Cecil Lee

Dear Sandra, Where possible, the pool should not be circle or circular shape. Since the tiger is considered as a "white" or metal tiger, often a line of plants can be used, here. Warmest Regards, Cecil

These are two good articles to understand on the Chinese 7th month.... Usually those who are over 40 years old... have a higher apprehension about buying a home during the Chinese 7th month. The second article, mentions that so long as a developer has a viable "product" or "style", such a home sells even during the Chinese 7th month. Recently, a forum message wrote about the fear of buying a car during the 7th month. We might as well not buy anything during the 7th month if it were that bad. Thus, we might not want to eat? to work? etc...

Dear Anon, Please see below:- But, in some traditional Feng Shui schools; we are told that a sword hung in the living room could signify bad relationships or quarrels etc... Between the above two concepts, it is safer not to hang the sword at all. In fact, much of the myth of the coin sword comes from the movies. For example, many of the "ghost catching Chinese movies" show a Toaist monk using what looks like a sword made of these coins. And, presto! Many people, started commercialising the sale of these swords -- based on the movies. Hey! If it appeals to movies, and if it can sell, these people would then push the sword in the "holy" name of "Feng Shui". Place it facing into, outwards of a home and it still would be the same. In fact, what has become is: the seller of the three-legged toads would become richer. And the buyer? Poorer! In fact many business has become successful, thru good groundwork and not to stuff themselves with such commercial products. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Perhaps, you may consider a potted plant. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Nowadays, many of us immediately associate Feng Shui merely with the interior decor of a home. But this is far from the truth. For example, I refer to Dr Evelyn Lip's book "Chinese Geomancy - A layman's guide" Page 7:- Quote from her book: "There are three types of sha or sand which the geomaner looks for. These are represented by the various "star" symbols. The Star of Fire represents sand that has a sharp and cutting edge while the Star of Wood is sand that is round and straight. Sand that is long and round is called the Star of gold, whilst sand that forms a wave-like pattern is called the Star of Earth. Once the quality is sand is determined and classified accordingly, the divination of a site can be computed e.g. sand that is round, regular and full is reputed to bring fortune, while sand that is irregular and defective is supposed to spell bad fortune. In a Chinese book on geomancy, as many as twenty-seven types of sand are described in detail ". End of quote. - Source and Credit to: Dr Evelyn Lip, Times Publication - reproduced for education purposes only. Therefore, perhaps, those who really do not know indepth about Geomancy often think that is may be a secondary art. But in ancient times, Feng Shui is used to locate as large as a city etc... Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Meena,

Dear Ashwini, To be honest, often, Shapes and Forms Feng Shui prevail over other forms of Feng Shui e.g. Flying Star etc... Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Hoa Luong, This has more to do with commonsense approach to Feng Shui. For example, in Malaysia, it was felt that a corner lot on a quiet side of the street could attract thieves. However, nowadays with modern deterence such as motion sensor lighting, mimic dog barks and alarm systems, it makes it much harder for anyone to violate the property without a warning. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Leng, In practice or in a practical world, it all boils down to "How can we maximise -- marks in our Feng Shui examinations". Thus, every little area counts. thus, things like how well a house suit us, how many major leaks (if any) can or cannot be fixed etc... Therefore, we cannot only simply eat and sleep on Flying star Feng Shui alone. But it depends on the wider picture - external environment that our home is in.

Dear Anon, Under the water classics, what you have done is correct. For example, for a landed property, one of the things we look out for is the drainage running within the compound of the home/land. For example, it is acceptable to see water flowing into the home. But at the point of water exiting the home, it is covered up or not seen. You have placed two planks similar to the above concept of covering the drain. If you cannot see someone coming into an office, one can place a small mirror on your workarea to improve on the blindspot of your home. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear AJ, Thanks for the sketch. Please see below:- In my opinion, usually, your block or unit would be quite a distance away from the neighbour's. And it is not like their buddha intrudes into your home. In my opinion, this is also a non-issue. Much like someone's main door facing our main door. Not much we can do. It is not good to place a ba gua mirror or so facing back towards the neighbour since this is only a statute of a buddha.

Dear Hoa Luong, Please see below:- However, in many home layouts, it is very often common to have a toilet at the second level close to the frontage. This is less important than say the toilet directly at the frontage of a home.

Dear Anon, In fact there are several methods of caculating the gua (kua) no. In my applied Feng Shui book, I have listed more than two methods on this. For curiosity, you can try out the several methods and check the final results. In fact, most of the methods works well for years less than 1999. For some methods, anything greater than 2000 may be an issue. Warmest Regards, Cecil P.S. I had posted some of the methods in this forum -- quite sometime back. Maybe you could do a SEARCH in this forum for the formulas -- if you want to.

