By David Koh and Joe Choo | May 21, 2009
Country ParkCity
In our previous article, we visited sections 62 and 62A of Bandar Manjalara. The township today includes several recent sub-developments, namely Medan Putra Business Centre, Sunway Damansara and Desa ParkCity. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
Medan Putra is designated section 62D by road-naming convention. Sunway Damansara and Desa ParkCity are high-end property developments, complete with guarded entrances and manicured landscaping.
From a landform perspective, these properties are in an ideal and conducive environment. They are practically surrounded on all sides by high land. There is the Main Range to the north (actually it is a mountain claw from the Main Range toward Sungei Buloh), the Bandar Sri Damansara hill on the west, and Bukit Penchala on the south and east boundary. However, this area is not quite a bowl-shaped valley as it slants further downhill to the Damansara Puchong Highway (LDP).
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From a landform perspective, Desa ParkCity is in an ideal and conducive environment.
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Earth energy descends from high land to low. Being surrounded by highland on all sides means the area is awash with energy from all sides. They collect somewhere here, but rather than stagnate in a bowl, energy continues to circulate and move by draining into the valley formed by the LDP.
MAN-MADE LAKE
Generally, this entire area should do well, although the best ones are those that face a downhill slope or an embracing water feature – river, lakes and so forth. Desa Parkcity has a manmade lake in the middle of the development. Properties that face this lake ought to do well, provided that the lakefront forms an embrace rather than an elbow in relation to them.
The developers recently added a shopping arcade here by the lakeside. It affords visitors, especially diners, a view of the water, no doubt at a premium to the tenants. It looks posh and upmarket, in line with the demographics of residents here.
Environologically-speaking, we are concerned for its long-term success. The entire complex has its back to the lake, which goes against the principles of good feng shui. Earth energy is stopped and deflected by bodies of water. Some of this energy continue along the banks of the waterfront while some bounce back. If the waterfront is shaped like the embrace of an arm, the rebounding energy will collect in a gentle, homogenous pool. If it is shaped like an outer elbow, the energy simply spreads outward and does not collect.
To gain the most benefit from this phenomenon, properties need to be located within an embracing formation and face the waterfront to tap into the energy pool. Therefore, the shopping arcade would do well to face the lake, rather than turn its back to it. Yet, turning away from the lake is exactly what it does now. Aesthetics is obviously the main priority here, not environology.
NOVELTY FACTOR
For the moment, this will be a hive of activity, due to the novelty factor and the simultaneous infusion of energy from new tenants and curious visitors. However, we fear that over time as the novelty wears off, this may become increasingly deserted and force businesses to close. If that happens, it could lead to a vicious cycle that would further reduce the number of visitors and force even more businesses to close.
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This would be an interesting case, since one of the arcade’s main tenants is MaxValu, the supermarket arm of Jusco. Since it sells provisions and essential goods, it ought to enjoy regular patronage from the residents nearby. Indeed, it should. If its main entrance faces the waterfront, its odds of it surviving or doing better would be much improved. However, that still would not spare the other tenants, especially those facing away from the lake. Visitors to the arcade may find a high turnover rate for such businesses: new ones keep stepping in to take over the failed ventures. We find it interesting because it would be a good test of our hypothesis.
Across the other side of the LDP valley, we come to Bandar Sri Damansara. This is one of the early landmark developments that heralded the rapid growth of Sungai Buloh. It is characterised by a hill ringed by Persiaran Perdana. This road provides main access points into the housing estate and also connects the various sections to one another.
Apart from the central hill, there are also several high points: Bukit Penchala to its south-east and Bukit Lanjan to its west. Overall, it is situated within a mountain claw emanating from the Main Range towards Sungai Buloh.
RUGBY BALL
If one were to look at the map of Bandar Sri Damansara, he would think that it was designed based on a rugby ball. Persiaran Margosa and Persiaran Kenanga are symmetrical internal roads that service smaller roads embraced by Persiaran Perdana. Outside this ring, there are Section 7, 12, 13, 15 (also known as Ara, Cempaka, Meranti and Damar, respectively in line with the timber theme of Sri Damansara). The commercial district is found in Section 13, on the outer side of Persiaran Damansara. Nearby, Jalan Meranti branches out from the main road to provide access to SK Bandar Sri Damansara 1, SMK Bandar Sri Damansara 2 and several condominiums, such as Sri Cempaka, Sri Damansara 1 and 2, Tiara Damansara and Paradesa Tropica. It rejoins Persiaran Perdana further south.
A small stream/monsoon drain can be found on the eastern border, near Mutiara Villa condo and Sri Damansara Court. This runs north along the boundary of the township and turns west, parallel to Jalan Kuala Selangor. It is joined by other streams to become Hampar River.
Environologically speaking, properties located on the inside of the ring road are in a great location, since the concave embrace has the ability to pool energy coming down from the hill. The gradient of the roads here is quite gradual and thus the movement of earth energy is not too fast.
