Does the Singapore Government use Feng Shui - A Critical Analysis of 9 Infrastructure Projects?
Dr. Michael Oon
Much has been written about Singapore and Feng Shui. They have been about the redesign of the city centre after independence in 1965 and the minting of the octagonal Singapore Dollar coin before the digging of tunnels for Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). There are other articles on the feng shui of private enterprises like Marina Bay Sands, Grand Hyatt Hotel and The NTUC building with their fountain of wealth.
Introduction:
The focus of this article is on the Feng Shui carried out by the Singapore Government on their major projects. These are long-term projects, and the methods do not appear to relate to the well-publicised versions of Feng Shui. The focus of this article is on how the Singapore Government use feng shui.
Singapore gained independence in 1965, and from there on, it has made its way up the world rankings. It is now one of the leading countries economically, with its currency in high demand. One of the first measures of the founding Prime Minister – Mr Lee Kuan Yew, was to engage the Venerable Hong Choon, a feng shui consultant, to redesign the City Centre and Government buildings.
Who is Venerable Hong Choon?
The Venerable Hong Choon was the Abbot of the Phor Kark See Temple in Bright Hill, but he was also a Feng Shui consultant of the Tang Yang Wu lineage, which specialised in the practice of Xuan Kong Feng Shui. Hong Choon did much of the feng shui work soon after Singapore's independence until he died in 1990. He laid out the long-term infrastructure plan of Singapore, which is still visible today. He did not have any students (or disciples), and the more recent feng shui work has been from consultants of that Lineage based in Taiwan or the United States.
The Venerable Hong Choon came to fame in a newspaper article about his work on the Singapore Hyatt Hotel. Otherwise, he, like other consultants of his Lineage, worked quietly in the background.
Singapore and Feng Shui
Singapore is a hotbed of Feng Shui projects. Some are high profile, but there are others who keep it in the background.
These include Marina Bay Sands Complex, Universal studios, Suntec City (mixed-use development), VivoCity (Shopping Mall), OUB Bank and OCBC near the "belly of the Carp" of the Singapore River and others, to name a few.
The Projects – Does the Singapore Government use Feng Shui?
Singapore has a significant number of infrastructure projects which show the Government's commitment to using Feng Shui for the development and advancement of Singapore. It is a small island without any natural resources, but its development is based on the talent of its people, strategic location and integrity of its systems.
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT):
In the 1970s, the Singapore Government planned to dig railway tunnels for their proposed MRT system. To prepare Singapore for the physical and economic disruption, they used the expertise of the Venable Hong Choon.
At that time, Singapore had just gained independence. The feng shui theory is that digging underground for the tunnels would disrupt the energy in the earth beneath. This could trigger or enhance an economic recession. In the 1970s, the world was recovering from the oil crisis when the price of oil had quadrupled.
The then Prime Minister did not want a recession so early after independence as he wanted economic stability. Hong Choon had suggested that every person in the country have an octagon to minimise the effect of the recession. The Singapore Government minted the world's first octagonal coin. As I recall, Singapore did not suffer an economic downturn like the rest of the world.
Changi Airport (Location A):
It is one of the busiest hubs and is rated World's Best Airports by Skytrax.
It is on the east side of the island.
Secondly, the aircraft come in from the northeast to land on the runways at 23 degrees (Northeast).
The Airport is in the East Sector (Pa Kua - Lo Shu number 3) of Singapore, and the aeroplanes are landing in the Northeast direction (Pa Kua - Lo Shu number 8).
This makes the He Tu combination of 3 and 8.
This combination of East and Northeast is highly auspicious.
Jurong Industrial development (Location B):
This west sector is yin metal – ideal for metal or industrial areas. This is Tui (the 3rd daughter), whose element is yin metal representing high-value metal products.
The Jurong Industrial Development was set aside for developing electronics industries, particularly high-value electronic equipment (viz semi-conductors). These industries have the corresponding element of yin metal.
Tuas Crossing (Location C):
This crossing to the state of Johore (Malaysia) was opened in 1998. This bridge is in the Northwest direction.
