An Interview with Master Tan Khoon Yong

I found an interesting and rare interview online today of Master Tan Khoon Yong:
http://www.timeout.com/sg/en/aroundtown/feature/what-its-like-to-be-a...feng-shui-expert

Regards
Alvin Chua

The Barnum Effect & the Forer Effect

In our practice of Feng Shui, great care must be taken when analyzing the charts and giving interpretations. We should always question ourselves about the information we derive and give to clients; does it fall under one of the effects below? Similarly, when seeking consultation from feng shui practitioners and astrologer, is the analysis really accurate or is it your own subjective validation?

Barnum effect
The Barnum effect is the name given to a type of subjective validation in which a person finds personal meaning in statements that could apply to many people.
For example:
You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. At times you have serious doubts whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing.
If these statements sound like they came from a newsstand astrology book that may be because they did. Such statements are sometimes called Barnum statements and they are an effective element in the repertoire of anyone doing readings: astrologers, palm readers, psychics, rumpologists and so on.

If the statements appear on a personality inventory that one believes has been especially prepared for you alone, one often validates the accuracy of such statements and thereby gives validity to the instrument used to arrive at them. If Barnum statements are validated when they have originated during a psychic reading, the validation is taken as also validating the psychic powers of the medium.
"Barnum effect" is an expression that seems to have originated with psychologist Paul Meehl, in deference to circus man P. T. Barnum's reputation as a master psychological manipulator who is said to have claimed "we have something for everybody."

Forer effect
The Forer effect refers to the tendency of people to rate sets of statements as highly accurate for them personally even though the statements could apply to many people.
Psychologist Bertram R. Forer found that people tend to accept vague and general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to themselves without realizing that the same description could be applied to just about anyone. Consider the following as if it were given to you as an evaluation of your personality.
You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.
Forer gave a personality test to his students, ignored their answers, and gave each student the above evaluation. He asked them to evaluate the evaluation from 0 to 5, with "5" meaning the recipient felt the evaluation was an "excellent" assessment and "4" meaning the assessment was "good." The class average evaluation was 4.26. That was in 1948. The test has been repeated hundreds of time with psychology students and the average is still around 4.2 out of 5, or 84% accurate.
In short, Forer convinced people he could successfully read their character. His accuracy amazed his subjects, though his personality analysis was taken from a newsstand astrology column and was presented to people without regard to their sun sign. The Forer effect seems to explain, in part at least, why so many people think that pseudosciences "work". Astrology, astrotherapy, biorhythms, cartomancy, chiromancy, the enneagram, fortune telling, graphology, rumpology, etc., seem to work because they seem to provide accurate personality analyses. Scientific studies of these pseudosciences demonstrate that they are not valid personality assessment tools, yet each has many satisfied customers who are convinced they are accurate.

The most common explanations given to account for the Forer effect are in terms of hope, wishful thinking, vanity and the tendency to try to make sense out of experience, though Forer's own explanation was in terms of human gullibility. People tend to accept claims about themselves in proportion to their desire that the claims be true rather than in proportion to the empirical accuracy of the claims as measured by some non-subjective standard. We tend to accept questionable, even false statements about ourselves, if we deem them positive or flattering enough. We will often give very liberal interpretations to vague or inconsistent claims about ourselves in order to make sense out of the claims. Subjects who seek counseling from psychics, mediums, fortune tellers, mind readers, graphologists, etc., will often ignore false or questionable claims and, in many cases, by their own words or actions, will provide most of the information they erroneously attribute to a pseudoscientific counselor. Many such subjects often feel their counselors have provided them with profound and personal information. Such subjective validation, however, is of little scientific value.

Psychologist Barry Beyerstein believes that "hope and uncertainty evoke powerful psychological processes that keep all occult and pseudoscientific character readers in business." We are constantly trying "to make sense out of the barrage of disconnected information we face daily" and "we become so good at filling in to make a reasonable scenario out of disjointed input that we sometimes make sense out of nonsense." We will often fill in the blanks and provide a coherent picture of what we hear and see, even though a careful examination of the evidence would reveal that the data is vague, confusing, obscure, inconsistent and even unintelligible. Psychic mediums, for example, will often ask so many disconnected and ambiguous questions in rapid succession that they give the impression of having access to personal knowledge about their subjects. In fact, the psychic need not have any insights into the subject's personal life; for, the subject will willingly and unknowingly provide all the associations and validations needed. Psychics are aided in this process by using cold reading techniques.
David Marks and Richard Kamman argue that
once a belief or expectation is found, especially one that resolves uncomfortable uncertainty, it biases the observer to notice new information that confirms the belief, and to discount evidence to the contrary. This self-perpetuating mechanism consolidates the original error and builds up an overconfidence in which the arguments of opponents are seen as too fragmentary to undo the adopted belief.
Having a pseudoscientific counselor go over a character assessment with a client is wrought with snares that can easily lead the most well intentioned of persons into error and delusion.
Barry Beyerstein suggests the following test to determine whether the apparent validity of the pseudosciences mentioned above might not be due to the Forer effect, confirmation bias, or other psychological factors. (Note: the proposed test also uses subjective or personal validation and is not intended to test the accuracy of any personality assessment tool, but rather is intended to counteract the tendency to self-deception about such matters.)
…a proper test would first have readings done for a large number of clients and then remove the names from the profiles (coding them so they could later be matched to their rightful owners). After all clients had read all of the anonymous personality sketches, each would be asked to pick the one that described him or her best. If the reader has actually included enough uniquely pertinent material, members of the group, on average, should be able to exceed chance in choosing their own from the pile.
Beyerstein notes that "no occult or pseudoscientific character reading method…has successfully passed such a test."

