Written by Sherwin Ng

18 to 24 Oct 2005 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our first designated meeting point was located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, right next to the fabled KLCC Twin Towers – the tallest twin towers in the world and for quite a while, the tallest building in the world. At 1300 hrs in the Business Centre of Mandarin Oriental, a journey was about to unfold. Of course, I arrived fashionably early as I always do for every Mastery Academy course.

Welcome to 2005’s Feng Shui Module 4, the Graduating program of Mastery Academy’s Feng Shui Mastery Series.

As more students appeared, the stern air conditioning began to mellow. I had been pre-informed that there were only a handful of Malaysian students. What better place to get acquainted with new friends from all over the world than here? All of us were about to embark on a strange and wonderful journey through the classics. Very soon – with our 500-pages of notes and diagrams – Master Trainer Joey Yap began with the fundamentals of Landform Feng Shui – Luan Tou. Luan Tou refers to the external and greater external environment. The Landforms, and not Flying Stars or Eight Mansions, determine the quality and capacity of Qi of a property. No Feng Shui practitioner can profess to having truly mastered the art of Feng Shui without a sound knowledge of Luan Tou.



The introductory lecture was kept short, just as a mental appetizer to the next six days that would follow. Masters Vin and Jayne, who were assisting Master Joey Yap in the examination assessments, also gave a brief speech to those sitting for the exam.

The first night ended with a very enjoyable eight-course orientation dinner. This gave us all a chance to get to know each other better. In addition to Mastery Academy students, I was also delighted to meet quite a few senior students from other Feng Shui schools who were among the eager students who had taken Master Joey’s Module 3 recently and joined us in this Module 4. As I looked around the ballroom, chopsticks in hand, it was heart-warming to see the smile on everybody’s faces. Germany, Canada, America, UK, Greece, South Africa, Singapore, Australia – all brought together by our passion for authentic Feng Shui.



Tomorrow: ‘Entering Earth’s Eye’.

Ru Di Yan, or ‘Entering Earth’s Eye’, is the book to know if you want to be a skilled Feng Shui practitioner. It’s one of the premier books about the landforms, natural features and conditions – without which you would never even know where to begin in assessing the type of Qi that was influencing the area.



We started off by revisiting the ‘Earth Mother Trigram’ (Di Mu Gua) and the ‘3 Auspicious 6 Elegance’ (San Ji Liu Shou). Once we factored in the ’24 Heavenly Stars’ we were then able to ascertain what kind of landform produces what kind of people. For example, if you want to be an emperor, you definitely require the support from the ‘Emperor Star’. If you want a longer-than-usual lifespan, tap into the ‘Southern Dipper’. Just so you know, this time the ‘stars’ actually refer to the exact constellations positioned in the sky!



One of my new acquaintances from her other school leaned towards me and quietly whispered, ‘I had no idea just HOW much I had been missing out on for so long! So many of my previous consultations and experiences are becoming so much clearer to me now’.



More excitement took over after lunch (where I had a hearty plate of briyani with an array of salads) – we were given the task of auditing the Mandarin Oriental hotel. What a place to start testing our big scale audit skills. From the highest floor, we were greeted by a panoramic view of the entire city of Kuala Lumpur. It was sight to behold – and so much information to take in and dissect all at once. Luckily Master Joey Yap provided us with some guidance and showed us where to begin.



Can you find the ‘Huge Door’ star? This is one main reason why KL is doing so well. We then took measurements and made observations at the main entrance of the hotel – is this the best entrance? Is it receiving Qi? Where is the ‘Water Mouth’? Is it locked?



All answers were revealed back in the lecture room. Master Joey Yap also revealed to us the significance of two very important key buildings to the Feng Shui of KL. And do you know why KLCC is doing so well? The answer stands right before your eyes – if you only know where to look. I was humbled and elated at once. For the trained eye, true Feng Shui can be assessed in 10 seconds. And where I was running around in circles before, there was now clarity. As I compared notes with some of these ‘senior’ students previously from other schools, I realised how fortunate we are at MA to have been taught landform analysis in such a detailed and structured manner.



