Michael Chiang (right), a Feng Shui master and a professional architect, shares his predictions for the Year of the Rabbit with TVB's Straight Talk host Eugene Chan on Jan 24, 2023. (PHOTO COURTESY OF EUGENE CHAN)
Our annual Feng Shui forecast is here. Architect and Feng Shui master Michael Chiang has this advice to all viewers and potential home buyers: Buy now or you will regret in 2024. While he says property market will hit a low this year, Hong Kong is actually well on its road to recovery. Join us on this annual auspicious show as we enter the Year of the Rabbit.
Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr. Eugene Chan’s interview with Mr. Mr. Michael Chiang on Tuesday (Jan 24).
Chan: Kung Hei Fat Choy! And welcome to Straight Talk with Eugene Chan. Our guest tonight is Mr . He has authored several books on Feng Shui and makes regular appearances on various media channels. Mr Chiang is with us this evening to tell us if the Year of the Rabbit will be a turning point for Hong Kong. Welcome again, Michael.
Chiang: Thank you.
Chan: Michael, I remember you were here last year. And we were asking you what was in store for us for the Year of the Tiger. And you predicted that COVID will be here until 2023. And you were spot on. And I remember we started off the year with a fifth wave. And we’ve nearly had like a peak of 70,000 daily cases. And our hospitals were overwhelmed. Unfortunately, we have a record death of like 12,000 Hong Kong residents who have passed with COVID. I mean, like you said, things will get better in the middle of... in the spring and summer. And now we are seeing the 25th anniversary in Hong Kong, which President Xi (Jinping) came to Hong Kong to celebrate with us. That was his first visit after the actual pandemic. So for year 2023 right now, we are right in the Year of the Rabbit, we're in the third day. What is this year like? Is it going to be a good year, bad year or a flat year?
Chiang: Well, I have been a bad mouth for the past four years, you know, in your program, predicting about the coming bad years. I'm happy to say that this year is going to be a recovering year. But we are not yet there. We are not yet in the prosperous track yet. So, we still have one year ahead of us to go through the problems. But it's definitely better than the past four years. Okay. And because we are approaching the... what we call the “period of nine” calendar. So, we are right in the coming into the, sort of, stable point. For the past four years it’s a fluctuating year. So, there's a lot of problems. And now we are getting better.
Chan: You did say that. I remember everything you said.
Chiang: Thank you.
Chan: You said 2022 were a transitional year.
Chiang: Yes.
Chan: And we did see... you're spot on again, we did see the lifting of the pandemic restrictions somewhere halfway through the year. And we have returned of international events of Rugby Sevens. So, when we look back quickly, do you think the year was as bad as you think? Or was it worse than you expected?
Chiang: Um, I mean, it was expected, it was expected. But 2023 is going to be a little bit better. But the problem with us is that China is not fully recovered. So, we are not seeing for example, many tourists rushing to Hong Kong yet. And all these activities are still starting and not really moving forward. We will have a good year in 2024. So, keep our fingers crossed. And we wait for one year more.
Chan: Right, Michael. I have to bring up everything that you have said.
Chiang: Yes, thank you.
Chan: So far. You predicted that COVID will be here to stay. Last year was a transitional period, things being better. One thing you didn't get quite 100% right, is with the new government.
Chiang: Yes.
Chan: I did ask you I said who will be our new chief executive. You said a female.
Chiang: Yes.
Chan: But it turned out to be Mr John Lee.
Chiang: Yes.
Chan: He's definitely not a female. So, what actually happened between your prediction and actually when it happened? What went wrong?
Chiang: I have been out of luck with choosing the chief executive for many years, I thought it was a female because looking at her chart, she has some frame and names coming, some honor coming to her. So, I thought well, maybe she's going to be the next one. But probably it will be some honorary kind of a title given to her later. Okay, so well you don't really get 100% right every time.
Michael Chiang, a Feng Shui master and a professional architect, on TVB's Straight Talk on Jan 24, 2023. (PHOTO COURTESY OF EUGENE CHAN)
Chan: Okay. Alright. So, master, let me ask you I'm sure that I have got many viewers said we always ask the right question.
Chiang: Okay
Chan: So I think the right question will be that I mean, we have the fifth chief executive now. And I mean, let's not talk about each individual but it will take a long time. But in the last few years, we must say Hong Kong hasn't been happy, or even last 10 years with “Occupy Central”, you have the riot, you have pandemic, even the … it’s terrible.
Chiang: To me, it's 20 years.
Chan: It has been very terrible.
Chiang: Yes.
Chan: Will this new chief executive, Mr John Lee, who has been also been to our show, will he bring more luck to us? Sorry to use that term, but that I'm sure many people want to ask.
Chiang: It goes with time actually. 2004 to 2023 is what we call the “period of eight”. So, this is a bad period for Hong Kong. Okay, now we are approaching 2024, the next 10 years is going to be the number nine in the Feng Shui calendar. These 20 years is much better than the past. And our chief executive they have promised a lot of things. So…
Chan: Is it a new chapter?
Chiang: Yes, so we have to wait and see, okay?
