Northeast MRT Line (East)

Northeast MRT Line (East) - An Important and Potent Land

The MRT Northeast (NE) Line was approved by the government after several rounds of discussions. The total construction cost was estimated at about S$5 billion. Starting from the World Trade Centre, the Line will pass through Outram Park and Chinatown to Dhoby Ghaut, where it will meet the East-West and North-South Lines. Then it will pass through Serangoon Road, Hougang New Town and Upper Serangoon Road before terminating at Punggol. The construction of this NE Line is a costly and onerous project, one that will cause a lot of upheaval as the designated route is lined with numerous residential estates, places of worship and cemeteries.

Coincidentally, when construction of this new MRT Line began, the conditions were very much similar to those of 1984 when the first MRT construction started. In 1984, when the government announced the construction of the MRT in Singapore, the world was in the throes of economic crisis. Hence, many people gossiped that construction of the MRT line had damaged a dragon vein. At the same time, the government issued a new bagua-shaped one dollar coin, an act widely rumoured to be recommended by a feng shui master in the belief that this con can control the dragon vein. Eventually, Singapore's economy picked up after many trials and tribulations. With the increasing convenience of using the MRT, ramous of the dragon vein gradually subsided and did not resurface even when the government expanded the MRT network.

No one brought up the subject of the dragon vein when the NE Line first began construction in 1997. In 1998, Southeast Asia suffered an economic crisis. The grapevine had it that the construction of the Esplanade Bridge had destroyed the Merlion's fengshui, thereby adversely affecting Singapore's fate. Before any effort to restore the Merlion's feng shui took place, Singapore's economy began to recover. I wonder how the rumour mill will explain this.

Personally, I'm rather baffled by one thing. Given Singaporeans' higher standard of education and government's strict control over the feng shui industry, we still read newspaper reports of people cheated by con men using feng shui and fortune-telling. I believe this is because feng shui and fortune-telling are generally not widely accessible to the public, so people end up developing fallacies beliefs that leave them vunerable to unscrupulous people out to pull a fast one.

Back to our topic, the NE Line stretches across all the dragon veins in Singapore including the Western Dragon's Pearl's Hill, Central Dragon's Fort Canning Hill, Southen Dragon's Mount Emily and Eastern Dragon's Serangoon and Hougang, The construction world will have a great impact on these veins.

The work on the section spanning from below Singapore River Through Fort Canning Hill to Dhoby Ghaut is considered the most complicated of the entire project. It will have the most crucial impact on Singapore's feng shui. Once the two dragon veins involved are connected, Singapore's status will be greatly enhanced. Unfortunately, a great man will die at the same as the completion of this line, who will then guard over an important den. While this might sound ridiculous, it is how the legend of the Earth God came about. He was believed to be the reincarnation of a honourable man. This belief in the Earth God exists not only in Asia but also in western societies.

The Eastern Dragon is the only land dragon that makes a U-turn, resulting in its head and tail being placed very close together. The population living on the Eastern Dragon vein is rather dense and complicated. This Eastern Dragon, being a wood dragon is auspicious for culture related careers. It is an ideal area for people working in culture and education to live in. Residents are highly educated, hanker for a high standard of living and love to be different. Their do-as-I-please attitudes can be easily discerned from the bold and fanciful, yet themeless designs adopted in many homes here. However, having too many different ideas will result in unnecessary conflicts. This scenario is similar to a piece of land that becomes useless after it is overgrown with wild plants due to poor management.

In conclusion, the completion of the NE Line will definitely benefit residents in that part of Singapore. In future, if the northern line is extended to line up Pasir Ris, Punggol and Yishun, Singapore's transport system will be even better. Of course, changes in the public transport network will, unavoidably, affect the potency of the land. Some places will prosper while others will quiet down. It is pointless to lose sleep over this matter. This is similar to suffering unavoidable pain after a surgery, which will dissipate as we heal.

Serangoon Road, an old road, will definitely become vibrant and prosperous once new life is breathed into it. Residents can rest assured that the feng shui of this area will not be affected by the demolition of some of the buildings.