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A MUSEUM shaped like a lotus flower, three 57-floor towers, and a rooftop deck shaped like a boat atop the towers – the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) is an architectural marvel and an icon of the Singapore skyline.

Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, MBS was developed to “fit harmoniously with Singapore’s concept of a contemporary Garden City”, according to its website.

Tourists globally flock to see the unique building, and business at the integrated resort (IR) remains strong, with revenue hitting a new high of US$4.2 billion in 2024.

But as much as the MBS is a symbol of modernity and luxury in Singapore, the design of the building is very much rooted in the ancient Chinese practice of fengshui.

Fengshui, also known as Chinese metaphysics, is a practice of arranging objects or designing spaces to optimise energy flows and create balance.

Safdie and veteran fengshui master Chong Swan Lek worked together from the beginning to incorporate good fengshui elements into the resort’s design, according to media reports in the early 2010s.

When Chong passed away before the project was completed, it was handed over to his disciple, Louisa Ong-Lee, who says the hotel towers represent three mountains or three warriors guarding the gateway to Singapore.

The SkyPark – like a scholar’s hat – symbolises acquiring new skills, while the ArtScience Museum is like an open palm, representing giving and welcoming, notes Ong-Lee.

In spite of Singapore’s constant growth and pursuit for modernity, fengshui – a form of Chinese metaphysics that dates back thousands of years – remains relevant to many Singaporeans, whether individuals or businesses. In fact, in times of uncertainty such as the current climate, business tends to see a boost, say fengshui consultants.

Designing for prosperity

Apart from MBS, many other buildings in Singapore also had fengshui consultants behind their unique designs, such as the mixed-use development Duo.

Its consultant, Tan Khoon Yong, grand master and founder of Way Fengshui Group, says his job was to create harmony in spite of its surroundings. This included the towering Parkview Square, which restricted energy flow, and the sharp edges in the two wings of The Gateway.

“This was no ordinary challenge as Duo is situated in between a rock and a hard place… These two local properties are well-known more for their fengshui ramifications than their aesthetic appeal,” he writes in a blog post.

Way Fengshui Group, one of the largest fengshui companies in Singapore, sees around 2,000 to 3,000 clients a year for its life reading services, and around 800 a year for building and house designs, across the 40 consultants in its company.

Chief executive Mark Tan – son of founder Tan Khoon Yong – says that individually, each consultant can fetch “in the millions” each year, with clients outside of Singapore as well.

The younger Tan notes that younger people are more open-minded about fengshui now compared with the past, and use it as a tool for better decision-making.

While there used to be either strong believers or non-believers in the past, nowadays, people use fengshui principles if it serves their purpose, Mark Tan says.

Tan Yue Wei, founder and principal architect of design company YWA Studio, notes that some 70 to 80 per cent of his clients come with some form of fengshui requirements.

“It’s always one of those questions that I will ask when we kickstart a project,” says the architect and designer.

“It will be very disruptive, if we were to develop the design to a certain stage, and the fengshui master comes in at a later stage with changes that are, most of the time, quite drastic.”

Tan Yue Wei says he has even won new commercial contracts by incorporating his understanding of fengshui into designs.

Meanwhile, some companies have picked up on fengshui as a homage to its cultural relevance in Asia, such as fintech company Wise, for its new office in Singapore.

The five elements – metal, earth, water, fire, and wood – were incorporated not just as a design choice but as a wayfinding system to help employees navigate intuitively, says IIyazid Bin Ilias, workplace projects manager for Asia-Pacific at Wise.

“In Singapore, fengshui remains a consideration for many workplaces, often shaping design choices in ways that go beyond tradition,” he says.

“Fengshui principles also shape the layout, creating a balanced flow that supports collaboration and productivity,” he added.

Superstition or science?

To be clear, while widely practised, fengshui has no proven scientific basis. Its concepts, such as energy flows and elemental balances, cannot be measured or tested through scientific methods, and are generally seen as part of cultural tradition rather than evidence-based practice.

At Way Fengshui, CEO Mark Tan also says that the company uses formulas that are being constantly audited to make sure that the advice they give are accurate.

Mark Tan acknowledges that fengshui is not 100 per cent scientific, and that it is is based on some assumptions.

“We understand there are certain limits to our knowledge, and still things that have yet to be discovered,” Mark Tan says.