The Forer effect, however, only partially explains why so many people accept as accurate occult and pseudoscientific character assessment procedures. Cold reading, communal reinforcement, and selective thinking also underlie these delusions. Also, it should be admitted that while many of the assessment claims in a pseudoscientific reading are vague and general, some are specific. Some of those that are specific actually apply to large numbers of people and some, by chance, will be accurate descriptions of a select few. A certain number of specific assessment claims should be expected by chance.

There have been numerous studies done on the Forer effect. Dickson and Kelly have examined many of these studies and concluded that overall there is significant support for the general claim that Forer profiles are generally perceived to be accurate by subjects in the studies. Furthermore, there is an increased acceptance of the profile if it is labeled "for you". Favorable assessments are "more readily accepted as accurate descriptions of subjects' personalities than unfavorable" ones. But unfavorable claims are "more readily accepted when delivered by people with high perceived status than low perceived status." It has also been found that subjects can generally distinguish between statements that are accurate (but would be so for large numbers of people) and those that are unique (accurate for them but not applicable to most people). There is also some evidence that personality variables such as neuroticism, need for approval, and authoritarianism are positively related to belief in Forer-like profiles. Unfortunately, most Forer studies have been done only on college students.

Regards

Alvin Chua

(defintions taken from the Skeptic's Dictionary website)

Encounter with Grandmaster Yap

I was attending a company dinner at Sheraton Tower last Saturday. After I arrived at the place, I immediate proceeded to the ballrooms at level 2 as I thought I was late. I saw Grandmaster Yap Cheng Hai as he walked slowly down the flight of stairs. He stopped midway along the stairs and spoke to a couple. Both of us exchanged glances as he probably knew that I recognized him from the look on my face and there I was trying to make sure I did not mistaken someone for him.

Reaching the ballroom, I realised I was too early and quickly went back to the lobby, mustering barely enough courage to request for a photo with him but damned it, he had already left.

What a pity, to have missed the opportunity of taking a picture with the Feng Shui legend...

Regards
Alvin Chua

Master Raymond Lo's Interview on CNN

Master Raymond Lo's Interview on CNN on the Year of the Rat (2008)

Regards
Alvin Chua

Thank You for Visiting My Blog

I would like to thank you all for reading my blog. The site meter have recorded 4650 visits and page views of 10,800 (must divide these numbers by half since probably many hits are from myself, haha!). Thanks again. While this blog is more of my personal journal, I am pleasantly surprised that there are many people who share the same interest out there.

Regards
Alvin Chua

Determining the Facing of a Apartment

Determining the Facing of a Apartment: Different Feng Shui Masters’ Perspectives

This is one of the most confusing aspects in the practice of Feng Shui and I have compiled most of the methods here. Whether the advice given by your Feng Shui consultant works or not is dependent on this factor. Using an incorrect method can mean the whole audit has turned to naught. Take a look and you can see how messy the standards can be. By the way, the term apartment here would refer to high-rise buildings that normally comes with elevators e.g. condominiums.

Disclaimer: Please note that this is not a comprehensive guide but only notes taken along my research journey. There are many factors like concepts of Yin Yang Dong Jing (Yin and Yang aspects, Movement and Stillness aspects), internal and external Luan Tou (Forms) and experiences that cannot be put in writing. Some masters use a few of the different methods and they will choose the method most appropriate depending on the actual situation. There are also masters who sworn by their one method only. There are no hard and fast rules about it. There will be mistakes since I did not learn from the masters personally and thus are based on my deductions only from readings from all possible sources.

The Main Door of the Unit as Facing:

Yap Cheng Hai 叶清海 (Malaysia)
Notes:

This is what Master Yap Boh Chu (the son of Grand Master Yap Cheng Hai) wrote in The Sun Property Plus when asked about the facing of an apartment unit:

(Dated 25th November 2005) You are absolutely right, it is more difficult to define the facing of an apartment. Some feng shui schools consider the balcony as the facing, while others consider the apartment entrance or the main entrance to the block as the facing. For me, it would depend on the circumstances. I would usually consider the apartment entrance as the main facing and my case histories have proven me to be correct.

(Dated 17th February 2006) Problems crop up when determining the facing of a house, especially for a condominium. Certain masters would determine the facing of a condominium from the balcony, basically standing at the balcony door looking outwards. We have found that this is not necessarily correct. In most cases we would use the actual entrance door of your condominium, standing inside the unit and measuring outwards. Why measure outwards? This is the direction the Qi is coming from.

