. After all, what good is its proximity to the crowded Megamall if there is no spillover? There is an overhead bridge to facilitate crossing over in air-conditioned comfort (it worked for Ikano and The Curve); there is a covered walkway for those who do not want to bother going up one storey and may find the sun or rain too bothersome; and there is even a tunnel near the food court.
Perhaps there is another reason for this ...
The Mid Valley City used to be part of the KTM train yard and some squatter settlements. Back then, it was an eyesore that spoiled the view from the Federal Highway. When the project was launched, it met with scepticism and a fair share of problems. Some say it was due to bad karma as a Hindu temple was demolished to make way for the complex. The project passed through several developers’ hands before it finally got off the ground.
Even its launch was not ideal as the country was still reverberating from the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the political unrest that followed then Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s ouster from power.
Yet, the project succeeded beyond expectations and is now rated one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country! It is always crowded and traffic can be heavy even on a quiet day. Searching for vacant parking spaces is always a test of patience and perseverance.
Brilliant planning?
Sure, we can attribute this to brilliant planning – there are cineplexes, convention centres, eateries, residences, offices and hotels all within the same vicinity, thereby supplying a constant stream of visitors and patrons to ensure its success. It also has very good access roads. But then, there are many other similar projects throughout the Klang Valley and yet they do not enjoy the same level of success. Some are even struggling to survive!
Perhaps, karma was restored when the developers agreed to rebuild the temple, even putting it adjacent to the complex!
Did that really solve the problem? Who knows? Such matters are beyond the scope of this article. Environology does not operate in the realm of metaphysics. However, we can say that the temple’s location and orientation are ideal. Could environologic factors be a contributory factor for its success?
From a bird’s eye view, the Mid Valley Megamall looks like an eye, or perhaps a pearl in an oyster. The shell comprises the Klang River on one side and the Federal Highway-Jalan Syed Putra on the other.
Running alongside the river is also Jalan Maarof, an extension from Bangsar’s Jalan Maarof, which links to the Megamall and the Federal Highway. The internal road, Lingkungan Syed Putra, forms yet another embrace around the mall.
Of roads and rivers
Roads are similar to rivers but the effects are not identical. Cars are analogous to water in a river. Fast moving cars are not good while slow moving ones are good. Yes, traffic congestion is actually a good thing if one knows what to do with it. It also shows that people are attracted to the area.
Lingkungan Syed Putra has a lot of entry points but very few exits. There is a major ramp exiting the Federal Highway into it. From Old Klang Road, there is an exit that slips traffic into it. From the extended Jalan Maarof, traffic can slip out and join Lingkungan Syed Putra.
The exits are less obvious: one goes to Jalan Maarof (into Klang-bound Federal Highway) and the other is a narrow slip road into the Federal Highway near Volvo. Until the Seputeh exit was built, visitors used to have trouble getting out of Mid Valley, often ending up circling the property once or twice before they could “escape”.
That was a very good arrangement in terms of generating an abundant energy pool! Traffic on Lingkungan Syed Putra goes in one direction, swirling like a whirlpool. It helps generate energy from the humans inside – the Chinese call this “chi” or breath. It also traps the energy within the embrace, preventing it from escaping. Thus, there is a constant build-up of energy that infuses the buildings to become people magnets.
People may hate the place, complaining about it being so crowded, its roads being congested and parking spaces being hard to find, but they still join the maddening crowd there!
Devious plan?
However, we do not think this is part of a devious plan to lure customers for obviously if it were true, the developers would not have opened the new Seputeh exit to ease congestion and aid in traffic dispersal!
The mall has four main entrances at its north, south, east and west. This is quite a smart move as the building can change its orientation simply by opening and closing selected entrances. Thus, in certain years when the planet Jupiter exerts its strong gravitational influence at certain points, the building can adjust to this accordingly.
The Boulevard Hotel is a recent addition to the complex, and has its entrance near the North Court. The North Court entrance is usually frequented by visitors who arrive via the KTM Komuter. The train line runs up to the North Point development before veering off towards Seputeh. This is quite fortunate as it reduces the dispersal effect of trains in the area. Although strong winds generated by trains can disperse and drain the energy pool here, the influx of energy appears to be stronger.
Relatively speaking, north is the poorest or more undesirable direction to face. This direction is upstream to the Klang River. An upstream facing property gathers a lot of detritus, much like a fishing net set to face upstream: all the flotsam and jetsam get entangled in the net. Downstream facing nets allow fish to swim in during high tide and entrap them when the tide goes out.
Upstream facing properties are likely to give the occupants a lot of mental distress. We are concerned about the Boulevard’s orientation as it is not ideal, from this perspective.
The older Cititel Hotel faces east and has its back against the river. When earth energy travels down from high land and reaches a river or ocean, it is reflected and deflected. Much of its velocity is depleted and it is a gentle, homogenous pool. This is very conducive and the best way to tap into it is to face the river.
Mitigation
Properties with their backs to water, by default, face high land. Earth energy is still moving and therefore too powerful to be of use. In Cititel’s case, it is mitigated by the presence of the embracing Lingkungan Syed Putra. Another plus in its favour is that the entrance is actually on higher ground. The road is actually lower in front, forming a mini-valley that shields it from the hills of Seputeh.
The western entrance is quite good as it actually faces the embrace of the Klang River. This faces the “signature” block of buildings called the Boulevard. By design, the Boulevard faces the Megamall, which means the shops here are oriented towards the east, away from the river. Thus comparatively speaking, businesses here may not be as vibrant or successful as those within the mall although they are just a stone’s throw away.
The Boulevard row is actually sandwiched by the Megamall and the Gardens. As we mentioned earlier, the Gardens is not as hotly received as the Megamall though they share the same management. If we were to examine the landform, one would find that the building faces east, away from the river. This is a sensible orientation from a functional point of view. It depends on visitors coming from the Megamall.
However, this goes against environological principles which say properties should face the river. If an access road had been built to ring the Gardens, and the complex is oriented to face this road, it would conform to this principle.
Furthermore, a section of this complex is built on stilts – the ground is lower. In such cases, again it would be better to face the river as it would have a low front and high back. As it stands now, the complex faces away from the river and has a lower back.
Time and again, we have seen that properties with such characteristics tend to perform poorly, be they residential, commercial or industrial properties. Therefore, it is possible that the complex’s orientation could be contributing to its disappointing performance.
No amount of covered walkways will help. In fact, the underground tunnel is not such a good idea either because in tunnels, winds move fairly quickly. In environology, this is not good as it disperses energy pools. For proof of this, just look at all businesses set up in tunnels anywhere in the world. They could be booths or shops set up in underground train systems. They could be tunnels linking two buildings. None of them ever do well. Pedestrian traffic simply breezes by.
2010 Outlook
The year is drawing to a close. Are you curious to know what is in store for you next year? Do you agree that being forewarned is forearmed? Don’t miss our talk on 2010 Outlook this Sunday at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Participants will receive an exclusive book that outlines things to do and not to do, plus a monthly forecast calendar.
Date Sunday 8th November 2009.
Time: 10am – 3pm
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
Admission Ticket: RM78 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.
For more information, call 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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