The original crossing is the Causeway (Location E) which was completed in 1912. This crossing is in the North direction. (Pa Kua - Lo Shu number 1)
This combination of North and Northwest is a highly auspicious combination. It is part of the Lo Shu square (He Tu combination of 1 and 6).
More importantly, the energy from the Tuas Crossing is from the Northwest. This is Qian – the father. This symbolises Authority for the Singapore Government and money or the creation of Wealth.
The Merlion and Singapore River:
Before the development of Marina Bay, the Singapore River flowed into the sea.
In Feng Shui, water outflow is symbolic of wealth draining away.
Hong Choon devised ways to reduce or minimise the loss of wealth.
At the mouth of the Singapore River, there are three bridges.
They are Anderson Bridge, Cavanagh Bridge and Elgin Bridge.
Symbolically, these bridges "hinder" the exit of energy, hence the outflow of wealth.
However, Ven. Hong Choon devised an extraordinary symbolic way to further minimise this loss.
In 1972, they came up with a mystical creature – the Merlion. Its name combines "mer", meaning the sea, and "lion". It was located at the mouth of the Singapore River. It spouted water across the river mouth to further impede the exit of energy from the River.
The Merlion was used as the official mascot of Singapore and the logo for the Tourism Board. A branding opportunity was created from this installation. Nothing is wasted.
The Marina Bay Project:
This is the bigger plan to stop any outflow of water (or wealth) from the Singapore River. This is the Marina Bay project. This was not only to create a lake to act as a reservoir of fresh water but to create additional land for the Marina Bay Complex (Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay), Singapore Flyer, F1 Grand Prix circuit, financial centre and many others. It is a creation of a new city.
The water from the Singapore River flows into the Marina Reservoir as a source of fresh water. This increased the freshwater storage capacity significantly.
The Marina Bay development has changed the "front" of Singapore and involved 360 hectares of prime land for development. Much of it reclaimed land. This extends the size of Singapore.
With the completion of Marina Bay, the Merlion had served its purpose in hindering the outflow of wealth. The Merlion was relocated to a more prominent location. It is now the centre point for tourists to view Marina Bay and the new facilities like the Marina Bay Sands complex etc.
Rain Vortex in the Jewel at Changi Airport (Location A):
The Jewel in Changi Airport is a large shopping centre. At the heart of the building is an iconic feature - "rain vortex". It is the tallest indoor waterfall in the world.
This rain vortex is based on the initial design of the indoor waterfall at Suntec City. However, the original feng shui consultant had determined that the complex needed more energy in the basement. The "Fountain of Wealth" was designed for this purpose – the waterfall is to bring the energy down to the basement. (The Basement was used as a conference centre).
This feature was replicated in the Marina Bay Sands Mall and the Jewel in Changi Airport. The primary function is to bring more energy into the centre of the building.
The Singapore Flyer and a Feng Shui Consultant (Location D):
The Singapore Flyer is an observation wheel. It is very much like the London Eye.
It was noticed by a Feng Shui Consultant living outside Singapore that the proposed rotation of the Flyer would be encouraging the flow of energy outward – away from Singapore. This is very much like the outward flow of water from the Singapore River which I described earlier.
If you are standing in the mark "X" looking at the Singapore Flyer, the wheel rotates in a clockwise manner; the energy will flow out. It was decided that the wheel would rotate in an anti-clockwise manner so that the energy would flow towards Singapore.
As soon as it realised that will energy drain from Singapore, a high-level decision was made to reverse the rotation direction so that the energy flows toward the City rather than outwards.
The direction of the Singapore Flyer wheel is for the City and not for the Singapore Flyer.
The Singapore Flyer is in a quiet part of the Marina Bay complex. This is unlike the London Eye, located in a very busy part of the South Bank of London. The feng shui of the Singapore Flyer is not particularly impressive. There is not enough energy in that area.
The new Singapore Parliament (Location D):
Parliament House was declared open in 1999. This building is different from the other significant Government buildings in the area.
As you can see from the image above, the front of the new Parliament faces away from Marina Bay and Marina Bay Sands (the massive building in the background).
