Renowned author, Feng Shui consultant and educator, Datuk Joey Yap spoke to a full house audience of 3500 people at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre last Sunday, as part of his annual "Feng Shui & Astrology for 2014" seminar.

Yap said 2014 will be a challenging year for many. However, the year also holds many opportunities for serious investors.

Yap revealed that in 2014, Fire related industries such as technology, hospitality, airline, food, telecommunication, military and electronics will perform well. This is followed by the Wood element industries like fashion, education, advisory services, furniture, timber, and plantation, which will also thrive this year.

He said: "While the initial outlook is a little bit gloomy, the year will smoothen out towards the third and fourth quarters. It all boils down to how you take advantage of the positive points available, and make the best of these energies in the Wood Horse Year," he said, during his presentation to the receptive audience.

This year, rather than presenting the typical 12 Animal Sign forecast, Yap gave a more personalised outlook according to each individual Astrology Charts. He emphasised that the forecasts he shared should be viewed as a guide to help people strategise their plans for the New Year.

The Feng Shui & Astrology seminar in Kuala Lumpur is part of an eight-city world tour that began last October, with stops in New York, London, Slovenia and Manila. It will move on to Penang (Jan 19), Singapore (Jan 26) and Kota Kinabalu (Feb 26).

The annual event which has been held over the past 10 years, has attracted participants from United States, Canada, India, Indonesia, United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore. The Kuala Lumpur event is sponsored by Mah Sing Group.

Datuk Joey Yap is the founder of the Mastery Academy of Chinese Metaphysics, a global organisation devoted to the teaching of Feng Shui, BaZi, Qi Men Dun Jia, Mian Xiang and other Chinese Metaphysics subjects. He is also the Chief Consultant of Joey Yap Consulting Group, an international consulting firm specialising in Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology services.

Yap is the bestselling author of over 120 books on Feng Shui, Chinese Astrology (BaZi), Qi Men Dun Jia, Face Reading and Yi Jing. His courses are currently taught in 30 countries worldwide. Thousands of students around the world have learnt and mastered Chinese Metaphysics subjects through his structured learning programmes, books, and online training.

In this Q&A, Yap answers some basic questions on Chinese Metaphysics and what to expect for this coming Year of the Horse 2014.

Q: What is the difference between BaZi Astrology, and Feng Shui?

BaZi, or Chinese Astrology, is the blueprint to understanding who you are as a person, your roles in life and your Destiny. By studying your personal BaZi Chart, you can find out your potential, weakness, talent, traits, personality, and luck cycles.

In this sense, BaZi is always considered as the 'medication' or 'diagnosis' because it helps to identify the problem and create awareness based on what is lacking or areas that require your full attention in life.

On the other hand, Feng Shui is an art of harnessing natural energy to boost one's luck in life, and provides 'treatment' to the problems pinpointed by BaZi earlier. Feng Shui focuses on the external environment such as the workplace or residence where a person spends most of his time and make the right tilt to correct specific areas of one's life.

BaZi and Feng Shui work hand-in-hand to solve one's problem. One detects the problems, while the other provides the solutions. That is the main difference.

Q: What are the most important areas in a property, from a Feng Shui perspective?

The three important areas of a property are the Main Door, Bedroom and Kitchen. Main Door is important because that is where the Qi enters the property. Hence it needs to be uncluttered, bright and not affected by any external negative forms.

The importance of the Main Door cannot be stressed enough as it acts as the Qi mouth of the property. A rule of thumb, a good environment must be accompanied by a good Main Door, or you will simply be wasting what is in that environment.

After the Main Door, the most important components of a property are the Bedroom and the Kitchen. Why is the kitchen important? It is in the kitchen that food is prepared. If your kitchen has stagnant or unhealthy Qi flow, it will affect the quality of food, resulting in poor health.

We also need to ensure proper Qi flow in our bedroom because that is where we spend 1/3 of our lives. Together, these three areas make up the three important factors for interior Feng Shui.

Q: What is your opinion about the rising cost of living and other challenges in the coming year?

The most important thing is to look at ourselves and become better. Only by becoming better, we can do better. However, most people look for an outward solution to change the circumstances, rather than changing what's really important - themselves.

By using Metaphysics arts like BaZi and Feng Shui, you can make a change in yourself, and when you become better, the environment will also improve. It starts with the individual and we can make that change.

Q: What is your most important advice for the coming Year of the Horse 2014?

Don't let what you cannot do, stop you from doing what you can do in life. Your top priority is to keep on learning.

I consider myself an eternal student of life. We never truly master anything. Whether it is metaphysics or business, there are always new things to learn.

In 2014, the Year of the Horse, the element is fire. This energy will affect us in a spiritual, but not religious kind of way. Elementally, people will be more drawn towards a sense of well-being, more compared to industry or technology. So, those who are able to latch on to the main theme of the trends, will reap the rewards.

*Readers can print their personalised Astrology Chart for FREE from this link: www.joeyyap.com/FSA2014KL

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