DOWN WITHIN THE RING ROAD
However, not all areas are consistently good (or bad). It depends on where the high land is located relative to each property. The ideal is one that faces downhill. If this happens to be on the north side of Sri Damansara, then a north-facing property within the ring road is considered good because it has a high back and low front, is embraced by the road, and faces a river. Properties on the west side within the embrace of the road can benefit from facing west, as this again puts a high back and low front, and follows the flow of the river. However, properties on the opposite (outer) side of the ring, particularly the rows of shop-offices, are not in an ideal location. The buildings here face a much higher main road and sit on the outer elbow, to boot.
The internal main roads – Margosa and Kenanga – embrace sections 11 and 8, respectively. However, this also means some parts of sections 10 and 9 sit on the outer elbow formed by these roads. That means some properties here may have a high back and low front, but the benefits could be offset by the outer elbow’s energy deflecting effects.
Bandar Sri Damansara’s industrial district is located further north of the residential section, separated by Jalan Kuala Selangor, the main road that connects Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Selangor. The Sri Damansara Industrial Park and its neighbouring industrial parks – Ehsan Jaya, Tago and Kepong – are located in the embrace of the Sungai Buloh mountain claw from the Main Range towards Sungai Buloh.
Also within this embrace are a few other housing estates such as Taman Desa Jaya, Ehsan, Usaha Jaya, Aman, Desa Aman and Wangsa Permai. The southern boundary of this area is demarcated by the Middle Ring Road 2, which merges with Jalan Kuala Selangor after the LDP.
LANDFORM FEATURES
As mentioned earlier, the Hampas River runs parallel to Jalan Kuala Selangor. Several streams (or monsoon drains, if you prefer) can be found here, leading to Hampas in the south and the Keruh River in the north-east. Another main landform “feature” is the KTM Komuter service. The railway tracks cut through this area, separating Sri Damansara Industrial Park on the south with the rest up north. As mentioned before, railway tracks are not conducive for the collection of earth energy as the strong winds generated by moving trains can dissipate the energy. There are no train stations here to slow the trains down: the stops are in Kepong and Sungai Buloh. However, as a consolation, the MRR2-Jalan Kuala Selangor highway curves to embrace the industrial park. Put everything together and you will conclude that the most conducive facing direction would be south. This puts high land on the back and low land in front. It also faces the river and the embrace of the highway.
Thus, it is no surprise that office and factory buildings along Jalan Kuala Selangor – all facing south – appear to do well. These buildings are accessible via a sliproad between the buildings and Jalan Kuala Selangor. Under normal circumstances, such a slip road would be located on the other side of the building but that is not possible here because the railway track runs directly behind, almost parallel the main road here.
Wherever the train forms a convex elbow, the main road forms an embrace correspondingly. This is hugely beneficial to the companies sitting here. On the other hand, Wisma Solid Gold on the opposite side of the road sits on the convex or outer elbow of the road and Hampas River.
ONE OF THOSE THINGS
Based on the embracing landform it enjoys, the area north of Sri Damansara Industrial Park ought to do well. Yet, the overall area looks rundown and poorly maintained. Could this simply be “one of those things”, that factories always look like that because their core activities are manufacturing and production, not sales, marketing or aesthetics? That may be true for factories, but it cannot be the same excuse for the flats, apartments and houses here?
We suppose when housing projects were developed here in the early days, the developers felt that the location was considered too far away from town. They could have decided to pitch their project to the middle and lower income groups. That would mean keeping their costs under control by building smaller houses.
Therefore it is possible that the entire area has a lowly image because of the house design and layout. Then again, it could also be the poor layout that contributed to the continued image. Bangsar, for example, has plenty of small, narrow homes, too but the property value increased tremendously over the years.
Anyway, with the mountain’s embrace at the north, the most conducive facing direction is south. This generally means the properties will have a high back and low front. South is where the Hampas River is located. This also parallels the downstream flow of the Keruh River.
Yet, many properties here do not have that orientation. Those that face south ought to help their occupants do well while their north-facing (including north-west and north-east) neighbours are more likely to struggle for success. Those that face east and south-east should do quite all right, too while people in homes facing west and south-west may find difficulty in attaining success.
Furthermore, consideration must also be given to the railway tracks. The line curves in several places. It embraces the industrial parks of Tago, Kepong and KIP. This is quite good in terms of an embrace (Jalan Kuala Selangor and Hampas River form the same embrace here, too) but remember, trains can dissipate energy, so the further away from it, the better.
The tracks form a convex with Ehsan Jaya Industrial Park. This is a cause for concern as a convex dissipates earth energy and the train’s movement disperses it. With proper planning, this spot should have just been converted into a park for public use.
*This series on feng shui and real estate properties appear courtesy of the Malaysia Institute of Geomancy Sciences (MINGS). You can send in your queries on feng shui and properties via our feedback link at the bottom of the page. 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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