Nury Vittachi - The Feng Shui Detective

P RAISE FOR N URY V ITTACHI
AND T HE F ENG S HUI D ETECTIVE BOOKS

Unsurpassable mixture of humor, wisdom and whodunnit.
The Crime Forum, Germany

A very funny book. Dangerously so at times.
Thats Beijing

Wacky and hilarious whodunityou just have to dig in
and hold on for the wild ride.
Asian Review of Books

An international bestseller whose unlikely sleuths appear
to be heading for cult status.
Herald Sun, Melbourne

Totally engrossing and very, very funny.
Radio 3AK, Melbourne

If Hollywood wakes up...
The Australian

One of the most droll, attractive and unusual
of modern amateur detectives.
The Bulletin

Should bear a large red label warning against its being read
while consuming beverages, lest unwary readers wind up
spitting tea through their nose as I did.
Thats Beijing

The story is populated by a stream of eccentric characters and amusing examples of Singapores polyglot, multiethnic culture...
a tasty smorgasbord of modern Asian life.
Japan Times

Does for the flow of chi what Sherlock Holmes
did for cocaine.
South China Morning Post

The man who made Lee Kuan Yew laugh.
The New Paper, Singapore

First published in 2000

This Australian edition published in 2008

Copyright Nury Vittachi 2000

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

Allen & Unwin

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218

Email: info@allenandunwin.com

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

National Library of Australia

Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Vittachi, Nury, 1958

The feng shui detective.

ISBN 978 1 74175 537 4 (pbk.)

823.92

Text design: Design by Committee

Set in 11/13.5 pt Adobe Garamond by Midland Typesetters, Australia

Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Feng Shui Master
Lo Hung Lap

A UTHORS NOTE

The feng shui techniques in this book are mostly from the Flying Star School and the Form School of East Asia.

The vaastu principles are from the northern Indian school.

The ancient Chinese philosophy, stories and quotes from Confucius and other sages are largely genuine and come from texts up to 2500 years old. The extracts from Some Gleanings of Oriental Wisdom are by C F Wong, with spelling and grammar corrections by J McQuinnie.

Scarlet in a study

Recently, one thousand years ago, a sage lived on the Plain of Jars. His name was Lu Hsueh-an. He said, The trappings of a mans life are not his life. Yet the trappings of a mans life are his life.

Is this a contradiction? Yes but also no. Please consider this image.

It is a hot day. You sit under a very small tree. This is good. There is shade. You can see all around you. Nowhere can hide an interloper.

But there is shade for one person only. You have no visitors. You become lonely.

You move to a bigger tree. It has room for two-three guests to share the shade.

This is very nice. But the trunk is a little bit wide. There is a space behind you. You cannot see who is there.

Some of us we grow older. We move to much bigger trees.

You find a banyan tree so big that a whole village can sit in the shade. You have a very big world now. But there is danger. Behind you there is an unknown space as big as the space in front of you.

Some people never get to a large banyan tree. Others move from small to big worlds. But something in their lives shocks them. They go back to very small worlds.

Blade of Grass, when you meet someone you must silently ask them a question. How big is your world? This is one of the most important things you can know about a person.

There are times when you meet someone and you realise that your own world is not big enough to fit them. Then you have a decision. Do you say there is no room? Or do you move to a bigger tree?

Again Lu Hsueh-an said: Do not ask the Immortals how big the world is. You make the world.

From Some Gleanings of Oriental Wisdom

by C F Wong, part 73.

C F Wong shut his inky journal and put it and his pen into the drawer. Then he flexed his fingers and stared out of the window. Although he affected the role of the wise old sage when he wrote, there was often a moment when he found himself helplessly transformed into the admonished pupil.

He felt his own world was big, but it was his office that was small. It was the second of these factors that he used to justify his immediate hostility to a request from a person who was above him, in the temporal, corporate sense.

Wongs secretary and office administrator, Winnie Lim, had delivered the bad news in her broad Singapore-Hokkien accent. One of Mr Puns contack, he wan a favour. M.C. Queeny or something. He wan you to fine a job for his son, you know already, is it?

M.C. Queeny? I have never heard of him.

M. C. Q. U. I. N. N. I. E. The boys name is Joe. His daddy is very good client of the company. Friend of Mr Pun. Mr Puns secretary, she phone me to tell me. You must give the boy a job for his school holiday, okay or not?

He sighed. Incursions into his private space always caused discomfort. He knew it was extremely common in this city, as probably in most modern places, for persons in power to find jobs for each others sons. The phrase, he thought, was Old Boys Network, or was it Young Boys Network? He must look it up in his dictionary of English idioms. But his office was just two rooms, and his organization was small, consisting of himself, Winnie and occasionally an underemployed Chinese philosophy graduate who did part-time research. He had no budget, no spare desk and no inclination to help.

After a lengthyfor herpause of three seconds, Winnie added her next bit of news: Mr Pun tol me to tell you that he would be extremely pleased if you help. Thats what he said. Extremely pleased.

This phrase caused a momentary flicker in Wongs eyes. Ah. I see.

There was silence in the room as the brain activity of its two occupants switched to the left cerebrum, financial department.

How much you think?

The geomancer pulled thoughtfully at the few straggly hairs on his chin. When he says he is happy, it means a little bonus is in the oven. If he is extremely pleased, it might mean a pay rise is in the oven.

In the oven?

English colloquial usage. I heard it from Dilip. It means will soon happen.