Another challenge awaited us tomorrow.

At 0900 hrs most of us were gathered at the lobby of the Boulevard Hotel. No, this was not our second audit site. We were all waiting for the bus to take us up to Genting Highlands. For those of you living in Malaysia, you may understand my excitement better.

Genting Highlands – Casino, Hotel(s), and Theme park – is one of the most phenomenal places in this country. It is located up in the hills and has been a Malaysian success story since the day it began operations, expanding to a massive business empire that now owns one of the largest cruise lines in the world.



Despite my literary talents, I was at a loss for words that morning. Even on the bus ride up, there was no time for a quick nap. We spotted a ‘Seated Tan Lang’ (Greedy Wolf star) that turned into a ‘Slanted Tan Lang’ from another angle! The quality of Qi changed in less than 20 seconds. We also passed a ‘Wen Qu’ star (Literary Arts) along the way. True to its nature, this star saw the rise of two very successful educational institutions in its immediate vicinity – one being my alma mater.

One hour later we arrived at Awana to unload our heavy luggage. It was drizzling so the usually cool air turned cold (how nice! – but some of my friends were tucked in under layers of clothing, so I kept this to myself). Up at Genting itself, the mist was thicker than I’ve ever seen.



The lunch menu was somewhat special – red meat, stew, gingers and dried chilli – were all properly incorporated into the cooking to keep us warm. Perfect timing. Someone had keen foresight. Right after lunch, off we went in our groups to unravel the Feng Shui success of Genting Hotel.

The very sophisticated Landform-tapping method utilized by the buildings here were the first challenge. The second was the mist. Two of our teammates waited at one spot for over half an hour! Why? When the wind blew at the right place, the ‘Dragon’s backbone’ was revealed. Be diligent! Three seconds is all you get before the dragon recedes back into the obscurity.

From different vantage points, we saw layers of mountain embrace. Conclusion? Genting is a Heavenly Pool (Tian Chi) located within a Spiral City (Luo Cheng)! If that sounded alien to you, just understand that it’s an excellent Feng Shui condition. For those who understood what I’ve just said, you will believe it when you see it. Observing High-level Dragons (Gao Guang Long) is a study completely in a class of its own and very, very rarely taught. In fact, the Mastery Academy is perhaps the only known school to incorporate the advanced study of classical Landform Feng Shui into its syllabus and we have Master Joey Yap to thank for his generous knowledge.



At 1700 hrs I was so tired I fell asleep sitting on a chair while my teammates were exchanging ideas. I think I dreamt about the Chastity mountain (Lian Zhen – got a clear shot!) and wondering why the Huge Door ‘Ju Men’ was hiding from me ...

Only four students got the facing direction of the Genting Hotel right.

Most of us, thankfully, measured the right vein and incoming dragon.

Luckily, Master Joey Yap was there to guide us on the many intricacies of the Feng Shui of Genting Highlands. Today’s lecture covered the many ways to assess the ‘health’ of a dragon. Obviously a ‘sick’ dragon is not a place people will prosper in. We were also shown where the ‘crab eyes’ and ‘prawn whiskers’ were on the Genting mountains. These formations look very different when you observe them in real life and the pictures we looked at didn’t quite look the same as when standing face-to-face with the mountains. Do you think you can learn Feng Shui from a book now? Even classics like ‘Entering Earth Eye’ (Ru Di Yan), ‘Snow Heart Classics’ (Xue Xin Fu) and ‘Earthly Principles Five Verses’ (Di Li Wu Jue) require the tutelage of an expert. These were, of course, what M4 was all about.

In case you are baffled about all this talk about fish, prawn, and crabs – these are just terminologies employed to aid practitioners in their observations. One clue about these ‘seafood’ is that they (goldfish water, prawn whiskers) are related to water flow. It is just that lately, many Feng Shui terminologies are taken out of context. A ‘dragon’ obviously refers to mountain range in the landforms, and not a picture or figurine of a dragon.

