Feng Shui masters revel as Asian property picks up<\/p>\n
Tara Joseph and Dominic Whiting, Reuters, Hong Kong\/Bangkok<\/p>\n
Asia's feng shui masters are thanking their lucky numbers as the
\nancient Chinese practice gains in popularity and the region's
\nproperty markets are on the upturn.<\/p>\n
Feng shui has become so popular among Asia's ethnic-Chinese
\nbusiness elite from Bangkok to Beijing that Western investors are
\nhiring practitioners, partly to please staff and local partners.<\/p>\n
For example, self-styled Singapore "queen of feng shui" Lyn
\nYap, who counts Oracle Systems, Citibank and ICI Paint among her
\nclients, said computer firm IBM paid US$6,000 for her services.<\/p>\n
She ensured the positioning and characteristics of IBM's
\nseven-storey office conformed to the principles of feng shui --
\nwhich means wind and water -- to maximize energy flows and
\nimprove the fortunes of the firm and its staff.<\/p>\n
According to The Feng Shui Society
\n(www.fengshuisociety.org.uk), the underlying philosophy
\nrecognizes that people and their environment are sustained by an
\ninvisible energy called chi. It moves like wind, but can eddy and
\nbecome trapped like water and stagnate.<\/p>\n
The skill of a Feng Shui consultant lies in creating space for
\nchi to flow and to remove obstacles, the society says.<\/p>\n
Yap, comparing the office to a mythical creature, says: "It
\nreally looked like a Kirin, which has a dragon's head, the body
\nof a horse, scales of a carp and usually stands on gold ingots.<\/p>\n
"So I told them to put yellow lights around the building to
\nrepresent the gold and switch them on every evening." She also
\nshifted water tanks on the roof because their position would have
\nmade women employees ill, and redesigned entrances so cars would
\npass in front of the building.<\/p>\n
"Cars can carry a lot of good energy to the place," Yap said.<\/p>\n
Feng shui is a matter of high politics beneath Hong Kong's
\nsteely skyline, a feast of modern design thanks to famed
\narchitects such as I.M. Pei, Sir Norman Foster and Cesar Pelli.<\/p>\n
The city's incoming chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, set up a
\ntemporary office ahead of the British handover to Chinese rule in
\n1997 but complained that the feng shui was no good and moved.<\/p>\n
The wealthy businessman then refused to occupy Government
\nHouse, a sprawling colonial-era building where British governors
\nlived and entertained, saying the feng shui was obliterated by a
\nnew Bank of China skyscraper.<\/p>\n
Feng shui experts said the building was shaped like a knife to
\n"cut" the last British governor, Chris Patten, and some blamed it
\nfor a 1997 economic crisis.<\/p>\n
"It's becoming quite common practice for big corporations to
\nengage a feng shui master when they embark on a major project,"
\nsaid Edward Shen, president of the Hong Kong Institute of
\nArchitects. "The costs can run into unimaginable figures."<\/p>\n
American architect I.M. Pei defended his design for the Bank
\nof China building, saying it replicated a bamboo stalk to
\nsymbolize enterprising spirit and future growth.<\/p>\n
After years in the doldrums, Hong Kong's property market
\nappears to have turned the corner this year. As the city begins
\nto revel in its role as a financial center for mainland Chinese
\ndeals, luxury homes are selling briskly.<\/p>\n
Property prices are seen rising by 20 percent in 2004, having
\ndropped up to 65 percent since 1997.<\/p>\n
"It's a settling energy period and the general property market
\nwill pick up," said Feng Shui consultant Jill Lander, a former
\nhairdresser who went to Hong Kong as the wife of a colonial
\npoliceman.<\/p>\n
"If you buy now you will reap considerable returns," she said,
\nadding that her consultation fees for homes start at HK$2,500
\n(US$320).<\/p>\n
Shen said home buyers could save cash by doing some simple
\nfeng shui checks themselves.<\/p>\n
You avoid sharp objects facing your main window and you should
\nnot be able to see through a home from the main door -- money
\ncoming through the front door would slip straight out.<\/p>\n
"I know friends who would knock down walls and re-plan entire
\nunits based on the advice of a feng shui master," Shen said.<\/p>\n
Feng Shui masters say the practice is making a comeback in a
\nconstruction boom in its birthplace, China, although Communist
\nauthorities look on it with some disdain.<\/p>\n
"There's a sort of underground network that utilizes feng shui
\nexperts and a lot of the newest buildings use it," said
\nCalifornia-based James Jay, who runs feng shui study tours to
\nBeijing's Forbidden City.<\/p>\n
"It's accepted as a social or historical study, but to
\npractice is frowned upon," he said. "I've heard it's not wise to
\nadvertise you do it because there could be some backlash. Masters
\nI know practice strictly by word of mouth."<\/p>\n
Although the feng shui business lifts with property booms,
\npractitioners say they can also do well in a cyclical downturn.<\/p>\n
Yap is one of around 30 full-time feng shui practitioners in
\nSingapore who are rushed off their feet despite a property market
\nthat is still struggling to emerge from the Asian economic crisis
\nand the bursting of the tech industry bubble.<\/p>\n
"People just didn't understand why the economic crisis came,
\nand many turned to feng shui," Yap said. "It's now very popular
\nand I'm getting a bit tired because there's so much business."<\/p>\n
Yap has told the government it just needs to alter a giant
\nstatue of a merlion facing Singapore on adjacent Sentosa island.<\/p>\n
"It's always biting at Singapore, it's terrible. The economy
\nwould be really, really good if they just turned its head."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/feng-shui-masters-revel-as-asian-property-picks-up-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}