Nury Vittachi - The Feng Shui Detective

‘What’s the address?’ Joyce asked. ‘It doesn’t give any address. Is it anywhere near the Chim place C F was talking about?’

‘It’s on the edge of Ma On Shan,’ Au-yeung replied. ‘It’s normal in Hong Kong not to bother with addresses, especially in new towns. You just name the area and the building.’

‘Dragon’s Gate Court. Sounds nice,’ the young woman said. ‘Now what? Let’s go and see it. Have you got the keys? Where do we find the estate agent?’

‘It’s very different here. You basically get in a queue and put your name down for a unit. If it’s a very popular development, they do a sort of computerised ballot, and then publish a couple of hundred winners’ names in the newspapers.’

‘You can win the flat? You don’t have to pay?’

‘No, no. You win the right to buy the flat. You still have to pay full price. At the moment, the market is in a bit of a slump, and these units are pretty pricey, even by Hong Kong standards, so the developers reckon a ballot won’t be needed. We just need to go down there tomorrow morning. If you all come to my office by 6.30, that should be enough time. Do you remember how to get there?’

‘Six-thirty? Like in the morning?’ She was shocked, and sat down, suddenly tired.

‘Yes. There will almost definitely be a queue, and the first site bus leaves at 6.45. Bring your passports.’

‘It’s that far away? Like in another country?’

‘No, but it’s high security. Flat sales always are, here. Everyone needs formal identification.’

‘Yikes. Six-thirty. That’s only twelve-and-a-bit hours away,’ said Joyce, looking at her Swatch. ‘And I have at least ten hours’ worth of shopping to do. And can we go and have tea at the Peninsula?’ This question was aimed at Wong.

‘I think we cannot afford it,’ he said.

‘Oh, go on, C F. Daddy will pay you back. Put it on expenses. What about the shopping? Where is this Chim place you were telling me about, where you can get knock-off Prada bags and the shops are open till 4 a.m.?’

‘Tsim Sha Tsui. Just docking there now.’

Wong whispered to Au-yeung: ‘Please excuse my assistant. In Putonghua, there is a phrase. She is a bit p’ei ch’ien huo. Understand or not?’

The Hong Konger smiled. ‘Mingbaak. Waste-money-merchandise.’

With a gentle bump, the Star Ferry nosed up to the side of the jetty on Kowloon-side.

By 8.05 the next morning, Wong, McQuinnie and Au-yeung were in a long and sleepy queue of would-be property buyers which snaked along the outside of a construction site in Ma On Shan, a semi-urban district thirty minutes’ drive from central Hong Kong. The developers had provided free transport from the major urban centres to the on-site showroom where the blocks were to be sold. Au-yeung had explained that this was partly for the sake of convenience, since there was only one access road to the development. But he added that it was probably also because triad elements often tried to infiltrate apartment sales. Each would-be buyer had to provide identification before they were allowed onto the bus.

Subdued by the earliness of the hour and the boredom of the bus ride, most people were initially too somnolent to talk. But as the sun became bright in the sky, a buzz of sleepy conversation started to run down the length of the queue. Wong appeared to be asleep on his feet, his eyes open but unseeing.

There was a little drama soon after Au-yeung and his two feng shui advisers had taken their place in the queue. Two large dark cars pulled up and stopped dramatically in the road in front of the sales office. Some tough-looking men in dark suits emerged and marched towards the front of the queue. They were soon seen arguing with the guards that were planted thickly around the office.

‘Who are they? People pushing in?’ Joyce asked.

‘I don’t know,’ said Au-yeung. ‘Possibly triads. They often muscle in to flat sales and try to get the best slots, which they then re-sell for huge profits. I don’t know, though.’

The argument got more heated, and the security guards were seen calling for help on walkie-talkies. More men in uniform arrived and soon physically grabbed the six men and hustled them away. There was much struggling and shouting, and the incident caused the queue of people to become completely silent for several minutes.

The whiff of danger served to wake the young woman up. She noticed that Au-yeung’s briefcase was handcuffed to his wrist. ‘Jeepers. You must have some pretty important stuff in there.’

‘Yes,’ the Hong Kong businessman said. ‘My lunch. Someone once stole my cha siu bau and I am taking precautions to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’

‘Really?’

‘No, not really,’ he said with a smile. ‘You have to pay deposits on flats like this in Hong Kong in cash. The deposit for this is 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars, which is about 200 000 US dollars.’

‘Like, you have 200 000 US dollars in there?’ she squeaked.

‘No, I have what is called a cashier’s order for that sum. It works like cash, but is not quite so heavy. But some people bring actual cash along. Some people in Hong Kong pay the whole bill in cash-not just the deposit but the whole price.’

‘Wow. Two hundred thou seems a lot of money for a deposit.’

Wong added: ‘Yes, and that only one-tenth of the full price. Even worse than Singapore.’ He shook his head.

‘Yes,’ said Au-yeung with a sigh. ‘That’s why it’s really important to get the right place. So damn expensive. We are going to use this flat as a launching pad for our family. My wife is six months pregnant, so it is really important we get the right place.’

‘Birth coming,’ said Wong, who took from his pocket a brochure containing a floor plan. ‘Need to harness the influence of the east. Must smooth out the darkness of the north. Also fix water element. So baby can grow big and strong.’

The businessman smiled. ‘That’s it. Anyway, when we get to the front of the queue, we will be shown a plan which will reveal which flats are still available, and you must help me choose. You only get a couple of minutes to decide, which is why I need you with me.’

‘This map very bad. Gives room size for each room, but no directions.

‘Yes. They never give enough information. They just rush you all through, take the money and run.’

‘I think it’s hilarious,’ said Joyce. ‘I mean, look at the picture in the ad. It’s nothing like this.’

Instead of the elegant blocks surrounded by greenery, there was nothing but a large, dusty construction site filled with half-built blocks, some of which were covered in green netting. Nor were the surroundings in the illustration-green fields and blue seas-anything like reality. The development seemed to be circled with other large, dusty construction sites.

‘I can’t see a single tree in any direction,’ said Joyce. ‘In fact, I can’t see any plants at all. And where’s the sea? According to this picture, it’s supposed to be right next to the sea.’

Au-yeung said: ‘This is what they call an artist’s impression. The artists usually use their imagination quite freely.’

‘Rip-off,’ said Joyce.

‘Yes,’ said Au-yeung. ‘It probably is. Now, how are you getting on, Wong Seen-saang?’

‘You are sure it is phase one, that is for sale today, on this page?’

‘I am.’

‘Then you must buy block two or three, not block one. You should go for flat which is on east side, so must choose flat D or flat E. You say you like high floor, so you can choose which floor, does not matter. Block two I think is better than block three, but I need to see proper big map to be sure.’