I was quite sad to have to leave Genting after only one night’s stay. I may just make another trip back to study the forms again. Since tonight there was no report to write, it would be wise to catch up on sleep. Tomorrow, we were told, there were two sites to be audited.



Up the bus at 1000 hrs, we were on our way to visit an apartment complex not too far away. Master Vin kindly reminded us that Feng Shui assessment begins en route the site – if you only open your eyes when you get there, you would have missed the main ‘Water Mouth’ and ‘waterways’.

We met Master Joey Yap at our target apartment unit, which was undergoing construction. From that level, the scene was different and subsequently, the Feng Shui would be different too. Our objective: Find out if this building, as well as this specific unit was good or not.

As usual we toddled off around the building and took Luo Pan measurements wherever necessary. Meeting at the same place one hour later, the entire class exchanged views on the apartment building, as well as why the neighbouring building was doing badly. Very clearly the neighbouring one was not tapping into the waterway.



Our target building, on the other hand, was a highly sought-after residential property. Since the entire building was already good, which floor unit was the best? This is also determined by the external land structure. One special observation here was the ‘white tiger carries a sword’ formation. Indicating that women will hold the power here. Also noted was the Qing Long Guo Tang (Dragon Crossing Bright Hall formation in the natural external environment).

Those who thought of plotting a Flying Star chart would have completely missed the point. What good is a Star #8 if the land overrules it? Yes you heard right – the land comes first. Formulas later.



After lunch ala magnifique (tofu salad, pasta, and ice-cream coffee), we travelled with a heavy stomach to our next destination – the house of one of our classmates!

This property was built on a higher ground. If not for the sufficient Bright Hall, the Qi would have zoomed by. The Water Mouth from this house was also very clearly locked by a hill. We learned when and how to compromise certain rules. Of course, no house is perfect (like the weak Ancestral Mountains) and so we drew up options on what could be done about it. Since this was a house, we also got a revision on the Eight Mansions from Master Joey Yap. “Who says we can’t use the ‘Five Ghosts’ star? That person must have not read the ‘Eight Mansions Guiding Mirror’ (Ba Zhai Ming Jing).”



Today’s half day lectured covered all the water formulas – the good ones, as well as the bad ones. Seventeen pages were devoted to the different forms of natural water – what’s the difference between ‘Clear Jade Water’ and ‘Fragrant Spring’? Contrary to popular misconception, a ‘Water Dragon’ does not mean making long drains inside the compound of the house. It means finding the natural river forms and building your house accordingly. Any sensible practitioner would know that water crossing the Bright Hall is ‘cutting feet water’. This itself is a basic violation of the Bright Hall – how can it be a secret formula to make you rich? Kill you, it can. Again, we had to employ Master Joey Yap’s ‘secret’ art of common sense.



After revisiting the Four Major Water Structures, we delved into ‘Dragon Gate Eight Formations’ (Long Men Ba Da Ju) and the ‘Assistant Star Water Method’ (Fu Xing Shui Fa). Water is indeed a tricky business. When do you use them? Anytime – you just have to know which one to use when. And more importantly – for WHAT purpose.



Another high-rise building awaited us on Day 6. I thought the previous one was posh; this one was even more luxurious. Obviously the building was doing well, but we had to find out why. Not only that, we had to know in addition why the rows of houses in front of the apartments were doing badly. In case you are wondering how we knew the houses were doing badly – the general condition of the houses spoke for themselves.



Lesson learned today – Qi is useless if you are not receiving it. And that even if you do live in an area with good Qi, not knowing how to tap into it can be a total waste of some very good potential. Also that one little swimming pool would not affect the Feng Shui of two giant buildings. It was fascinating to be able to recognize the natural land formations and to understand how Qi is harnessed for an apartment block.