Also, this is an extract from an article in The Sun Property Plus titled “What to do for Condos and Apartments” in which Master Yap Cheng Hai and his son explain more about apartment facing:

(Dated 15th April 2005) For a landed property, the direction it faces is equated to the direction of the main door. There is no quarrel here. But what about condominiums and apartments?

The confusion arises because the owner has to enter the common entrance to the condo or apartment grounds before getting into his or her own unit within the block. So, which entrance is considered the property’s main door? The common entrance (foyer) or the one that leads directly to the owner’s dwelling?

With the popularity of condo and apartment living on the rise, its a question many are asking. We ask Grandmaster Yap and his son, Boh Chu, who point out that there are two options one can consider. This is provided for under two major schools of feng shui — Ba Zhai (8 mansions) and the popular Flying Stars.

Ba Zhai
This school of feng shui is very clear. The entrance to the respective condo or apartment unit is considered its main door. So, this is where the owner should tap his auspicious direction.

On the other hand, while the common entrance to the condo or apartment project is not important to the individual unit owners or dwellers, it is important to the developer.

Flying Stars
Some find this school of feng shui confusing. The entrance is considered as the qi koh or mouth of qi (energy) of the property. In other words, the main door represents the mouth of the property — where the all-important qi is ushered into the premises.

In ancient China where feng shui originated, most dwellings had only one main door and a back door. This is often no longer the case in modern times. Condos and apartments, in particular, have multiple entrances — the guarded gate, at the respective block and, often, the balcony door.

Some feng shui practitioners see the main entrance to a condo block as the most important. Others point to the balcony door instead, reasoning that as the largest opening in the unit, this is where the greatest inward flow of qi is. Yet another school of thought insists that the main entrance of a dwelling should be the unit door itself.

Conclusion
The Yaps consider the specific door to a condo or apartment unit as its main entrance because this is the door that determines one’s entry into the dwelling. The next important things would be the entrance to the condo or apartment block, where relevant.

This is, however, only a guideline and not a definitive answer. Diligent feng shui practitioners should take into account the direction of both doors — common and specific.

“In our opinion and experience, the balcony door does not qualify as the main door. This is taking into consideration that the doorway is defined by the action of entering and exiting a property, and in the process, bringing in the qi from outside the property,” say the Yaps.

One can’t possibly walk in through the balcony door, nor can one exit from the balcony door to leave the unit.

Imagine if your unit were on the 20th floor. It would be impossible to ‘enter’ the balcony from the outside unless you are into extreme sports, rappelling from the roof or with the help of a helicopter!

The same applies to windows. They cannot be considered ‘entrances’.

Peter So 苏民峰 (Hong Kong)
Notes:
In his instructional videos titled "Feng Shui Lecture Of Master So Vol 1 & 2", he has explained that the main door of your own unit is the facing, never the balcony or the windows since you do not enter your home via them. We should use the elevator door on our level as the facing reference if we are analyzing the feng shui of the entire level. The main entrance of the whole building is used only if you are the developer or owner of the whole building.

The Most Yang Side of the Unit as Facing:

Pak Hok Ming白鹤鸣 (Hong Kong)

Joseph Yu (Canada)

Larry Sang (United States)

Lynn Yap (Singapore)

Heluo aka Roel Hill (The Netherlands)

Kartar Diamond (United States)

Chen Bo Yu 陈柏瑜 (Taiwan)

Eva Wong (United States)

Fan Rong 梵羢 (Taiwan)

The Most Yang Side of the Unit as Facing Provided the Main Door Is Not At Sitting Side:

Tan Khoon Yong (Singapore)

Neo Zhen Jue (Singapore)

The Facing Is Based On the Level of the Unit:

Edward Li Kui Ming 李居明 (Hong Kong): For level 1 to 5, use the main entrance of the whole building. Level 6 and above, use the unit’s door facing.

Lilian Too (Malaysia): For level 1 to 8, use the facing entrance of the whole building. Level 9 and above, the side with a view from the balcony or patio will be used as the facing since this is akin to living in the high mountains and the Qi distribution will be different.

Cecil Lee (Singapore): For level 1 to 7, use the unit’s door facing. Level 8 and above, the side with a view from the balcony or patio will be used as the facing.

The Facing Is Based On the Facing of the Whole Building:

Joey Yap 叶威明 (Malaysia)

Vincent Koh (Singapore)

Song Yin Chen宋英成 (Taiwan)

The Facing Is Based On the Main Entrance of the Whole Building:

Yeung Dengkwong 杨椗光 (Hong Kong)

Johnny Chan陈癸龙 (Hong Kong)

Stephen Skinner (Malaysia)

Lum Kwok Hung 林國雄 (Hong Kong)
Notes: In his book on Xuan kong Flying Stars, he wrote:
“我的经验是以门为向。就是在建筑物的大门外度坐向。如果有多支门的，就以写有门牌或建筑物名字的那一支为向。”

Below are some interesting apartment floor plans, which do you think is the facing side of each of them?

