To the uninitiated, a feng shui master’s calculated manoeuvring of a protractor over detailed floor plans might seem mystical, obscure and superstitious—as might crystals, amulets and wind chimes. But the feng shui and ba zi masters of today want you to know that the opposite is true.
What even is feng shui and ba zi? According to Paul Kek and Renaye Chan, the co‑founders of consultancy group Alchemy International Advisory, feng shui, literally “wind water” in Mandarin, “harmonises individuals with their environment through the arrangement of spaces”. The result is the enhancement of “positive energy flow and well‑being”. Meanwhile, in ba zi, the eight characters derived from one’s birth year, month, day and hour can “reveal an individual’s innate personality, health conditions, family ties, romantic relationships and luck cycles in life”, says Venus Wang‑Lysiak, a senior branch director at real estate agency Propnex who also offers