Dear Huey Ling, Yes, this is classified as "human sha qi" especially if we continue to consider it annoying. However, hopefully, you should get used to it. Perhaps you are a light sleeper. Some of us sleep like a "pig". Is there any way of changing room or alternatively a cheaper method is get a pair of swimming ear plugs. Hopefully, this can help a little. Alternatively, some of us play soothing music prior to sleep or drink a glass of warm milk. Warmest Regards, Cecil P.S. Apologies, I am afraid, these are not Feng Shui cures. Perhaps, some are grandmother cures.

Dear Anon, From your description, the house must seem very peaceful. In fact, all of us one fine day must also die. (especially old age) For your home, to me I feel that it should be ok. So long as you do not hang wind chime(s). Since your home is further separated by a rural road, this is even better. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Sharose, Thanks for the picture. Perhaps it is a coincidence that you got flu (i.e. maybe duly worried and have lowered your resistence to flu). From a Feng Shui point of view, in my opinion, there seems to be no issue with the neighbour's fence. However, I cannot see your main entrance, but looking at the roof of the neighbour's home is pointed towards roughly your foot-path towards your main door? If so, this can be a sha-qi. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Further to what I had mentioned, often, a good Feng Shui practitioner will often use "water element" instead of fire element (if given the choice to neutralise e.g. a #7 under Period 8 Feng Shui.) As we have already known: #7 = weak metal element. And under the productive cycle of the 5 elements concept, water helps to draw out "metal" or helps to reduce or neutralise it. Although the fire element can be used to "control" #7 or weak metal, under certain circumstances, it may not always be the best choice. This is because, we should not forget that there are #5 and #2 both bad earth elements "floating" around the time dimension. In a worst case senario where in the event that this same sector, or at this same sector, #5 or #2 or a combination of them flies into this sector, fire, may futher fuel bad earth -- inflaming it or making it worse. Wherelse, a water cure is a better solution. Even if #5 or #2 flies to this sector, water which neutralises #7 can also easily drown #5 or #2 earth element or draw it out. If we are to apply the five elements concept effectively, we should try to understand both productive and destructive cycles and their implications on each other. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear AC, Although 7's are good under Period 7 i.e. 1984 to 2003; in 2004, it happens now to be the "past prosperity" or "gone prosperity". It is OK to have a fire-place at this sector. Since under the destructive cycle of the five elements:- http://www.geomancy.net/resources/theories/fs-5element.htm Fire is used to control Metal (where #7 belongs to the weak metal element). Therefore, a fire-place here is in-fact a blessing in disguise. In addition, since the year star is #8, for this current period #8 is the current prosperity. And is associated with the earth element. A fire-place (fire) can further help fuel #8 auspicious earth element. Thus, again, it flows well with the sector. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, To be truly honest, pending just a few lines of text (similar to what you had provided) is much like a wild guess. The information provided does not even remotely take into consideration many factors or lots of information are incomplete. Given this, sometimes, simply go with your instincts or bring along family members to view each home. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Oliv, Firstly, Good Luck in selling of your home! Most of the time, the practical advise is/are: 1. Where possible, if the home needs a fresh coat of paint, this is a very good investment. 2. If the home is tenanted or occupied, it is always best to keep the home neat, tidy and remove as much clutter as possible. Generally, from a Feng Shui point of view, unless the home has some good sailent Feng Shui advantages e.g. it has a good view, or the home is e.g. a NE facing etc... Here, the buyer should be appreciative of what is good Feng Shui in particular for the home. Otherwise, most of the time, price is one of the major considerations as well as how well the house has been kept. Sometimes, if the estate is an old estate, there can be a one-off chance that some people who may be interested are those who have children and have relatives e.g. parents / parents-in-law staying close-by. In Singapore, nowadays, if one owns a Five room HDB apartment and it is no where near to good amendities or MRT / LRT, these homes (no matter what) may be harder to sell! If your home has North-South facing direction, often, it is good to add to the description of the sale of the home Wishing you the best of luck in your sale of your new home. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Ricky, Thanks for the sketch. In my opinion, there is no issue with the new layout plan so long as the edge of the fridge does not "cut" or slice into the stove position. Please see attached illustration: " OK vs INAUSPICIOUS". Warmest Regards, Cecil