Chan: So, you're optimistic for the next 20 years? Hopefully.
Chiang: Yes. Because I am optimistic for China in the next 20 years.
Chan: Right. And also, our economy didn't do very well. I mean, we had a lot of people struggling, even until today. I mean, like you said earlier, the tourists haven’t really returned. Look at our F&B outlets, look at our retail stores. I'm sure everyone will be having a lot to share with you the toughness they’ve been. Has these all been under your prediction that things are so bad or worse than you think?
Chiang: Because in the past 20 years, we have a bad Feng Shui layout and timing. So, our government officials are doing things on the reverse side of the people's mind. So, I always say the government officials are doing what the people are not doing, what they are not... what they're trying to do is to stop people from making money, instead of helping them to make money. Every government in the world try to help the people to make money, right?
Chan: Yes, you expect that.
Chiang: But our legislations, our law, our Exco are all stopping people from making money.
Chan: So, it's not friendly at all.
Chiang: Yes, not friendly at all. That's why they create so much grievances that it broke out in 2019. Right. So, this is in a way, accumulation of the problems, we have to admit that.
Chan: So, let's look forward, as you said, I mean, very happy to know that things will be better in 2024. Things will be better now. So which industry do you expect this year, say in Hong Kong to do well? Or which industry do you think that one shouldn't touch it at all?
Chiang: Let's see about a big trend, in the coming 20 years is the era of the IT because number nine is on fire. Fire means in Chinese three terms: innovation, revolution and war. So, these three things are going to come with us…. We're going to see a lot of the big chefs coming to age, and then also fire also denotes in the past birds, flying animals. Today, it means airplanes, and probably missiles.
Chan: So, you're thinking the aviation industry will revive?
Chiang: Definitely. Now, for example, in the past three, four years, of course, the tourism industry has died down. But in contrast to that, all the courier business is booming, so good, you know, all these transports, sea transport and all these businesses are doing good. So, it's a travel of the goods and not the people in the past four years. Now the people are recovering.
Chan: Before we go to the break, let me ask you a very question that everybody wants to know. You mentioned that the tourists haven’t returned. I mean, if you look at the news, our motherland is still suffering from the actual pandemic, a lot of restrictions on their business and economy. So, when do you predict our mainland will be doing better and start to have this cross-boundary flow of traffic between Hong Kong and mainland, this is what something we're looking for?
Chiang: Probably within this year, so we are seeing...
Chan: So, we have to wait for 10 months or more.
Chiang: Yes, because China will bloom into 2024. Okay, so this period is, as I say, a transition period.
Chan: Okay, right. Maybe we will go to a break now and viewers do stay with us, we will be right back.
Chan: Welcome back, thank you, Michael, for giving us your outlook for Hong Kong and the world in the Year of the Rabbit. Then how about before we move on to talk about personal level stuff I want to ask you more about on the world scene and you just mentioned there will be missiles flying around. We are in the year of the fire will be... meaning a war. We all know that the in a Straight Talk show we talk about geopolitical tensions between the mainland and the US, the Ukraine conflict is still there. A quick prediction: when would this Ukraine war finish? And when will this side effect of causing a lot of energy crisis in Europe ends? Sometime soon?
Chiang: In the next 20 years, we are seeing actually, as many people are saying, you know economists, not me, the rise of China, and to me, also Asia. That means Asia, the East is rising. And the West is on the decline.
Chan: I thought that is already happening.
Chiang: Yes, it's already happening. But this is a long-term process. It's not going to be… according to our stars, the East is going to rise in the next 200 years. So, we have a long time to wait, to see. And because of that, we are going to see, you mean about short term or long term now? For the Russian-Ukraine war, it is all caused by the star of Saturn. But the star of Saturn according to the Chinese astrology is not leaving what we call a group of stars called Lui Big Chun, it's the long war. Okay, so it's still inside the long war. So, it's still fighting. It will probably end in 2025.
Chan: So, direct question, in 2023 do we expect any major wars involving Hong Kong or affecting Hong Kong?
Chiang: It will not be war but I think it will.... this year it will see a lot of calamities, like flooding, landslides, storms...
Chan: So, all the natural disasters will be...
Chiang: This year will be more than the other years. And also for the first half of the year, it will be still a little bit of dry and drought. But then the other half we are returning to normal. Okay, we have been on the drought for two years.
Chan: Right Michael. Let's move on from your views on Hong Kong, the world. Let's talk about personal, this year, it is the Year of the Rabbit. How will all the Rabbits do?
Chiang: Not too well, I can say. Actually, this year, of the 12 zodiacs, the Rabbit, the Chicken, which our chief executive is and also the Dragon is not doing too well.
Chan: Okay, so what can they do to make it better?
Chiang: According to the Chinese saying: donate to charity. You give up some of your things like money, like your kindness…
Chan: Or time?
Chiang: Time, whatever, to help other people. It will improve your life.
Chan: So mainly Rooster, Rabbit and Dragon, you say. Who are the good ones this year?
Chiang: The good ones are the Dogs. The Dogs have a bad year last year, but this year, it will be better. And also, the Goat and Pig, though they are having a good year this year.
