RAS-1994 — Page 126

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was made "holy". Now it is too commercialised. To think that by moving your desk by a few feet you can change your luck!'

'One does not like to dispute anything to do with the "cosmic arts".'

'Things like fung shui till a need, and people have to create something, like God, Allah or fung shui, to fill that need. Fung shui is also a rationalisation of good planning.'

'I don't believe that fung shui really has any effect on anything. But it is an intelligent use of land, such as flow of water and siting of buildings etc.'

'If your ancestors are comfortable in their graves then you are comfortable. My Chinese friend felt someone was trying to tell him something. He then went to the cemetery and found the family graves were flooded. Fung shui can be a source of terror.'

'I'm sceptical, although, like some superstitions, much is commonsense. Like walking under a ladder. It may fall on you.'

'I don't believe. But, as a government servant working in the New Territories, you have to go along with villagers' customs.'

'Everyone has their own pattern of beliefs: and so they should.'

'Fung shui is a good belief. People need beliefs. There are different kinds and degrees of belief.'

like Christianity. But

'I don't believe in the mumbo jumbo. Fung shui has been distorted and commercialised. But the planning aspects are sensible. For instance, water is important. In village life you need to retain it, but, if it is a few inches too high, it can flood all your paddy.'

'Yes, man needs things like fung shui to hang on to.'

'My husband and I built a new house on the Peak in the late 1980s. But after we moved in I felt unwell, so we called in the fung shui man. He said there was not a great deal wrong but he put in the odd plant here and there and made minor changes. After that, we held a "fung shui party" and invited all our friends. I did not feel off-colour any more.'