Home Improvement Need to fix your house without breaking the bank? Here are some Feng Shui home solutions to help bring positive change. Nothing beats moving into a new home. There is the excitement of shopping for furniture as well as the anticipation of spending the next phase of your life in a spanking environment. To make your abode a sanctuary where yon can be happy and fulfilled requires more than just a good decorator. By using feng shui, you can bring out the positive effects of your abode through organization of space, positioning of furniture, display of art and use of flowing lines. Cecil Lee, Principal Consultant and Founder of GEOMANCY.NET: Center for Applied Feng Shui Research offers simple solutions to these scenarios: What should I do about the beams above my bed? Add two bamboo flutes on either end of the ceiling or consfruct a quarter shaped ‘flower’ cornice to hold up the ceiling. Are false ceilings and double-decker beds considered variations of beams over people sleeping below them? A false ceiling is not the same as a beam because firstly, the material is not made of concrete and secondly, it is usually of a wider area. As for double-decker beds, if you look carefully; the entire surface of the upper bed is flat and not concentrated like a beam. For years, many people have slept in double-decker beds and have not suffered any ill effects! My child’s bedroom doubles up as his study. Does the presence of open shelves mean there is too much “sha chi”? Weigh the balance between the convenience of easily accessible books against the “difficulty” in finding one’s (books) resources. It is advisable for the child to have a proper study tabic with stationery and other materials at hand. What is important for a child’s bedroom is to have a proper balance of yin (rest/sleep) and yang (study). Since many children do not have the luxury of separate bedrooms and studies, it is good to have their own study area in a corner of the bedroom. There is a great deal of cross ventilation in my flat making it very windy, is it true that too much wind can blow good chi out of the window? Contrary to popular belief, in addition to the placement of furniture, it is advantageous to have wind coming into die home from as many directions as possible. This helps to circulate stale chi and improve the airflow in the home. At times, when there is too much cross ventilation, ideally, one can close certain windows to reduce this effect. How do I brighten up my dull bathroom without having to do a major renovation? By all means, go ahead and brighten it up with sticker tiles or other decorative items for bathrooms such as themed artwork or floral designs. There is also no harm if one chose to place fresh flowers in the toilet! My windows open out to a power station, what should I do to counter this? In Singapore, a power station is often in the form of a rectangular building. For condominiums, it is usually separated by a service road. If one stands at the window looking out, and the view of the power station does not “slice” or “cut-into” one’s home, then there is really no issue here. However for those who want to play safe, you can look into placing a set of blinds at the window which can let in light and ah. Alternatively; a reflective sun-x film can also be used. The previous occupants had an indoor water feature. Should I have it removed? The basis of feng shui revolves around the Five Elements, namely water, wood, lire, earth and metal, which arc considered the building blocks of life. They interact, shape and stimulate our daily life. Thus if one wants to keep the water feature, it should ideally' have all the five elements in it. Generally speaking, it is riot advisable for a person, who’s Ba Zi (Pillars of destiny') is a weak fire element, to own a water feature since llie water element can destroy or diminish his weak fire. On the oilier hand, a weak water person can benefit from a water position. There is no magic involved in feng shui and no quick-fix feng shui solutions. Tn order to reap the most benefits, one should consult a professional master to do a proper reading. Source & Credit: See Next Thread (Below)

Dear Anon, Frankly, this is an over-kill. (not advisable) Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Perhaps, this could be a coincidence. Note: this is not Feng Shui, but is quite common activity for some Chinese that are truly down on their luck:- However, for the Chinese, some would prior to taking a bath:- 1. purchase a few limes. Cut the limes into 4 quarters. 2. purchased assorted flowers. get ready the above and place them in a small basin of luke warm water After bathing, just pour this water with lime/flowers over our head . Next, dry ourselves with bath rope. And collect the items and throw them away. Often, avoid going into the toilet for the next 2 hours or so. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear David, The idea behind the 7th month is that when we TAKE POSESSION of a home, some fear that during the seven months, spirits may wonder into our new home. Just last year, I believe, there was an article in the Straits Times, Singapore that says that some developers were even launching new developments during the seven month. It would be rather silly to say that when we sign an option to purchase a home, the ghost would follow us to sign the agreement? Does this make sense or it is a silly notion? Why are we so afraid of doings things in the 7th month? If the whole world is afraid of the 7th month then: 1. No one wants to travel e.g. fly. 2. No one wants to "play" go on vacation etc... 3. No one wants to work? There is a difference between signing an agreement e.g. booking an apartment vs at least the notion that when we just moved-in, into e.g. an empty home, some people may perhaps fear that some wondering ghosts could be staying in the home. And thus want to avoid disturbing it etc... Anyway, these are simply man or (Chinese person's fears). Imagine what would it be like since the world does not always follow the Chinese perception of the hungry ghosts. Certainly Muslims, Christians and Catholics and other religions do not even think about this period. Actually, for the Chinese 7th month, the most important day is the 7th day of the 7th lunar month. While some pray during the 1st of the 7th month (tonite -- 16 August) and the 15th lunar month. As mentioned in my earlier message, there is no harm in booking say a vehicle during the 7th month. In fact, factually, I am going to collect my new vehicle during the 1st week of September or earlier than 13 September 2004 - the last day of the 7th month. If everyone is so scared of the 7th month, better to stay at home. Or take the opportunity to create nuisance in our world and get jailed during this period -- erh to feel safe? Do we want to do so? Warmest Regards, Cecil