Raising doubts over Hong Kong's feng shui
'masters'
HONG KONG (AFP) - - A high-profile court battle over
the huge estate of late Hong Kong tycoon Nina Wang has lifted the
lid on the city's obsession with the ancient Chinese energy system
of feng shui.
From burning money to digging feng shui holes, the case has
highlighted the superstitions many in the city are drawn to as they
search for success, wealth and happiness.
And while the system is often seen in the West as simply a
quirky way of arranging furniture, it is taken very seriously
here.
At the centre of the High Court case is so-called feng shui
master Tony Chan, a former bartender whose permanent grin has
filled the city's newspapers for weeks.
Chan, who says he was Wang's lover as well as her feng shui
adviser, is laying claim to the eccentric tycoon's 13 billion US
dollar fortune.
Chinachem Charitable Foundation, controlled by Wang's siblings,
says the will giving Chan the money is a fake.
Lawyers for Chinachem argued Chan took advantage of Wang's
declining health and seduced her with promises he could use feng
shui to get rid of the cancer that would kill her in 2007.
They also claimed that Chan had told Wang he could help bring
back her kidnapped husband, Teddy, by digging holes on the grounds
of her properties and filling them with engraved jade pieces.
Her husband has never been found since he was kidnapped for a
second time in 1990. He was declared legally dead nine years
later.
During his week-long stint on the stand, Chan's credentials have
been undermined. As a result, the entire practice of feng shui is
in the dock.
Lee Sing-tong, a veteran master, said the profession should be
regulated to prevent people such as Chan from ruining
reputations.
"Chan has destroyed the trust that clients place in us," Lee
told AFP.
Chan was able to convince high-powered clients, including
politicians and businessmen, to pay him huge sums for advice. Wang
herself gave him three tranches of 688 million Hong Kong dollars
(88.2 million US) shortly before she died.
Chan has been pummelled on the stand, conceding that he did not
know how to perform some feng shui rituals properly.
His advice to clients to burn banknotes to improve their luck
originated from his late father -- a retired schoolteacher who, he
said, could have given him the idea as a joke.
Feng shui -- literally "wind-water" -- is the art of improving
the quality of someone's life by enhancing their environment
according to the principles of harmony and energy flow.
It says that everything in the universe is composed of two
opposite yet complementary qualities: yin, which symbolises the
passive side of nature, and yang, which represents the active
side.
It also incorporates five elements or forms of energy: wood,
fire, earth, metal and water. The idea is to achieve a balance of
these elements.
Peter So, one of the city's most prominent masters, said it was
a scientific discipline.
"Feng shui is very straightforward. It has nothing to do with
magic or religion," he told AFP.
"Everything is about calculations and the interaction between
people and their environment. Anything on top of that are gimmicks
created by the so-called masters to increase their appeal to the
clients."
The case has also highlighted Hong Kong's fascination with good
luck -- lucky phone numbers are much coveted here and few buildings
have a fourth floor as the Chinese word "four" sounds like the word
for "death."
The Bank of China tower, designed by American-Chinese architect
I.M. Pei, caused huge controversy when it became part of Hong
Kong's famous skyline in the 1990s as its sharp triangular design
was said to exert bad feng shui on surrounding buildings.
There was even a suggestion that the design was chosen
deliberately to channel bad energy towards the then-British
governor's residence.
Disney employed a feng shui consultant when it built its theme
park in the city -- it has since been plagued by bad luck -- and
many residents would not dream of moving into a new flat before
they had called in an expert.
As a result, the field is lucrative. A consultant can charge
several thousand Hong Kong dollars to look at a typical
500-square-foot flat, with the best-known masters charging much
more.
Antony Hindmarsh, of Qi Homes Property Consultants, which offers
feng shui advice, said the practice was spreading beyond Chinese
people and one Western client had recently sought advice after a
"string of bad luck."
"More and more Westerners are embracing it. It's definitely
gaining popularity," he said.