In the Google Earth Image below, the previously important Government Buildings – old City Hall (A), Victoria Concert Halls (B), and Old Parliamentary building (C) face the sea (or Marina Bay) – bottom right. The new Parliament (D) faces a different direction (top left).
Why does the Parliamentary Building face a different direction?
Feng Shui Masters in Singapore questioned why it faced a different direction. In classical feng shui, the building faces a clear space and support or mountain behind. In that location, the other buildings faced the sea (or Marina Bay), and the “support” would be Fort Canning Hill.
In my opinion, the feng shui of this building was carried out by a consultant who is of the same lineage as the Ven Hong Choon – Tang Yang Wu Lineage, who practised Traditional Feng Shui.
Traditional Feng shui is the original knowledge passed down from master to disciple with strong roots in the Tang Dynasty (608-907AD).
The main focus of Traditional Feng Shui is to design a building to accumulate as much relevant auspicious energy for the benefit of the occupants of the building.
In this case, the building faces the Singapore River, which flows towards Sea (Marina Bay). The building is picking up this constant stream of energy from the river flow.
More importantly, it is the quality of this energy. This energy comes from the Northwest. This energy is Qian or Father. The quality of energy of the Father is Money and Power or Authority. Isn’t that exactly what the Democratic Parliament is about?
Feng Shui, like many things in life, is not about the amount of activity but it is the results that count. Singapore, with no natural resources, is one of the most prosperous nations in the world.
Further details of the building can be found in this relevant article.
Commentary:
From this post, I have shown that it is official Government policy to make the best possible use of the resources it has. It uses feng shui to maximise the results.
Singapore is a small island without any natural resources. The only resource is people. But look at the results. Singapore is now one of the richest countries in the world.
It does not have any resources for fresh water, yet it has husbanded the water from the rivers and even sells the excess to neighbouring Malaysia.
It has stopped the "loss of Wealth", and it has created even more wealth with the assistance of other Feng Shui Actions.
It has used the natural resource of its people and credibility and developed to become one of the wealthiest nations. It has reserves of more than USD $1.05 trillion with a population of about six million.
Let me give you further examples of how it uses its resources to the best of its ability.
The admission of students to Cambridge University.
This is one of the most competitive admission procedures in the UK. In the UK, the number of students admitted to either Oxford or Cambridge Universities has become a benchmark in the school's standing. Therefore, the greater the number of students gaining admission to either university, the higher the school's ranking.
I have noticed that two of the ten top schools sending the largest numbers are from Singapore. Raffles Junior College and Hwa Chong Institution. Isn't that amazing? The top two schools are not even based in the UK but on an island some 6,000 miles away.
Singapore has a policy of getting the best talent and procedures to achieve the highest goals.
The Singapore Government has always sought the best that it can get. In feng shui, initially, they relied on the Venerable Hong Choon, who is from the Tang Yang Wu lineage. Since his death, the Government have relied on consultants of that Lineage based in Taiwan and the United States.
They have used feng shui consultants since its independence in 1965. That is more than six decades. Singapore has come a long way since, and Feng Shui has helped deliver these fantastic results.
The methods of the Tang Yang Wu lineage differ from other well-publicised methods. Its focus is on the flow of energy and the basics of Feng Shui knowledge. The consultants of this Lineage have worked throughout the world and have helped deliver astounding success to their clients.
It would take a student of this Lineage to identify the original methods used by Venable Hong Choon and other subsequent consultants.
About the Author:
This article was written by Dr Michael Oon, who practises Traditional Feng Shui and is a member of Alliance Feng Shui.
Traditional Feng Shui is the practice of proven methods of Feng Shui that have been established over the centuries. The practice knowledge is handed from the Master to selected students or the Chinese expression – disciple. This is usually done over 10 years in practicals and work experience within a lineage society.
He has written a post on the other project involving the Singapore Government - Feng Shui Of The New Singapore Parliament - 12 Powerful Points Of Critical Analyses.
Michael was born and brought up in Singapore. He completed his university education in the UK and worked as a Forensic Scientist in London. He visits family, relations and his feng shui family in Singapore regularly.
