Kuala Lumpur , where the Mastery Academy if based, is a wonderful city. And it has interesting Feng Shui features as well. It is not uncommon to find properties with irregular shapes and missing corners, especially some of the more modern designs that cater to slightly more contemporary tastes.

I was approached by an old acquaintances who I had known since my schooling days to help with the Feng Shui of her new business. After many years of training as a professional beautician, she had finally decided to start her own business in a joint venture with one other partner. She was a Gua 4, born in the year of the Pig. Her main hair-stylist and business partner was a Gua 6 male, from the year of the Dragon.

With one from the East Group and one from the West Group, Lisa was in a dilemma between three choices of shop lots. Since both play equally important hands-on roles in the beauty salon, whose ‘auspicious direction' should take precedence?

The first shop option had to be instantly ruled out. It had a missing Northwest sector. This would be a disadvantage to those born in the years of the Dog and Pig. Now, not all uneven corners fall into this category. This will become clearer once the floor plan is divided into 9 equal sectors. A sector would have to be ‘cut-off' to substantially in order to qualify as ‘missing'.

The second shop lot was located just off a T-junction. Normally, this would still be fine as long as the junction did not ‘spear' into the main door. Unfortunately, the sector that was being ‘speared' in this case was the Southeast sector. This sector was the house for the Dragon and Snake animal signs. Not only that, the Southeast also corresponds to Gua 4 people. Although Lisa did like this premises the best, her chances to grow a successful business would definitely be small.

Whenever a particular sector is ‘missing' or being harmed by negative external features like sharp beams and rooftops, pylons, or street lamps, the corresponding persons within the property would become more sensitive to the affects of negative Qi. When and how they are affected would require a little more advanced calculation.

Just when things seemed bleak and Lisa was at her wits end, it seemed that we found her shop – one that seemed promising. Thankfully, all the sectors seemed to be in good condition. Now we had to ‘solve' the initial worry Lisa had regarding the opposing Life Gua numbers and good directions. I assured Lisa that the Gua of the ‘Building' is more important than the Gua of the people.

“The building has a Gua number too?” Lisa was quite surprised.

The building's Gua number is derived from its sitting position (opposite the facing direction) of the building. Our third shop lot faces East and therefore sits West. That makes it a Dui Gua (or Gua 7) property. By placing the main door at the correct sector of the property, all the occupants inside will be able to receive positive Qi. For this Gua 7 shop lot, a door opening at the Northeast sector would bring in ‘Yan Nian' Qi. This is suitable for businesses that deal with many clients daily as the ‘Yan Nian' promotes good and harmonious relationships and reputation.

Those who cannot have a door in the ‘Yan Nian' sector could spend more time being in the area to benefit from this Qi. Try to ensure that this area is spacious and free from large internal negative features, like protruding beams, huge columns, and narrow corridors.

After a month or so of construction and remodelling, they opened their doors for business on a pre-selected auspicious date. When I caught up with Lisa a few months later, she was doing well and even was making plans to expand if business kept growing at the present pace. I was pleased to have been able to help an old friend and watch her succeed in her life's passion.

[Note: To learn more about your personal Life Gua number and good directions, you can go to www.joeyyap.com ]