Hong Kong: Western face with Chinese heart

By S.B.S.Surendran
Master Feng Shui Consultant and Traditional Vaasthu Practitioner

Ground Zero for Feng Shui in Hong Kong is Statue Square. Located on Hong Kong Island between the peak and the harbour, this little patch of green is surrounded by the most important commercial buildings of the city. Incidentally this square is the first stop on a Feng Shui tour offered by the Hong Kong Tourist Association. Hong Kong with its bustling business activity where every citizen seems constantly in transit, rushing to make the next deal before the chance is gone wears a western face but definitely has a Chinese Heart.

Feng Shui, the ancient philosophy is one true faith of Hong Kong followed by most of the population but it also has its own set of planners who consider it otherwise but in the modern world and technological advances, one cannot write-off certain practices as merely superstitious. A point to ponder would be that in many Western countries and places like Singapore and Malaysia the 13th floor of the hotels are omitted. Hong Kong is a tiny place but is very prosperous. There are many factors we need to give credit for -- to the hard working and intelligent people and also to the physical place or the structures which are supportive which means Feng Shui is a crucial factor. During the 50 years after the Chinese revolution, when Feng Shui was banned as a superstition in mainland China, Hong Kong Masters continued to read the old scripts and documents relating to authentic Feng Shui to promote this intricate art of "GEOMANCING".

Much of Feng Shui is aimed at tapping into the positive energy known as "dragon veins" and avoiding the negative forces. Generally it is said that veins originate in the sky, pass through the mountain peaks and run along the earth. This is why utmost importance is given to the topography of a location, which determines whether the energy is good or bad. The Feng Shui Master audits not just the place of dwelling but the surroundings too and his analysis and observations are most revered. Auditing premises is most accurate and unfolds the mystery of the building and can never be compared to recommendations and suggestions brought out in books or merely putting up Gadgets and Chimes.

Fittingly for Hong Kong city obsessed with money and commerce, the banks occupy the choicest spots in prime locations. Shapes, forms, angles and corners of structures have immense impact on the surroundings. The type of Energy emanating from such structures determine the quality of energy "CHI" and one interesting point which can be observed in Hong Kong is that architects do give lot of importance to this and structures are oriented accordingly with the help of Fengshui masters. Looming up behind the stately dome of the neo classical Legislative Council building stands the Bank of China Tower. This tower with its extreme sharp corners and "X" bracings is the city’s best known "bad Feng Shui". Significantly, one of the sharp edges of the Bank of China building points at the stately Victorian Mansion - the residence of the British Governor till 1997. On the recommendations of a Feng Shui Master, the British planted weeping willows on the ground to shield the building from the imposing Bank of China Building.

When we discuss about corners and edges one common method to counter such afflictions is to shield it by putting up tall plants or in the worst case if it is pointed directly towards the main door, then re-orienting the door is the best solution. There are many homes, which have the pillars of their portico in line with the main door, which is considered bad; placing tall green healthy plants around the pillars is one way of correcting this defect. The same applies in the case of trees or electric poles, which cut into the main door of the building. In modern times, using shining door knockers are also considered effective as the reflective surface is said to deflect the invisible negative energy known as "Shar Chi" back to its origin.

If you happen to live in apartments and if your main door is in line with steps which are going down, the Chinese belief is that the luck of the house runs down the steps. This is considered quite a serious defect and the remedy again could be a divider screen (if the housing society permits) or line plants in such a way that they shield the door from the steps. In case the steps in your home is going down from your house directly to the main door of the building, then the simplest recommendation would be to suspend a wind-chime which slows down the speeding CHI.

Traditional Feng Shui is all about observations, audit, calculations of the Master and this overrides all other schools and concepts of Feng Shui especially gadgetry based.