Are the methods above applicable to these apartments? I firmly believe that Mr "Qi" will not arrive and enter an apartment unit just because a famous feng shui master says so. It comes in accord to the landscape and the physical structure both externally and internally. Is it able to understand the facade that the architect had intended the building to have? Can it be contained in a skeletal structure (with minimal walls and multiple openings) and influence every household under that same roof? Will it come knocking at an entrance facing a Ming Tang or another entrance used by most of the occupants? A young master from my neighboring country says that he has learned from many Hong Kong masters whose expertise are in high-rise buildings' feng shui and his method of determining the facing is the correct one. But if this is so, how come the few most famous Hong Kong masters (see the list above) could not agree on a standardized method and none of them uses this young master's method?

As for the use of the main door, Master Howard Choy has indicated to me the parts in Shen Shi Xuan Kong classic that states that it is not used to determine the facing of a house. Here is one of the page from the classic:




















Also, in the Bazhai classic "Jin Guang Dou Lin Jing" (Classic of the Dipper Casting its Golden Light) , there's indication that the house's facing is not the main door's facing.


Regards
Alvin Chua

Who is Master Raymond Lo (卢恒立)?

身为风水大师的卢恒立却没有风水堪与的家学渊源，而是出身于文学艺术气氛浓厚的书香门第，父亲是香港的电影导演。由于那时候的电影导演收入菲薄，前景黯淡，他父亲也不强迫他子承父业，而是给了他对未来职业自由选择的天地。卢恒立从小好奇心很强，喜欢研究和探讨奇奇怪怪的东西，并且博览群书，追根究底地去找答案，由此养成了善于学习和独立思考的习惯。他生长在香港，自幼勤奋好学，因此英文很好。他与风水学结缘就是从研读英文的星象学开始的，然后触类旁通，涉猎中国的风水文化知识，决心探究风水学这个谜团的深浅与真假，以及探究风水盛行的原因何在。但是卢恒立在大学学的却是与风水无关的经济专业，毕业后供职于香港电力公司长达十年之久。此间他只是业余开展风水业务。

1997年之后，由于他在风水界名气越来越大，看风水的业务越来越多，他才辞去公职，成为一名全职风水师。在香港，与其他风水师相比，他的优势是显而易见的: 他精通英文，上过大学，学过经济，做过经理，不仅熟悉西方的星象学，而且了解西方哲学和文化。

在香港，他第一个把风水理论翻译成英文进行讲解，他在大学里获取的科学的学习和研究方法以及做经理获取的管理和处世经验对他开展风水业务很有帮助，他明白怎样运用有效的市场营销方式进行风水业务的开拓和推广，深奥的风水理论怎样表达和解释才能使具有不同文化背景的外国人容易接受。他注重和采用西方人所习惯的逻辑推理的方法，而不是中国人所习惯的死记硬背的方法去讲授风水，他还采用西方的理论、概念和术语来对风水进行解释，收到了很好的效果。

Master Lo was born to a couple who moved from Guandong to Hong Kong and was the only son in a family of four. Subsequently he was educated in an English school in Hong Kong, choosing a social science degree specialising in economics while at university.

Initially, Master Lo’s interest in Feng Shui was borne out of a curiosity for anything connected with Chinese metaphysics some 20 plus years ago. He has since spent much of his time studying the Classics as well as private tuition with the ‘old masters’ of Hong Kong. However, things changed when he met Master Suen, an expert from mainland China who had a good understanding of metaphysics and theory. Master Suen emphasized the importance of logic and guided Master Lo to apply this logic to his practice of Feng Shui.

His research and personal perseverance in Feng Shui has earned him his reputation as a Feng Shui master who predicts accurately. His professionalism and expertise has led to his increasing popularity and has put him on a global lecture circuit to countries like Germany, Switzerland, London, America and Australia where he also conducts courses.

Finally, you can watch a video of Master Raymond Lo here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzcqAOx2U0s

Video of Master Val Biktashev

Master Val Biktashev is the co-author of the book "The Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui". Here is a video of him on Youtube:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vn0BiQg_0HI

Regards
Alvin Chua

Unveiling Some Fishy Business

I watched a show called “Unveil The Truth” on 8TV, a Malaysian channel last week. And there was a segment of which the topic of Feng Shui was mentioned. A famous Feng Shui master (though I never heard of the guy before) was invited to the show and he demonstrated a technique for viewers to try at home to bring prosperity throughout the year. This technique requires the homeowner to purchase 4 types of flowers, each belonging to one of the 4 seasons. The flowers are then placed in the four cardinal directions of the house representing the four seasons. This way, it is said that the house will enjoy prosperous energy throughout the 4 seasons. I am not sure about the validity of this technique but I do know that real plants are considered Wood energy and putting it in the wrong place can be harmful.

Also, the master advised viewers to put a fish in a small tank on top of the refrigerator. Since the fridge is where we keep the food and the Chinese word for fish is “yu” which sounds like the word for extra, surplus, he explained that this would bring endless surplus of food to the household. What utter nonsense! Get this man off the show before more people are misled to such wrong information. Call SPCA for his propagating of fish cruelty!

Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year (since yesterday was Lap Chun or Li Chun, we are already in the New Year).

Regards
Alvin Chua

Feng Shui Problem?

