Feng Shui: Semi-circular road

Our tour of the Klang Valley takes us to Jalan Utara in Petaling Jaya. This is a curved road north of the city’s administrative centre and the Federal Highway. There are several houses located within the semi-circle formed by Jalan Utara and the highway, along with several commercial and residential buildings. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)

Apart from the Bukit Bintang Boys School also located here which appears to be doing all right, the other properties do not seem to be doing too well. Perhaps this can be attributed to the landform.

Jalan Utara is generally higher than the semi-circle it embraces. Thus, the semi-circle is like one-half of a bowl-shaped valley with the road acting as the rim. The only exception would be at the beginning of Lorong Utara Kecil where the Church of St Paul sits on a hillock.

The bowl is also “broken” by a valley and a monsoon drain at the north-east. This valley is formed by mountain ridges on Jalan Bukit and Jalan 12/14. The monsoon drain runs between the Crystal Crown Hotel and the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building, until it reaches the Astaka field. Here it is diverted along the boundaries of the field and joins the Federal Highway’s drainage system. This “river” is then channelled below the highway and continues its course behind Wisma Thrifty.

When properties are built along a river or road, it is always good to place them within the embrace of the river. This formation has the ability to collect gentle homogenous earth energy like a parabolic dish. The land on the other side is not as conducive as the outer edge or convex side is a shape that deflects and disperses earth energy.

No beneficial energy
By this token, properties along the outer edge of Jalan Utara do not enjoy any beneficial earth energy. On the positive side, they generally have a high back and a low front, and face a direction which is parallel to the river’s flow. These are good orientations that help mitigate the convex landform. This means that the occupants of the houses here would experience a roller-coaster of ups and downs.

There will be good times mixed with wildly dipping bad times. The occupants’ ability to capitalise on the good times and weather the bad would depend on other factors, such as their Gua number, the location of their house’s entrance, kitchen and master bedroom, and their personal Life Profile. When they are in a good period, things would go very well but when they enter a down phase, the bad may get the better of them. Overall, not an ideal place to stay long-term unless appropriate changes are made to mitigate matters.

Properties within the embrace of Jalan Utara benefit from the pool of homogenous earth energy collected by the road’s parabolic curve. However, that is the only good point here. Most of these properties also face high land, and some are counter to the river’s flow direction. These are considered to be poor orientations in landform Environology.

Earth energy originates from the peak of high land and flows down to sea level. In its original form, it is powerful and properties should not be oriented to face this energy head-on. Properties that face uphill or high land would be bombarded by this powerful energy and their occupants would be overwhelmed.

When it comes to rivers, properties should face the embracing curve of a river, or at least face the direction of the river flow. Those that face upstream tend to gather detritus flowing down the river. This would create mental stress for the occupant.

Worse roller-coaster
Therefore, properties along Jalan Utara within its embrace are likely to experience a more acute roller-coaster ride than their neighbours across the road. Though they may collect conducive gentle earth energy, the energy is also mixed with powerful force coming directly from high land.

Furthermore, properties facing north or north-east are also facing upstream, which can cloud their judgement. If this happens during good times, it simply means missed opportunities. What do you think would happen if their thoughts are garbled during the bad times?

Could this explain why the Crystal Crown Hotel somehow could not match the popularity and success of the PJ Hilton nearby? With the exception of the Singgahsana and Shah’s Village Motel, there are not many other choices in this area for business travellers to stay.

The Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building seems to attract only tenants linked to medical conditions, such as associations for breast cancer welfare, lupus and previously, spastic children. Perhaps it is stated in the management company’s charter to provide low rent premises for such organisations, or perhaps they could not attract a different type of clientele as tenants.

Filem Negara seems to have taken a step back as many promotional clips by various government ministries and agencies now go to private companies with a more commercial flair.

Jalan Utara is generally higher than the semi-circle it embraces.

Lorong Utara
Lorong Utara is a small loop that extends off Jalan Utara. Bungalows are located both within and outside this road. Again, it is amazing how different these properties are in terms of their appearance and upkeep. There is a house at the end of a T-junction that is positively run down. Properties on the outer elbow of the road as it curves don’t seem to be in good shape.

The degree of upkeep or deterioration appears to commensurate with the number of good and bad landform factors. Properties facing uphill and the elbow of the road are the worst off. Properties with high backs and low fronts fare better especially if they are in the embrace of the road. Overall, properties facing south-west have the best orientation and do far better than their neighbours.

The Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital faces south. This is good because the land slopes downhill from north to south. This may explain its continued progress and expansion. The Gurdwara Sahib shares the same orientation as the hospital, and enjoys good Environology, too.

We will look at the other properties of Jalan Utara – the Bukit Bintang Boys School, V-Square and more – in our next issue.

Feng Shui Tale
Two men with a perplexing problem at their dangdut karaoke lounge came to see the writer. Workers heard music and singing in empty rooms, and rumours of the lounge being haunted were affecting business. The owners sent a despatch clerk to Indonesia to visit a bomoh for help. He returned with an envelope.

That night, the owners called a staff meeting and opened the envelope with everyone present. It turned out to be a slip of paper containing six numbers. There was nothing else – no instructions, no cure, nothing!

The owners were frustrated – they asked for a way to cleanse their premises, not numbers for betting. Nonetheless, the staff decided not to waste this opportunity. “This could be the winning numbers for tomorrow’s Toto draw,” someone suggested.

So, the staff members pooled together RM20 and sent the despatch clerk to place a bet at the shop. The next day, someone bought the papers to work and they checked the results of the draw. All six numbers came out: they had won RM2 million!

However, the despatch clerk did not show up for work and was nowhere to be found. Did he abscond with their money, they wondered. They finally found him – in a police lockup. Muslims are prohibited from gambling and he was arrested at the betting shop when he tried to place the bet. Although he tried to explain he was just running an errand, the authorities would hear none of it. Thus, he was locked up and did not manage to buy the winning ticket after all!

Go local
This bit of bad luck still did not solve the original problem of the haunted karaoke lounge. The owners then invited a local bomoh to handle the case.

The bomoh performed his rituals with incantations, nails, lemons and needles, and found something peculiar about a flower pot in one corner of the lounge. He said someone who was jealous of them had buried an object in the pot to bewitch them. True enough, they found two human figurines buried in the soil.

The bomoh then wrapped up the figurines in an envelope and instructed that it be thrown into a dustbin across the road. However, the despatch clerk who went to Indonesia refused to do it.

The owners finally sent another person to throw the figurines away. As he crossed the road, he was knocked down by a car and died on the spot!

This was when they finally came to the writer for help. Although told that he was a Feng Shui master and not a ghostbuster, they kept asking for help. The writer finally agreed to take a look and see if there was anything he could do. He warned them that if it concerned ghosts and spirits, they would have to get someone else.

Find out what the writer discovered next week.

This series on Feng Shui and real estate appears courtesy of the Malaysia Institute of Geomancy Sciences (MINGS). Koh is the founder of MINGS and has been a Feng Shui master and teacher for the past 36 years.You can e-mail questions on Feng Shui and properties to Prof David Koh at davidkoh618@yahoo.com