Press

The Edmonton Journal - Don't let your luck go down the drain
Los Angeles Times - Big Business Uses Feng Shui

Los Angeles Times - Big Business Uses Feng Shui
by Sallie Hofmeister
Mitchell Stern had one of the best perches in town. From his window on the 11th floor of DirecTV’s headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., the new chief executive of the satellite-TV company could take in the mountains, downtown skyscrapers, Los Angeles International Airport and ships out at sea. Stern traded that panorama for a view of a sewage treatment plant and the company parking garage. But the new office has something his old one lacked: “good chi.” At least that’s the assessment of the feng shui consultants hired by Stern’s boss, media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Along with a growing number of major corporations, Murdoch’s New Corp. empire s quietly employing the 4,000-year-old Eastern practice as a way to improve its business success. Other corporate believers reportedly include Coca-Cola Co., which called on a feng shui expert at the suggestion of on of its Asian bottlers, as well as Procter & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard and Ford Motor Co. At least one California legislator also is promoting the custom. In January, Assemblyman Leland Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, proposed a resolution that would require the state’s building standards to promote feng shui principles. “Is it mainstream? No. But it’s used more than people acknowledge,” said Peter Reiss, a feng shui practitioner in Centerport, N.Y., who serves as a consultant to several corporate clients. News Corp. declined to discuss its use of feng shui, as did Murdoch and Stern. But sources said that since Murdoch’s 1999 marriage to Wendy Deng, he has become a big believer in its powers. Shortly after taking over DirecTV in December to fill a gaping hole in his global satellite-TV operation, Murdoch turned to an elderly Chinese couple who are considered feng shui masters, several News Corp. executives said. The couple couldn’t be reached for comment. But DirecTV insiders said the couple were horrified by some of the things they found at the El Segundo headquarters. One of their biggest concerns was the office occupied by the company’s chief financial officer, Michael Palkovic. The problem? The adjoining bathroom. The feng shui consultants said the company’s profits, which have been negligible since DirecTV launched in 1995, were being sucked down the toilet, according to people familiar with the findings. As a result, Palkovic moved to a new office on the 11th floor, the only one without a bathroom. Meanwhile, an even bigger relocation was averted. The consultants were said to have wanted a finance department unit moved from the fourth floor because they said four is considered an unlucky number when it is linked with money. They changed their minds when they discovered that the unit didn’t handle money but rather tended to DirecTV’s relationships with its dealers. Murdoch moved his own New York office about three years ago at the behest of a feng shui expert, company sources said. He relocated to the eighth floor, a number that is financially auspicious, according to feng shui tradition.

The Edmonton Journal - Don't let your luck go down the drain
by Nick Lees
With just eight stones in your sink, the power of feng shui protects your hopes, finances, marriage.
If you hear people say their finances, marriage or hopes have gone down the drain, tell them not to worry.
In future, they can protect against potential disaster for $29.95. Two Edmonton women began marketing feng shui stones locally Tuesday and believe they can alter fortunes. “We’re billing our stones as ‘jewelry for your sink,’” said Adibi Hahn. “Energy attaches itself to water, and every day we wash it down the drain when we brush our teeth or wash our hands. Place our stones in the sink and energy will bounce back into the room.” Said her partner Nancy Singleton: “That’s where the old saying came from about finances or relationships ‘going down the drain.’” Please don’t be skeptical about this. Feng shui has been around for more than 4,000 years and many enlightened corporate bosses are seeking the advice of qualified feng shui practitioners. An example is Mitchell Stern, the Direct TV chief executive who could once see the mountains, the downtown L.A. skyline and ships at sea from his 11th floor window in El Segundo, Calif. But his boss, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, hired a feng shui practitioner who had Stern move to a room with a great view of a sewage treatment plant and the company parking garage. It made perfect sense. His old room-with-a-view lacked “good chi.” Murdoch, according to the Los Angeles Times, has become a huge believer in the powers of feng shui after his 1999 marriage to Wendy Deng, who is of Chinese descent. On the advice of a feng shui expert, Murdoch moved his own New York City office to the eighth floor, the number being more financially auspicious. In El Segundo, and on the advice of an elderly Chinese couple considered feng shui masters, Murdoch’s chief financial officer Michael Palkovic was moved to a room without a bathroom. The company’s profits, according to the couple, were being sucked down his office toilet. (Can you believe it took expert advice to figure that out?) Coca-Cola, Procter and Gamble, Hewlett-Packard and the Ford Motor Company are other major corporations whose executives now reportedly believe in feng shui principles. And so they should, says Singleton, a certified practitioner who studied under California’s Denise Linn, an international lecturer, healer and author at the forefront of the feng shui movement in the U.S., Europe and Australia. “Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of object placement and environmental design,” says Singleton, the daughter of the late justice Michael O’Byrne. “It is the process of alignment which can remove the barriers that stop you from reaching your personal goals. “It takes away the feeling of ‘going against the flow’ as you work towards a life filled with prosperity, success, good health, harmony and wellbeing.” Architects, real-estate developers, designers, celebrities, health-care professionals andd home owners now use and respect the principles, says Hahn, a seasoned interior designer. "My realtor husband Larry says many people, especially from China, Tibet and India, won't buy a house unless it faces a certain way or the street number is considered a good one," she says. "Many developers now also consider which way buildings face before construction." Tiger Woods respects feng shui and wears red, a colour representing power, in golf tournament final rounds. The stones Hahn and Singleton sell at the Bay give a western twist to traditional feng shui practices. "There's no question energy is in the air," says Hahn. "Walk into a room where people are arguing and they will stop. But you can feel their energy." About a year ago, the duo decided a good way to stop energy escaping was to put eight stones -eight is the number representing abundance- in a sink. They didn't want to rob the land or sea of stones and began ordering handmade resin stones from thailand. "They are made from moulds and Nancy blesses them according to ancient practices," says Hahn. Only four Edmonton stores and two in Victoria are carrying the stones at presnt because the couple didn't expect them to be the success they are. "There's a couple of thousand on the way from Thailand," says Hahn. "They should be here next month." Eight stones come in a handmade box, along with a shell and one sand dollar. A quick tip that will cost you nothing but might change your fortunes, "Keep your toilet seat down," says Hahn. "That also stops energy going down the drain."