There was a local comedian actor who was a firm believer of Feng Shui. He got a Master to feng shui his home and even have his Chinese name changed by the Master. This Master is well-known for helping Singapore celebrities changed their names to an auspicious one. Being an expert in Bazi and Feng shui (lineage passed down from his grandfather), this Master has been in the limelight for many years and respected by many celebrities. Being a ardent fan of the Master, this actor frequently hosted the Master's seminars and apparently his own acting career seemed to improve with the Master's help in feng shui.

Then suddenly, the comedian actor had difficulty breathing yesterday and was sent to hospital. He passed away after the doctors failed to revive him.

This makes me wonder about the feng shui skill of this Master. While feng shui can't make miracles, it can still indicate certain signs of potential health problems. There are cases where the client doesn't follow the warning given by the feng shui consultant thus its the client's own problem but in this case, I think it is unlikely since I know the actor was a firm follower of the Master's words. I have attended the Master's talks before, hosted by the late actor, thus I know he consulted the Master for almost everything. Nevertheless, we must remind ourselves that feng shui cannot prolong lifespan nor make miracles happen. Even Bazi and Ziwei Doushu cannot be used to predict a person's death accurately.

Nevertheless, Feng Shui problem or not, it doesn't matter. We only know that Singapore has lost a great, humble, filial and humorous talented artiste. Come to think of it, I still had the audio recordings of him hosting a Feng Shui talk. Goodbye my friend.

Regards
Alvin Chua

Name Analysis? Can It Really Help?

After the passing of actor Jimmy Nah (commonly known as MC King), it was reported in yesterday’s Chinese newspaper that many Mediacorp artistes have decided to change their so-called “auspicious” name back to their original Chinese names.

Jimmy Nah changed his name after consulting a local famous feng shui master and his career apparently improved there after. Unfortunately, he suffered from heart failure (I think) few weeks back and passed on. Fellow actors like Christopher Lee, Edmund Chen and a few others who have consulted the same master for their name change started to have second thoughts and quickly abandon their “auspicious names” and embrace the old ones. While success did came to them, it was short-lived like in the example of Christopher Lee who was imprisoned last year from driving offences despite the use of the new name which is supposed to bring him good luck.

Could it be the method used, that causes it? In Chinese name analysis, there are quite a number of methods and most masters use a combination of these methods. Each master would claim that his method is the genuine ancient Chinese method but it is hard to verify the claims. One of the most common methods in the feng shui market now is the counting of strokes in the character. It is known as the 5 Formations method 五格.

1
姓氏 筆畫 A 天格= 1 + A
名一 筆畫 B 人格= A + B
名二 筆畫 C 地格= B + C
-----------------------
總格= A + B + C
外格= 1 + C

This is a questionable method and seems rather unconvincing. How many strokes a character comprises of is not consistent. For example, the character eight, is made up of two strokes (this counting is straight forward and applies to most characters) but if I am not wrong, strokes of numeric characters are not counted but based on the value it carries, e.g. eight is taken as eight strokes instead of two. What is the rationale for this? Another thing is the External Formation 外格, where it equals to 1+ C above. Why the need for an External Formation? Why plus 1? Where the 1 comes from? If you do some research, you will realize that this method originated from Japan. It is not a genuine Chinese name analysis method. Name analysis techniques were lost back in China and its practice was most likely passed down and kept by only a small handful of people.

This method was created for Japanese name which is normally of 4 characters, unlike the Chinese names which is normally 3. A Taiwanese learned the technique and brought it back to Taiwan. From Taiwan, the rest was history and name analysis craze was started. So how he adapted the Japanese method for Chinese name? He added the External Formation 外格 for the missing fourth character. Why plus 1 and not 2 or 3? There’s no logic here. For those who can read Chinese, do a search online and you should be able to find tons of information on this and verify for yourself.

I remember I once saw a Chinese book of case studies on the validity of this method. One case study mentioned was of an excellent name, using the method above to analyze. The interpretation indicates a man who enjoys good wealth and health. But in reality, who does the name belongs to? A young man who drowned and passed away.

So how much influence can a name make? Master Dong Nong Zheng once said on a television talk show that it has less then 15% influence (or was it 12%? Can’t remember the exact percentage but definitely not high) on our lives and this level of influence is lesser unless the person uses the name since birth. Changing our names in adulthood won’t help much as psychologically you have been conditioned by the original name for years and society knows you by that name also.

I remember a case in the book Freakonomics (Chapter 6: The socioeconomic patterns of naming children), which talks about a real account of a New York City father named Robert Lane who named his son Winner in 1958. The parents probably ran out of names to give their next son, the seventh one three years later and they simply named him Loser Lane. Mind you, according to the book, this actually happened in the United States. And so what happened to them after they grew up? One became a criminal and lives a miserable life, with more than 30 arrests for burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, resisting arrest, and other mayhem while the other went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and joined the New York Police Department, where he made eventually got promoted to become a sergeant. So who is this successful one? His name is Loser. In the end, the message to bring across is that our name is an indicator—but not a cause—of our life path. There’s a blog which the writer wrote about this same story but analyzing their names using Numerology: http://therealmotherhen.blogspot.com/2007/10/whos-winner.html.
Pretty interesting.

Life is a card game. God dealt you the cards but it’s up to you to play the game.