After lunch at Mid Valley, our second audit venue beckoned – Mid Valley itself. Now, this massive shopping complex has been a hot spot ever since it was built some years back. The strange thing is that for the past 20 years before Mid Valley was built, the land was a barren squatter area. Some remnants of these quaint, shanty houses can still be seen when you look beyond the river. Gave all of us students an idea of the potent results you could achieve – IF you know how to tap into the landform correctly.



Since I live relatively close to Mid Valley and have had the benefit of being familiar with the environment surrounding it, I had a slight advantage over my foreign friends. The Table Mountain was obvious and easy to spot. The main Qi Mouth at the Indirect Spirit (Ling Shen) was also detectable. The river forming a sentimental curve indicated the direction of the Incoming Dragon. Can you spot the ‘Greedy Wolf’?

Back in the MA lecture room, we reported our findings as well as discussed hypothetical situations. It is not easy to plan out such a large building to tap into good Feng Shui, but it is easy to ruin it.



We proceeded with the lesson highlight of the day – the ‘Advancing Officer Scrolls’ (Chui Guan Pian) written by Master Lai Bu Yi during the Song Dynasty. What’s it about? How to qualify the meridian spot and dragon vein. From there, we learned how to tap the landform structures by establishing the right facing.

What to do after dinner? Group meeting followed by report writing – it was important to get it all down when we were fresh rather than rush through it at the last minute.



Six days went by in a flash. Already the final day but I had no time to be nostalgic. Today we had four plots of land to analyse – identify the best and apply all that we had learned to correct the worst.

Now, this was a very up market development project so I shall leave the name out. One of the plots easily gave up its shortcomings - we could instantly identify the ‘Wind Gap’ facing it. Not a good feature no matter which way you looked at it.



Our favourite plot, the one with the best Feng Shui, was the one where Master Jayne Goodrick got bitten by mosquitoes. This is what happens when you tread into mountain jungles. (Note to self: apply repellent before land-selection audits)



Our favourite plot had a perfect-height Table and Rising Mountains, and also supported by Tortoise and Ancestral Mountains behind. So what if the Tiger embrace is more obvious? It is still sentimental. In land selection, the wind and soil are also good indicators of the quality of the land. There are no special formulas on this; the assessment is simply based on understanding nature’s design of mountains and water. This allows you to tell the condition of the Qi influencing the land – one section of the M4 material was devoted to identifying ‘Landform Sha Qi & Sheng Qi’ just by observing certain clues. Of course, my favourite was the Qing Nang Jing’s 10 Essential – which covers 10 important key points from the Green Satchel Classics).



The last lecture covered Date Selection. When is the best time to ‘open a new vein’? How do we renovate on the Grand Duke or Five Yellow when we have no other choice? Those who understood the lesson well would have no problems to this, and should be even qualified to write the Tong Shu almanac!



Class ended at 1800 hrs and we all rushed out as we had only one hour to prepare for our Graduation Dinner. I noticed Masters Joey Yap, Jayne, and Vin going into the Meeting room – they must be going through the exam results! No time for jitters though – time to freshen up for tonight and look our best.



We arrived at Le Meridian Hotel at about 1920 hrs in our favourite clothes (check out the pictures!). While I enjoyed the eight-course feast (especially the double desserts) the exam results were yet to come. Contrary to popular belief, paying for your examinations does not warrant an automatic pass. Mr. Loke did the honours of calling out the names of those who did pass...



For all the cold feet I had, I was all smiles when I heard my name being called. I was elated and it took a bit of time for this revelation to sink in.



After the presenting of certificates, diplomas, and diplomas with distinction, a memento was also presented to Master Vin and Master Jayne for their kindness and willingness as facilitators. We students know that both of them were there for us even after working hours (this is what happens when we all stay in the same hotel). On behalf of the students, I would like to sincerely thank Master Vin for always making us think and Master Jayne for her encouragement and smiles.

