Students Check Out Building Site

By VIVIENNE PAL
Photos by CHUA KOK HWA

WITH dark skies looming in the horizon, rain seemed imminent yet the feng shui practitioners were determined to go on with their site audit.

Armed with their notes and luo-pan, the 30 practitioners – all students of the Feng Shui Mastery programme conducted by feng shui consultant and best-selling author Joey Yap – pressed on with the final part of their programme.


Site audit: Yap (in front, in shirt and tie) surveying the land with his students.

The students came from all over the world, including Poland, South Africa and Singapore, and were given about an hour to survey the landscape before returning to present their findings to Yap.

The site audit was conducted at the construction site of the semi-detached Villa Green 3A fairway villas in Damansara Indah.

The 86 units are being built on 4.05 hectares (10 acres) of land by Damansara Impian Sdn Bhd, a joint venture company between the Di-jaya Group and PKNS.

Each fairway villa consists of eight rooms and bathrooms housed within three storeys and a built-up area of 540 sq m (6,000 sq ft).

According to Yap, the case study was a vital part of the programme, as external feng shui is more important than internal feng shui.


Feng shui practice: Students consulting the luopan during the case study in Damansara Indah.

“Knowing the land contour and formation is very important in feng shui, because the feng shui within the home should be tapped to the external,” said Yap.

“I always say, don't sweat the small stuff. If you get the big things right, then you don't have to worry so much about the small things; if the feng shui within is tapped to the external, then you can do anything you want inside the house.”

In spite of the blazing sun which came out immediately after the rain, the students went on doggedly with their task, and were seen discussing their findings in groups.

“It's not easy, but I am very interested in feng shui and have been doing it on a part-time basis,” said Sonice Chau from Singapore.

“This is our graduating class, and I am determined to succeed.”

Four Celestial Animals

East: the Bluegreen/Green Dragon (Spring equinox) --- Niao (Bird), α Hydrae
South: the Red/Crimson Bird (Summer solstice) --- Huo (Fire), α Scorpionis
West: the White Tiger (Autumn equinox) --- Xu (Emptiness, Void), α, β Aquarii
North: the Dark/Black (Mysterious) Turtle (Winter solstice) --- Mao (Hair), η Tauri (the Pleiades)

Ba-Gua

Ba-Gua is one of the main tools used to analyze the feng shui of any given space. Translated from Chinese, it literally means "8 areas".

The 8 directions used in the Feng Shui Ba Gua are the following: North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, and Northwest. Each direction has an Element, Color, and Life Area associated with it. Below is the summary of the eight feng shui guas.


North (compass reading from 337.5 to 22.5)
Element: Water
Color(s): Blue and Black
Life Area: Career/Path in Life.

Northeast (compass reading from 22.5 to 67.5)
Element: Earth
Color(s): Beige, Light Yelow, and Sandy/Earthy
Life Area: Spiritual Growth/Self-Cultivation.

East (compass reading from 67.5 to 112.5)
Element: Wood
Color(s): Brown and Green
Life Area: Health & Family.

Southeast (compass reading from 112.5 to 157.5)
Element: Wood
Color(s): Brown and Green
Life Area: Prosperity & Abundance.

South (compass reading from 157.5 to 202.5)
Element: Fire
Color(s): Red, Orange, Purple, and Bright Yellow
Life Area: Fame & Reputation.

Southwest (compass reading from 202.5 to 247.5)
Element: Earth
Color(s): Beige, Light Yelow, and Sandy/Earthy
Life Area: Love & Marriage.

West (compass reading from 247.5 to 292.5)
Element: Metal
Color(s): White and Gray
Life Area: Creativity/Children.

Northwest (compass reading from 292.2 to 337.5)
Element: Metal
Color(s): White and Gray
Life Area: Helpful People/Blessings.


Simply stated, Ba Gua is the energy map of any given space that gives you guidance on creating the most harmonious energy flow in your space.

Also Known As: Pakua, Pa Kua

Source: Rodika Tchi

What Is Feng Shui ?

Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals the ways to balance the energies of the environment to assure health, wealth and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

Feng shui, pronounced in English as "fung shway", also known as "Kan-Yu" which means 'The Law of Heaven and Earth’. "Feng" means "wind" and "shui" means "water", literally translates as "wind-water". In Chinese culture gentle wind and clear water have always been associated with good harvest and good health, thus "good feng shui" came to mean good livelihood and fortune, while "bad feng shui" came to mean hardship and misfortune.

Feng Shui is based on the Taoist vision and understanding of nature, particularly on the idea that the land is alive and filled with energy. The ancient Chinese believed that the land's energy could either make or break the kingdom, so to speak. The theories of yin and yang, as well as the five elements, which are some of the basic aspects of a feng shui analysis, also come from Taoism.

Early feng shui relied on astronomy to find correlations between humans and the universe. The goal of feng shui as practiced today is to situate the human built environment on spots with good qi. The "perfect spot" is a location and an axis in time. Some areas are not suitable for human settlement and should be left in their natural state.

The main tools used in a feng shui analysis are the Compass and the Ba-Gua. The Ba-Gua is an octagonal map or grid containing the symbols of the I Ching, the ancient oracle on which Feng Shui is based. It is one of the easiest methods used to ascertain the Feng Shui of any given environment.

The feng shui compass, also called Lo-Pan, is used to access deeper information about the site or the building. It consists of bands of concentric rings arranged around the magnetic needle. "Lo" means "everything" and "Pan" means "bowl", which can be interpreted as the key to mysteries of the universe.

Feng Shui offers a variety of remedies and enhancements to improve people's lives and rectify inauspicious situations. It is extensively used in both home and business environments all over the world. Although some levels of feng shui are easy to understand and apply, the "core" knowledge takes years of study. Just like traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui knowledge is very deep and complex.