Regards
Alvin Chua

A New School of Feng Shui? Pyramid Feng Shui

Wow, I found this on the net. Amazing. Read on...

In the early 1960s, armed with her degrees in both psychology and interior design, Nancilee Wydra started her pioneering research on the human condition in relation to the environment in both nature-based spaces and built spaces. Then, upon coming across an updated edition of E.J. Eitel's 1873 book on Feng Shui, she was inspired to merge her expertise about the person /place connection with this ancient Chinese practice.

After years of study and extensive travels, Nancilee Wydra created the Pyramid School of Feng Shui in 1989, and in 1991 she founded the Feng Shui Institute of America. FSIA was among the first professional certification schools in America to focus on a contemporary, Western approach to blend traditional Feng Shui tenets, Eastern philosophy, and the social/physical sciences. Listen to the May 3, 2007 interview with Nancilee Wydra.

Pyramid School committed to introducing cutting edge research and incorporating fields related to Feng Shui into its curriculum, with leading experts contributing to this commitment. It encompasses the major concepts shared by traditional Feng Shui schools, and it strives to synthesize this wisdom and knowledge and filter out the cultural and geographical tendencies. This approach to Feng Shui is especially attractive to Westerners, including Westernized Chinese.

Another distinguishing aspect of a Pyramid School practitioner from that of a traditional one is her Feng Shui recommendations are based on the design preferences of the client, and not on the rituals of Buddhism and Taoism. Also, the client's current symptoms, issues, and personality expressions take precedence over strict adherence to guidelines regarding what to do based the year, month, day, and hour the client is born. (For example, Classical Feng Shui, you need to sleep in a different direction when a new year approaches.)

Pyramid Feng Shui also includes leading edge tools based on scientific research. One of these tools is Archityping, which is a process for understanding a client's preferences for interior design that is based on subtle visual cues embedded in the environmental scenes. Archityping was developed by Beverly Payeff with research conducted at Harvard, MIT, and Bell Laboratories.

While the exploration and expansion of the person /place connection is the foundation of Pyramid School Feng Shui, there is a large emphasis on the interaction of micro and macro systems. This is the reason the "pyramid shape" was chosen to represent the school's approach to Feng Shui. Pyramid Feng Shui proposes that everything is built from a foundation and that the basic ingredients must be expressed before higher forms can result.

Errors In Computation Of Feng Shui And Astrological Years

Below is an article written by Dr Ong Hean Tatt and if what he wrote is true, it will shake the Feng Shui world! I have reproduced it here due to its importance and research value. You can find the article on his Gui Management website also.

Article FS08/2
ERRORS IN COMPUTATION OF FENG SHUI AND ASTROLOGICAL YEARS
2. ISSUE OF 20 YEARS YUN AND SATURN JUPITER CONJUNCTION
Prof. Dr. Ong Hean-Tatt 10th January 2008

Introduction
Most are using the wrong Yun Sign in areas like Xuan Kong, etc.!
As each Chinese New Year approaches, there would be a spate of forecasts about the coming year by both astrologers and Feng Shui masters. The forecasts can be conflicting or do not fit what eventually happened in the said year. There can be good reasons why this is so, which are generally that the current masters failed to take into account the "precession of the Equinoxes" in their dating methods!

Another important issue which creates date inaccuracies is the 20 years Yun used in San Yuan Feng Shui , which is due to the Jupiter Saturn conjunction, whose periodicity of 20 years is also the basis of the astrological Age of the Hebrews.

Saturn, the "Ancestral Temple" Planet
The Chinese astrology terms the beautiful ringed planet Saturn as the "Ancestral Temple" star. It makes one orbit around the Sun in 29.5 years. The conjunctions of Saturn with the other planets form important markers in astrological Time. The Saturn Jupiter conjunction is fundamental in the Chinese astrological period of the 20 years Yun: Jupiter has an orbit of 11.882 years. The conjunction of Saturn with Jupiter occurs every 19.84 years.

The Saturn Jupiter conjunction is the basis of the Chinese astrological 'Yun'. Feng Shui and astrology practitioners should understand the astronomy of their arts.

Jupiter Saturn Conjunction as Basis of Yun of 20 Years Duration
Each San Yuan period of 180 years will have 9 Yuns, with 3 successive Yuns forming the 60 years Yuan. If a Jupiter Saturn conjunction occurs at one point on the orbit around the Sun, it will return to this same point 60 years later, forming the Yuan era of 60 years. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd conjunctions will occur at 3 different points along the orbit. The point of the 1st conjunction will also be that of the 4th and 7th conjunctions, while the point of the 2nd conjunction will also be that of the 5th and 8th conjunctions, while the 3rd, 6th and 9th conjunctions will be at the same point. This yields the auspicious 1-4-7, 2-5-8 and 3-6-9 Parent Strings combinations in San Yuan Feng Shui forecasts.

Hebrews add One Jupiter-Saturn Cycle every 2,000 Years
By convention, since Emperor Yao's time circa 2405 BC, the Yun starting from 2004 is supposed to be Yun 8. However, the Jupiter Saturn conjunction is not exactly 20 years but 19.84 years. The difference is insignificant in the short term but will build up into a serious difference every 2,000 years. The Hebrews will adjust for this discrepancy by adding an extra Jupiter Saturn Age or cycle every 2,000 years. But the Chinese had not done this since Yao's time.

