Tony Chan bad fung shui for the real masters
Agence France-Presse
July 2, 2009
The Standard
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=15429
The court battle for the huge estate of late Chinachem Group tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum has lifted the lid on the city’s obsession with the ancient Chinese energy system of fung shui.

The case is between Chinachem Charitable Foundation and Tony Chan Chun-chuen, who struck the motherlode by offering fung shui advice to the late tycoon and now claims he is really her lover and no master of the ancient art at all.

During his week-long stint on the stand, Chan’s credentials have been undermined. As a result, the entire practice of fung 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 said.

Chan was able to convince politicians and businessmen to pay him huge sums for advice. Wang herself gave him three tranches of HK$688 million shortly before she died.

His advice to clients to burn banknotes to improve their luck originated from his late father – a retired teacher who, he said, could have given him the idea as a joke.

Peter So, one of the city’s most prominent masters, said it is a scientific discipline.

”Fung shui is very straightforward. It has nothing to do with magic or religion,” he said.

”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 luck.

The Bank of China tower, designed by I M Pei, caused huge controversy in the 1990s as its sharp triangular design was said to exert bad fung shui on surrounding buildings.

There was even a suggestion the design was chosen deliberately to channel bad energy towards the then-governor’s residence.

Disney employed a fung shui consultant when it built its theme park – 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 fung shui advice, said the practice is spreading. One Western client recently seeking advice after a ‘’string of bad luck.”

”More and more Westerners are embracing it. It’s definitely gaining popularity.”