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Post date: Oct 23, 2010 11:37:8 PM
Properties from a Feng Shui perspective: Part 162
By David Koh and Joe Choo | Oct 15, 2010
The maturity of Jalan Gasing provides a fascinating opportunity to us to study the impact of Environology on people in their surroundings. Enough time has passed for the effects to be felt.From the Gasing roundabout to the EPF, Jalan Gasing runs in a north-south direction with gentle bends at certain places. (For Google map reference, please log on to http://maps.google.co.uk/ and search for “Kuala Lumpur”.)
The road sits on undulating terrain caused by many ridges that emanate westward from the Bukit Gasing range like little fingers. Jalan Gasing basically runs up and down these ridges. At the Gasing roundabout, the road makes a big swing to the west. This creates an embrace around the Telekom exchange and Jalan 6/30 and 31. There is only one small row of shops here, formed by Jalan 6/31 which encircles it. Jalan 6/30 feeds Lorong 6/30A through D before joining 6/29.
This pocket of land is actually very good because it is surrounded by an embracing road and beyond that, Gasing Hill. Earth energy from the hill flows in a west and south-west direction. The road also reflects and collects energy within its embrace. There is a large monsoon drain parallel to Jalan Templer that traps the energy inside this pocket. However, a visit to this area will reveal a very old and more than a little run-down place. This is a good example of poor planning. The shops at 6/31 should have a west or south-west orientation. These are the ideal directions, followed by south. However, the shops face north/north-west, which is counter to the flow of water in the monsoon drain.
Drains are like rivers
Large drains are similar to rivers. According to Environology principles, properties should face rivers directly or follow its downstream direction. Those that have their backs to the river are likely to face higher land where energy comes from. This direct orientation is too powerful and overwhelming for the occupants. Properties that face upstream tend to act like a fishing net that traps detritus and rubbish flowing downstream. The occupants of such properties are likely to suffer from mental clutter. They are likely to be under constant stress and prone to making unwise decisions. They will find success difficult to attain.
Properties on one side of Jalan 6/30 face northeast, which has the drain at its back and the hill in front. On the other side, the properties are lined up along the many “lorong.” They face northwest on one side and southeast on the other. The former are likely to have inhabitants suffering stress while the latter probably fare marginally better.
This is because these houses are in cul-de-sacs or dead-end roads. Energy needs to circulate to be fresh and vibrant. Dead-end roads do not allow human traffic to flow freely. Thus, the ends of the road tend to experience stagnant energy. The deeper the house is, the worse it gets.
From a developer’s point of view, this pocket of land was probably considered unfavourable due to its proximity to the monsoon drain. Hence, only small low-cost terraced houses were built here. This is another important contributory factor to the state of affairs here.
Next, we look at the upper-market neighbours across the road.
You can e-mail questions on Feng Shui and properties to Prof David Koh at davidkoh618@yahoo.com. 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.
Petaling Jaya has the distinction of being the only city in Malaysia that is not the capital of any state.It grew naturally from a small town into a full-fledged city on its own merits. Technically, there is no standard definition of a city. A town may become a city due to its urban setting with a certain population size (but that number is arbitrary), for its regional dominance in the economy or administration, among other definitions. Obviously the latter does not apply since Kuala Lumpur is just next door.The remarkable growth of Petaling Jaya may be considered unusual as prior to it; many other housing estates sprouted around Kuala Lumpur. Even our previous tour of the Old Klang Road showed numerous “taman” that started before Petaling Jaya and yet none flourished the way Petaling Jaya did.
We believe this could be a combination of many factors, including environology. Perhaps another big factor was the presence of many houses of worship, a charity hospital, several schools, a transport hub and a wet market. Obviously, these are key ingredients to cityhood as modern infrastructure and amenities must be present.
Most townships begin life with a modest commercial centre that comprises a few shop lots, a plot of land reserved for the construction of schools and some small section allotted for playgrounds. They are already handicapped in their original layout and design. Furthermore, standard town planning also disregards environology (or Feng Shui) principles, which inadvertently leads to a sorry state of affairs for the inhabitants. Instead of flourishing, these housing estates languished.
Secret of success
Our tour of the older section of Petaling Jaya so far uncovered one of the secrets of success in its nucleus. When the town began under similar conditions as other housing developments, the administrators were also very generous to provide for the needs of the fledgling communities living there, specifically with regards to their faith.
Many missionaries applied for land and were granted large tracts to build hospitals, temples, churches and schools. These were community driven projects that raised the value and attraction of old Petaling Jaya. The institutions set up around Old Town are all steeped in rich history:
The Old Town wet market, the now-defunct Majestic cinema (an unfortunate victim of the video boom in the 1980s), the Assunta Hospital, Road 10 and Chen Moh schools, the mosque at Jalan Templer, the Hindu temple at Jalan Selangor, the Taoist temples that line Jalan Railway, the various churches, Thai Buddhist temple and Taoist temple at Jalan Gasing, plus prestigious schools such as La Salle, Assunta and Catholic High, are also found along and around Jalan Gasing.
Modern town planners in the country do not take that into account anymore. They could be driven by profit – to maximise the number of houses they can squeeze into the plot of land they have. They could be restricted by government policy and a master building plan that is no longer accommodating to religious practices.
In the past, there was more evidence of mutual acceptance and a desire to live in harmony. Hence, it was not strange to see the various houses of worship of various faiths along and around Jalan Gasing. Perhaps this is an important factor behind the prosperity of Petaling Jaya, and why some carefully planned townships continue failing to live up to its aspirations.
Last week, we covered Jalan Gasing’s places of interest extensively, and the final landmark on this road is the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) building which sits at Jalan Gasing’s intersection with the Federal Highway and Jalan Universiti.
Employees' provident fund
This used to be the EPF headquarters before it was moved to Jalan Raja Laut in Kuala Lumpur. The building was then refurbished (losing its unique facade in the process) and became just a branch office. The EPF was established in 1991 by an act of Parliament to help employees prepare for their retirement. All employees from private and non-pensionable public sectors are required to save a fraction of their salary in the EPF’s scheme, which they get to withdraw upon their retirement from the workforce.
Thanks to the enormous funds at its disposal, EPF is one of the country’s biggest institutional investors. It declares an annual dividend for the savings, which compounds over time. From 1983 to 1987, the EPF declared dividends of 8% or higher. However, given that members are now allowed to make partial withdrawals to purchase homes, fund their children’s studies and even to invest in certain instruments, there may not be much left over when retirement comes. Furthermore, the dividends have been progressively falling since 1995, to as low as 4.25% in 2002. The EPF is only legally obligated to provide 2.5% dividends.
Could there be an environology factor behind this?
Impact study
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