Need for Adjustments of Yuns in Feng Shui and Astrology
In the over 4,000 years since Yao, the Jupiter Saturn conjunction will jump at least 2 cycles - meaning what is now taken as Period 8 is actually Period 1! We note that about every 2,000 years, the Jupiter Saturn conjunction will jump one Yun cycle. Coincidentally, every 2,000 years the precession of the equinoxes will also cause the Zodiac sign to shift one sign. That is, every 2,000 years there will be a need to shift one Yun sign and also one Zodiac sign.

Did Feng Shui originate from China? Or Korea?

The following article highlights the latest debate between the mainland China and its neighbor, South Korea. Each claiming Feng Shui to have originated from their homeland.

韩中争论“风水地理说”
DECEMBER 18, 2007 05:25　河宗大 (orionha@donga.com)

　　中国言论有关“韩国风水地理世界文化遗产登记申请说”的报道一经登出，韩中两国的网民之间便掀起了“风水本山争论”。

　　中国的网民们向政府表示：“韩国先前是抢走中国的端午节，而现在又要抢走风水地理说。”对此，韩国的网民们反驳道，“在中国本土上很难寻到风水地理说，而在韩国无论是居住、坟庙，就连选举文化中都渗透着风水地理说。”

　　然而这只是争论而已，目前发现韩、中两国政府都没有将风水地理说，登记到世界无形文化遗产的计划。

“本山”反驳“元祖”主张

　　中国的网民们高喊着中国是风水地理说的远祖。风水地理说是从中国的伏羲氏开始传承下来的，现已有约1万年历史。他们还认为风水说是到明朝时期才传到韩国的。

　　另一方面，韩国的网民们反驳道：“韩国的风水说早在三国时期就有文献记载。目前，中国的风水家也是在韩国学习风水说，从韩国引进经典。”

由于政府没有登记计划，只是“白费力气的争论”

　　此前，金洋网等中国言论最近报道：“韩国从2003年开始，就在国立中央博物馆的主导下联合数十个机关促进了风水地理说的世界遗产登记工作，将会在明年内结束登记工作。”

　　但在国立中央博物馆和文化财厅确认后发现这并不是事实。

　　文化财厅计划明年仅对朝鲜时期的王陵和南海岸的恐龙化石申请登记文化遗产，至于风水地理说的申请是绝对不在计划之中的。

　　然而，据了解中国的风水专家们根据韩国要促进登记的传闻，于去年6月9日组织了“中国风水文化世界遗产申请筹备委员会”。

　　另外，南京大学也计划设立风水培训班，并授予风水师资格证。

　　但是，中国建设部对此否定道：“我们尊重在民间研究风水文化，但风水师资格证的公开认证是很困难的。”

Tai Sui 2008

The following will apply starting from 4 February 2008

A Feng Shui Shop with Bad Feng Shui

A Feng Shui consultation shop opened across the street opposite my workplace around 3 months ago. It’s called Jin Tong Zi (Golden Boy) Feng Shui and Astrology Centre and it is located along some shop houses. I was surprised at why the Feng Shui master chose to have his shop directly next to a vacant and worn-out shop house with broken roof and creepers along its sides. In Luan Tou Feng Shui, we call it Po Lan Wu 破烂屋 and it is known to gather a lot of Yin energy, hence a excellent habitat for snakes, insects and other creepy crawlies. Such vacant house is considered a Sha and best to avoid having your shop or home near one since the strong Yin energy can make people sickly and auspicious energy cannot accumulate also. Thus I reckoned that the shop could last long in business.

True enough, today I saw the shop emptied. The master probably has moved out last night after months of losses through rental costs and lack of income. I hardly see any one walking into the shop. I really wonder what kind of training he had to have such a oversight.

Regards
Alvin Chua

Where Do I Take The Measurement Of The Facing?

Here are some of the methods used by different masters:

Method 1: Find the center spot of the house using the floor plan. Stand in the center of the house and face the same direction as the house faces. Take the measurement from here.

Method 2: Stand in the center of the house, draw an imaginary line from the center of the house to the center of the main door to take the reading.

Method 3: Stand at the center of the facing side and take the measurement from here.

For a landed property, this is done standing along the façade of the house outside.

For an apartment unit, stand near along the inner side of the wall of the facing side (there’s no way you can stand outside!). In Hong Kong, some masters even go to the extent of sticking the Luo Pan out of the window to reduce magnetic influences from metallic objects inside the unit!

Another variation is to take the measurement of the facing side on the ground level. Those who use this method believe that measurements taken indoors are never accurate due to the metal framework within the walls. They also claim through experience that all units above ground level will have the same Qi field as the ground floor.

There is also the difference of practitioners who only take only one reading at the center and those who take multiple reading along the same wall / side and take the average. The disadvantage of taking one single reading only is that you can never know if there is a bundle of power cables or the city’s pipeline running subterranean right beneath your feet when you read your Luo Pan, thus the risk of inaccuracy. A practitioner also mentioned that “we look for a clean compass reading, rather than magnetic distortion.” But still some practitioners think otherwise.