Chan: Alright, let's move onto one thing that you do for us every year is to telling us what to do to improve chances, right?
Chiang: Yes.
Chan: We have this diagram here that is a Feng Shui chart. Maybe you can start we look at I mean, north, south, east, west, right. We're looking from the north side. So, what should we put on the north to be a good thing.
A Feng Shui chart
Chiang: Now, on the north side, this year, you put a brown and white color carpet with some green bamboos in a pot of water. Okay, so bamboos can be four pieces. If you don't find a brown colored carpet, I suggest you buy one brown color and one white color and put together.
Chan: Alright, okay, it's one color. And how about on the north western side?
Chiang: Northwest, this year, we have a bad year for the omen for the Northwest. So, if your door is opening on the northwest, so be careful. You put a wind charm of five tiers, you can buy this in this kind of local shops nearby in town. But beware, don't put red color things at this corner also. And also, the wind charm should not have…because some of them have kind of red color strings and tidings and all these sorts of things.
Chan: Just pure metal.
Chiang: Yes, pure metal.
Chan: And on the northeast side, you said put water pot, but this one with red flower plant? So, the other side you need red flower?
Chiang: So, on the northeast side, you can put a pot with red flowers that grow on water, okay. So, probably you have to change the flower from time to time. Okay, now on the east side, this year, the East is one of the worst places. It's the star of sickness coming to the area. So, what you do is that you get to gourd and then you put two coins together on the gourd. Now, the gourd, it should be black in color. Now, all the gourds you buy are normal natural colors. So probably you have to buy it and then you have to paint it in black and then put the gourd there. Because of this, you can see that next year, Taiwan and Britain, UK are having a bad time also next year, okay because of the Feng Shui configuration, when
Chan: When you say putting a red carpet in the centre, when you say in the centre, where about it should be a centre in a house or in a flat?
Chiang: If you have the (floor) plan of the house, draw a cross and then you will find its centre. Normally, in normal houses it will be the corridor leading from the living room inside the bedrooms. Okay, this is the normal place.
Chan: When you say is east, south, north, west, do you use the compass to do it or you just… how do you know which one is the centre?
Chiang: I will suggest that you go outside your house and measure it with a compass. Don't try that with Google, a compass or try to do it at home, because in modern houses, our walls are full with reinforced concrete and steel. So, the magnet that take deviations in the house is so great that you cannot measure it properly. And then also the Google direction, you know the apps you have, are only approximate. They are also affected by the electronics in your iPhone so you never get it accurate.
So, the proper ways are getting a compass. Measure outside of the flat you can approximately know the directions rather than measure it from inside.
There's also one other method you go to the District’s land office, they have a surveys section, you can buy the survey map of your house and the measure it directly.
Chan: You know exactly. So, on the west side you said you put a brine with a six copper and one silver coins and three green plants. It sounds like it's some sort of a battery to me doesn't it, with the brine.
Chiang: Yes, it's a kind of battery. And also, because if you put the brine there, and then put the coins, you see that the salt coming out on the edge of your container. So, this is a homemade battery. You know, the ancient Chinese didn't know anything about electricity. But how come they know how to do this? That this always surprises me. And I don't know the reason.
Chan: Anyway, we've been looking at it nine squares then we try to follow red flower plant in the southwest, black color carpet with eight coins underneath, with also red flower plant and four bamboo in water pot in the south eastern side. All right, if we do everything in the house, what's going to happen to us in 2023.
Chiang: Now, because in Feng Shui philosophy, we are based on what we call the four-dimensional thing, science is only three dimensions because in science, you can repeat your experiment anytime and you get the same result. So, time is irrelevant to you. But in Feng Shui, we say that things change with time. So, this kind of thing, it changes every year. That's why I come to this show...
Chan: Every different year. Yes.
Chiang: Specifically, if you want to have a clear Feng Shui reading of your house and yourself, it’s like a custom make suit.
Chan: So, we have to find somebody to help you.
Chiang: Yes, you have to do it accordingly. So, this kind of floor layout is like, how to say a Panadol or something or some kind of medicine where you can take it any time to help on curing small sickness.
Chan: Michael, we are now at the end of the show. Quick questions, quick answers. What day shall we start work?
Chiang: Sixth, I mean, the sixth day of the lunar calendar, that means one day after the…
Chan: And what’s the best time?
Chiang: …no, one day more than the public holiday.
Chan: What time should we start work on that day?
Chiang: 9:30am.
Chan: Anything we should wear?
Chiang: Well, red.
Chan: Right. Okay, one more last question. Is it a good time to buy a property this year? I'm sure the viewers would want to know.
Chiang: Yes. Because the property is going to fall. This year, we don't have any... so, the property is going down.
Chan: Right okay, maybe end of the year.
Chiang: No, this is actually the best time to buy otherwise next year, 2024, it’s going to go up again.
Chan: Right. Thank you, master Michael, for sharing your expertise on Feng Shui with the viewers. We sincerely hope that the Year of the Rabbit will be a better one for all Hongkongers. Have a Happy Lunar New Year to all of you and good night.