Everyone made sure they had taken enough pictures to go home with. Who knows when the next time so many people from all over the world would be in the same room again?



Every year, even the next Module 4, is bound to be different. Why? Because the people are different, the sites are different, and the experience is altogether new.

Feng Shui Mastery Module 4 is not the end of our Feng Shui studies. In fact, it is the starting point for us to ‘read’ and understand the power of landforms. Why do certain locations fail to produce noble people while the one across the river produces ministers every generation? How do you tell there is a wind gap somewhere without a helicopter? What do you do when there are no mountains at all? We can never look at the Earth the same way again as when we started.



It has been awesome. Life-changing indeed. Need I say more?

Written by

Sherwin Ng

“Amazing! Always a new world and a new wealth of information when I am with you. Thanks for an amazing journey! I came and never want to leave. I am very grateful that you are so willing to share your wisdom. We are lucky to have found you.”
Donna Collins

“The course was good and special thanks to Joey for conducting and designing the course in such a beautiful and simple manner. Hope to see Joey for his Xuan Kong and BaZi courses soon.”
Sharmila Mohanan

“I, personally am very happy and I am sure the knowledge provided by Joey from Module 1 to Module 4 will help me to be a good Feng Shui consultant. The practical knowledge provided by Joey will definitely help me.”
Anagha Ashish Bhagat

“A very practical and excellent course. Thank you for sharing your knowledge to us.”
Helen Ng Chai Hong

“Every time I am in a course with you, I get hungry to learn more. Your teaching is wonderful. Thank you very much.”
Bianca Esser

“Thanks for teaching and showing us what real Feng Shui is all about. For those who cannot read Chinese Feng Shui Classics, it’s a fantastic course. You gave us the maximum knowledge in a minimum time frame. Thank you for imparting this valuable knowledge to us. We sincerely appreciate your hard work and effort. How far we can go depends on our own efforts from here onwards.”
Goh Eng Eam

“Course material is excellent. The practical audits were good too. Overall the course provided good foundation for the practitioner to excel in their practice and their personal improvements.”
Kam Poh Seng

“Once more, Joey gave us very brilliant techniques. I deeply understand what he has taught us.”
Gunadi Widjaja

“I extremely enjoyed the Hurting Officer teaching method by Joey. Joey is a ‘Feng Shui Genius’. His knowledge is incredible. Thanks so much for teaching us all the precious information based on your researches and experiences.”
Diamanda Huynh

“It was a good course. With the knowledge we have learnt, I’m sure it can bring us growth, knowledge and success in years to come.”
Birgit X. Fischer

“Well done! Good presentation. I enjoyed having the site visits and the discussions to pint out what we needed to see. I particularly enjoyed not having the pressure of ‘tests’ but working in groups was a great help. I also made new friends. Well done Joey, I wish you lots of happiness and growth. I am glad I came this year.”
Glynis Dinsdale

“Very in formative, hands-on, practical applications of theoretical knowledge and also vast amounts of condensed classics! A very exciting and eye-opening module.”
Preet Kahlon

“Extensive theoretical content, much of it is vital for practitioners. Site audits were essential.”
Hung Hin Cheong

“It was a very exciting and interesting trip in Kuala Lumpur. I have learnt a lot and will take the knowledge back to Europe.”
Marion Hinderer

“You did a great work in presenting us your studies and understanding of ancient Feng Shui texts. Thanks a lot!”
Jochen Rubik

“The material presented is very very good. Super interesting and the real thing we look for. Thank you so much for this. Thank you very much. I benefited a lot from Module 4.”
Andre Pasteur

“The real secret in Feng Shui is to know how to appreciate. The knowledge of all formulas is useless without guidance. Thank you for opening our eyes to see the real Feng Shui.”
Eva-Maria Spotta

“Very informative, so much more relaxed! I have really enjoyed this course, thank you Joey. Your delivery was very clear, all our questions were answered. Everyone enjoyed themselves.”
Liz Emett