Method 4: Stand at center of main entrance and face outside. This is used by practitioners who take the door facing as the house facing. Some schools even go to the extent of placing the Luo Pan against the door for measurement.

In situations where measuring the facing proves to be difficult, we can take the reading of the sitting direction of the house instead.

Finally, the way the Luo Pan is held also is another factor of consideration. Most modern practitioners just hold it naturally but those from some traditional lineages insist that the Luo Pan must be touching the navel or Dan Tian (the acupuncture point two inches below the navel). The Dan Tian is regarded as the centre of the human body and is connected to the Heaven energy and the Earth energy. Thus, reading done this way will yield the most accurate reading. The Luo Pan is so sensitive that you can try holding it at different level of your body, standing at the same spot but the reading can deviate a lot.

Regards

Alvin Chua

文昌位

Below are techniques taught in the book 智慧的泉源 – 文昌位 by 宋英成

宅向不管是透天厝或公寓、办公大楼以受气面最大为主。单位向是以大楼向为主。

度坐向是在房子的中心点。

[玄武低深坑，枉死好人丁]，后面没有靠，对人丁不利。

年命配卦与文昌位：

以命卦入中宫，飞至四巽星就是文昌位。

例如男命坤卦，坤入中宫飞至四巽星就是兑宫，正西方即是他的文昌位。

或例如女命震卦，震入中宫飞至四巽星就是乾宫，西北方即是她的文昌位。

宅卦文昌位：

以宅卦入中宫飞至四巽星就是文昌位。例如兑宅的文昌位就在西南方。

本命文昌位：

日干	甲	乙	丙	丁	戊	己	庚	辛	壬	癸
文昌	巳	午	申	酉	申	酉	亥	子	寅	卯
文曲	亥	子	寅	卯	寅	卯	巳	午	申	酉

在文昌位可摆放文昌笔。

厕所永远避免在宅卦文昌位。对读书不宜，工作升职也受阻碍。若有此问题，在厕门边挂一支洞萧和摆一盆黄金葛吸臭气。

卧房宜配合个人的命卦的四吉方。

书桌宜坐向本命卦的四吉方。

沙发不宜向屋内背向门，容易犯到小人。

泄气方：震宅，以宅卦入中宫飞至大门的位置。如开在坤门，而飞星至此方是九紫火。此位是泄气方因震木得生离火。这大门不宜开在坤位。

如果此位是克宅卦的五行，便称杀方，不宜开门、设厕所或为动位。

注∶此法据苏民峰说是伪法，不用为宜。

入门见梯：会破坏进门的气。

入伙没有择日可能会导致诡异现象。应找吉日补办一次入伙仪式。

在书桌上的文昌位（小太极）可放一笔架悬吊四支文昌笔来催动文昌。

如果水路从宅前右边流向左边，要开门在虎边以便收[水头水]。若开门在龙边则是[水尾水]，收不到财气。

Regards
Alvin Chua

To Play Tic-Tac-Toe Or Simply Eat The Pie?

Overlaying The Flying Stars Chart Over Your Floor Plan: Different Feng Shui Masters' Perspectives.

DIRECTIONAL QUADRANTS METHOD (ALSO KNOWN AS NINE GRID METHOD)
The method: The floor plan is equally divided into nine parts.
Use by:
1. Larry Sang (he uses the Pie Method also but only when locating personal directions and external features).
2. David Twicken

EIGHT PIE WEDGE METHOD
The method: The center point of the house is located; the eight compass directions are then overlaid.
Use by:
1. Joseph Yu
2. Vincent Koh
3. Raymond Lo
4. Dong Nong Zheng
5. Pak Hok Ming
6. Heluo (a.k.a. Roel Hill)

BLOCK SEGMENTATION METHOD
The method: The house is divided into nine parts but the walls of the house are taken into consideration. Thus each area will not be equal in size.
Reasons: Since Qi enters by doors and windows, and that it is blocked or guided by internal walls. It is a mistake to think that the theoretical lines of Qi are stronger boundaries than the physical walls already present.
Use by:
1. Eva Wong
2. Lillian Too
3. Joey Yap (he uses the Pie Method also but only when locating personal directions and external features).

One thing to note is that if the Sitting / Facing of the house is on a Tian Yuan Long (center Mountain within each trigrams, e.g. Qian Mountain); the sectors demarcated using one method will coincide with the other method more or less. However, if the Sitting / Facing falls on a Ren Yuan Long (e.g. Hai Mountain), the charts will be the same as the Tian Yuan Long chart and the sectors will most likely not coincide among the two methods. That means a bedroom maybe under the influence of a palace but another method will mean it is in another palace.

Regards Alvin Chua

Written by Alvin Chua. All rights reserved. Copyright @. Not for commercial use of any kind.

Is the color of my main door or gate important?

Yes, the element of the color should match the directional element where the door or gate is located. Or else, the occupants will face health problems or general bad luck. The color used must also be suitable based on the Flying Stars chart. All these are applicable to the color of doormat also, if any.