Luck for Aquino, disasters for PHL– feng shui expert

Master Joseph Chau, resident feng shui expert of the Mandarin Oriental Manila.

THE Year of the Water Dragon, which starts on January 23 will bring general luck and prosperity to the Philippines but because of a Disaster Star in the southeast where the country is located, it must be prepared for natural disasters during the year.

In a recent press briefing to announce the Chinese New Year festivities at the Mandarin Oriental Manila, its resident feng shui expert, Joseph Chau gave a preview of his forecasts for the coming year.

“The birthday of the Philippines is June 12, 1898, at 3:30 p.m. So the Philippines was born in an Earth Dog year, the month of the Earth Horse, the day of the Fire Horse and the time of the Fire Monkey. There are so many fire elements in the Philippines. In the Year of the Water Dragon, there will be an abundance of water. But what happens when abundant water and too much fire get together? They fight each other. But on the positive side, there is harmony because you need water to extinguish fire. So that means the Philippines will have good luck in 2012.”

The economy would face some challenges this year, he said, “fluctuating from time to time,” so businessmen are advised not to be “too stubborn” and to be “flexible in their work.”

The lucky businesses to engage in this year include lumber, fashion and garments, and publishing because all of these are ruled by earth elements.

“For the earth ventures to grow, you need water, isn’t it?” Chau said.

Lucky and unlucky directions this year. (Image courtesy Mandarin Oriental Manila)

He said banking, the production of raw materials and mining “will face many challenges this year,” with the real-estate industry and the construction business slowing down.

“If President Aquino wants to push the mining business, he must organize [the regulations] well so he can attract good business. For real estate, if the property companies want to be able to sell their buildings, they must consult a licensed feng shui expert before constructing,” he added.

He also said that for the banking industry to expand, banks should adopt longer hours like in Hong Kong, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“If you are a businessman, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. is too short a time to complete your business, especially if you’re coming from abroad, and your flight comes in the afternoon.”

What Chau was most excited about, though, was the tourism industry. He said the sector would prosper if the country were promoted well.

Lucky New Year platter at the the Mandarin Oriental Chinese New Year feast. Photo courtesy MOM.

On the heels of the newly launched tourism campaign of the country, the feng shui expert, who is a resident of Hong Kong, even declared “Chinese New Year is more fun in the Philippines!”

He said, “tourism is a water element, and can cool down the fire in the country’s sign. So President Aquino should tell the tourism secretary to do more promotions to encourage tourists to come.”

He suggested that the Philippines do away with visa requirements altogether.

President Aquino, having been born in the Year of the Golden Rat (1960), also has a lot of fire elements, and would need the water in the coming Dragon Year to “cool down. This will help him bring money luck to the country,” Chau said.

But he underscored the possibility of more rains, floods, earthquakes and “explosions” in the Philippines, especially in the southeast location, because of the presence of the Disaster Star in the southeast quadrant.

“These may happen in the months of April, October and January 2013. So I hope the government can prepare for these, and prevent them when possible. They must make adjustments to avoid flooding.”


Chau's forecast for those born in the Year of the Rat like President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Most of the zodiac signs are lucky in the Year of the Water Dragon, except for those born in the years of the Dragon (1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012); Dog (1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006); Ox (1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009); Goat (1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991); and Rabbit (1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011).

The lucky colors of the year are gold, silver, white, sky blue, green, red, pink, violet, peach, orange, beige, yellow and brown.

The Chinese New Year festivities at the Mandarin Oriental Manila are among the most anticipated in the metropolis, outside of those in the Chinatown area in Binondo, Manila. They regularly attended by Vice President Jejomar Binay and his spouse, Dr. Elenita Binay, as well as business executives who work or reside in Makati.

(My piece was originally published on January 13, 2012 in the BusinessMirror. I own the copyright for the photos and video on this blog, except where otherwise indicated.)

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Here are the rest of Master Chau's forecasts for the different animal signs in the year of the Water Dragon (courtesy Mandarin Oriental Manila):

Your Chinese zodiac sign in 2012 (Year of the Water Dragon)

Or click here.

A little night of music

With musical director/ conductor Conrad Diez, the John Van De Steen Male Choir and Ave Maria Male Choir sing Broadway show tunes and popular songs in Encore!, a reunion concert at the UP Abelardo Hall in Diliman, Quezon City, on February 20. (Photo by Resty Maglalang)

LAST Sunday (Feb. 20, 2011), the entire family watched the reunion concert of the John Van de Steen Male Choir and the Ave Maria Male Choir USA at the Abelardo Hall of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. It seems the reputation of these choirs among music-loving Pinoys is far-reaching that the venue was packed to the rafters.

The Ave Maria Male Choir is no stranger to me as they had sung at my sister’s wedding some 30 years ago. As the story goes, they were a bunch of little boys who grew up in the poblacion of Makati, my then future brother-in-law included, and sang as “tiples” (sopranos) during Holy Week and Christmas at the St. Peter and Paul Parish Church. You could say they were Makati’s version of the Vienna Boys Choir, with their angelic voices lauding the Lord’s infinite blessings or beseeching His forgiveness for our sins.