“With that, you are a bit more open to finding out whether something works… maybe in the future, energy can be calculated, and the future generation of scientists can decide if this has merit,” he says.

Interestingly, all the consultants interviewed by the BT started off by noting that fengshui was not related to religion, but rather, a form of “big data” dating back to ancient China.

House of Feng Shui’s Ken Koh says fengshui is methodical, and the collation of case studies does not differ much from disciplines in medicine, law or architecture.

Jason Chan of Won Yan Consult says that because the method stems from China, there will definitely be some elements of Buddhism and Taoism, but the idea of “fengshui” itself does not involve religion.

Chan, who is a Catholic, says fengshui is like modern-day life coaching, in that it can give guidance but does not determine one’s destiny.

When problems arise, it is usually due to inexperienced consultants, since the barrier to entry for the industry is low, Chan says.

There are also consultants who like to push for the sale of products to raise revenue, he adds.

This has caused problems for architects working on designs. YWA’s Tan Yue Wei says that one of the most major changes he has made involved redoing a whole plan from the start.

Billy Voon, design lead at interior design company millihaus, also recalled how a client requested to paint their floor before laying over the entire concrete with a finish, covering up the paint job.

But Voon, who says two-thirds of his clients request for fengshui to be incorporated into their designs, notes this has led to him learning about some common practices and integrating them into his designs.

“Fengshui can be a limitation for designers, but can also lead to interesting solutions and storytelling,” he says.

Essentially, fengshui is just a way to measure magnetic fields between humans and the environment around them, says Royce Zheng, principal fengshui consultant at Modern Times Fengshui.

Zheng, who also owns a car dealership, fetches around S$15,000 a month from fengshui consultations, with over 300 clients for life reading services and 80 for building and house designs monthly.

He says he applied the practice to his car dealership business and was able to “navigate certain business challenges” as a result.

“Fengshui is not magic; it’s an accumulative effect,” he says.

“It doesn’t mean that if you apply fengshui today, you will become prosperous tomorrow. But the positive energy will help you, your employees, and everyone that comes into your office, including your customers.”

Adapting for modern times

For Way Fengshui’s Mark Tan, consultations have increasingly been more customer-led, with clients having strong ideas about their homes and working closely with fengshui consultants.

“Gone are the days when the fengshui master asks you to put a big dragon statue somewhere,” he says, noting that the younger generation especially subscribes less to such practices.

“The industry is going through a change as well, where the older and the younger generations of fengshui masters apply it quite differently.”

Practices are also becoming more subtle and less ostentatious, with clients preferring natural elements such as water features and crystals, he says.

Meanwhile, social media has also popularised the practice globally.

UK-based Singaporean architect Cliff Tan is best known for giving interior design advice stemming from fengshui principles to his millions of followers across Tiktok, YouTube, and Instagram.

Known as “the fengshui guy” to viewers, Cliff Tan, who owns architecture company Dear Modern, said that there is usually a practical reason behind each fengshui rule.

Fengshui is about creating the best possible environment for an individual, he said, such as having a specific bed position to ensure better sleep, or to put up certain pictures to invoke subconscious behaviour.

The main issue is that most times, the consultants do not explain or know why.

“I don’t like to be told to follow a rule just because it is a rule; I want to know why… I think because of this understanding, it kind of unlocked the world of fengshui, because even in Asia, most people know the function, but not the logic behind certain rules,” he said.

This has led Cliff Tan to rise in popularity – he now has 3.2 million followers on Tiktok and has amassed a total of 72.3 million views across his videos on the platform since he began posting in 2020. The waitlist for his consultations currently extends to September 2025.

In the digital age, fengshui consultants also expect artificial intelligence to help spread the industry. For example, programmes that create algorithms based on fengshui methods can be created, says Koh of House of Fengshui.

Ultimately, fengshui is meant to provide users with a peace of mind, whether they are strong believers or not.

Way Fengshui’s Mark Tan says a lot of his clients see them as an added consideration, as the cost is not very high.

“A lot of them say, we thought it’d be better to hire a fengshui master, so we don’t step on any land mines or do anything that is detrimental to the residents or to the building of this project,” Mark Tan says.

Evelyn Chen, director at KBC Engineering, also notes that her father has long had the practice of placing statues of the Chinese mystical creature, the Pixiu, with the view that it represents prosperity.

“Better to have a belief, than to have nothing to fall back on.”