As they boys grew up into young men, they became known as the Ave Maria Male Choir, and sometimes joined in the performances of the Manila Cathedral Choir founded by the late Rufino Cardinal Santos and trained under the Belgian priest Fr. John Van de Steen. One particularly memorable achievement for its members was when they collaborated and won the choral group contest of the then-popular noontime show Student Canteen.

But life eventually intervened, as it usually does, and the men went their separate ways, many concentrating on their respective careers and growing families. Only a handful actually continued to sing professionally.

Fate, though, has a funny way of bringing people back together, and some of these very same men found themselves singing for the Lord again. Many of them now make up the John Van de Steen Male Choir, which has helped revive the Latin Tridentine Mass, first at the St. Jerome Emiliani and Sta. Susanna Parish Church in Alabang, and, lately, at the Church of St. Therese in Newport City at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City. JVS has since been touring around the country performing for different audiences and, recently, in Macau on the invitation of the Philippine Consulate.

Sunday’s concert began with various church hymns by the JVS, their divine voices transporting the audience into a state of grace. Particularly moving was their rendition of Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria (Angelus Domini),” the best-known work of this German composer which recently regained prominence when it was made part of the repertoire of the Chanticleer, the world-famous male a cappella group.

In the second part of the program, now joined by the AVM’s foreign-based members who came home for this reunion, the men strutted their stuff singing pop songs and Broadway show tunes. Carl Antolin, an AVM alumnus now based in London and veteran of Miss Saigon at West End, particularly rocked the house with his witty rendition of Fiddler on the Roof’s “If I Were a Rich Man.” With his foot stomping and shoulders a-shaking, he out-Tevyed Topol’s Tevye. (Equally outstanding soloists were Doodz Policarpio and Oscar Palabyab, the former tourism undersecretary.)

The last part of the program was devoted to popular Filipino love songs like the swoon-worthy “Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin,” ditties (“Talusaling/Ikaw ang Mahal Ko”), ending in the patriotic “Sa Mahal Kong Bayan” (Lucio San Pedro), a particular favorite of the late Fr. Van de Steen.

Despite the now-disparate lives of these men and the many oceans that separate them, it was wonderful to watch how their love for signing continues to bind them. It was certainly one of those rare lovely nights when we could just shut off all our worldly worries and relax, surrounding ourselves in delightful melodies.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was published on Feb. 25, 2011.)

FYI, if you live/work in Makati

TRAFFIC ADVISORY (thanks to Leah Navarro via the pldt yahoogroup)

Due to the the month-long celebration of the 339th Founding Anniversary of Makati City, the following activities will be held this week that will affect traffic flow within the Makati Central Business District and Ayala Center .

ARAW NG MAKATI GRAND PARADE on May 8, 2008 (Friday)

along Ayala Avenue from 4:00 to 6:00 PM

CHALK ART ACTIVITY on May 10, 2009 (Sunday)

at Ayala Avenue in front of MSE and TOEP from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM

BRASS BAND COMPETITION on May 10, 2009 (Sunday)

at Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas from 2:00 PM to 12:00 MN

Road Closure and Traffic Rerouting:

May 8, 2009 (Friday), 12:30 PM

- Ayala Extension (from Metropolitan Avenue to Gil Puyat Avenue), Malugay Street from Pasong Tamo to Gil Puyat Avenue) and eastbound lanes of Ayala Avenue (from Gil Puyat Avenue to Herrera Street) will be closed to vehicular traffic, to be used as assembly points of the parade participants. At the start of the parade at 3:00 PM, the remaining portion of the eastbound direction of Ayala Avenue from Herrera to Makati Avenue and a portion of Paseo de Roxas, from dela Rosa to Ayala Avenue , shall likewise be closed to traffic.

Upon reaching Makati Avenue , parade participants will turn right utilizing the southbound direction(counter-flow), turn left to Paseo de Roxas, turn right to Ayala Avenue , and then straight ahead towards Ayala Extension. Northbound direction of Makati Avenue will be made two-way at the time.

Traffic Rerouting:

Westbound vehicles along Ayala Avenue from EDSA going to Gil Puyat Avenue shall turn right to Makati Avenue while those along Gil Puyat Avenue going to Ayala Center or EDSA shall take the stretch of Gil Puyat Avenue , turn right to Makati Avenue and turn left to Ayala Avenue . Light vehicles from Gil Puyat Avenue going to Legaspi Village or Greenbelt can take Pasong Tamo St., turn left to Dela Rosa Street, turn right to Salcedo St, turn right to Gamboa St., turn left to Rada St., and turn right to Legaspi St. to destination.

As the tail end of the parade reach VA Rufino (Herrera) Street, Ayala eastbound direction from Gil Puyat Avenue will be opened to traffic. Light vehicles from Gil Puyat Avenue to EDSA or Ayala Center shall turn right to VA Rufino Street , turn left to Legaspi St , turn right to Greenbelt Drive , or take Paseo de Roxas to Arnaiz Avenue .

After the activities in front of TOEP, the stage will be dismantled and transferred to Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas to be used in the Brass Band Competition.

Road closure on both directions of Ayala Avenue from Makati Avenue to VA Rufino and both directions of Paseo de Roxas from Dela Rosa to Sedeño Street ; and the traffic rerouting will remain until midnight of May 10, 2009.