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Lillian Too - Fame and
Feng Shui
New Straits Times-Sunday Style,
27th April 1997
The nondescript-looking bungalow in Pantai Hills with its
plain black gate is unremarkable save for to two blue ceramic
lions perched on the gateposts. One is chipped and looks rather
battered.
A few chimes of the doorbell bring a Filipino into
view from between the closely wrought slats. I enter the compound
and note the manicured lawns and pretty foliage. Three cars
in the porch, two Mercedes and a Porsche, a painting of another
lion on the wall.
Nothing out of the ordinary so far.
I'd been told to look out for the "odd" stuff - this was, after
all, the home of one of the leading practitioners of feng shui
in the country. Entering the house proper, my prickle of disappointment
evaporates with the ripple in the indoor pond as the colorful
Koi surge to check out the stranger. Sunshine filters in through
the skylight, throwing dancing shadows from the lush plants
all over the cool marble floor.
I am led to the sitting area, and admire the electric blend
of antique and modern furniture set before a huge family portrait
and several photographs of a young lady on horseback.
The sound of female laughter is carried over from the recesses
of the house, and a minute later Lillian walks into the room.
She is clad in a simple floral shirt and plain white skirt with
long double strings of pearls for adornment; - a far cry from
the corporate power figure she is so often depicted as.
"So nice to meet you, Cynthia," she says. Before I have a chance
to reply, she delves under the coffee table and produces several
copies of he feng shui books and a recent publication in which
she has monthly write-ups, and launches into a stream of publishing
facts and figures.
"Do you know, when I first started writing books, I had to publish
them on my own... .
We are interrupted by the arrival of photographer Goh, and I
inquire after her daughter Jennifer as we had wanted to include
her in the pictures. As if on cue, a young lady in a stunning
Moschino outfit walks in. We ponder on the backdrop to be used
and Lillian wonders aloud if she should freshen up. "Yes, do,
mommy," Jennifer urges.
Back home from Cambridge University on holiday, Jennifer says
she has a year to go for her Economics degree, and wants to
go on to Harvard "just like mom", and maybe join her mother's
firm. Goh and I ask for a tour of the house. Lillian graciously
accedes, telling us how important a family portrait is to the
well-being of the unit. "Make it big, and put it up in a central
position in the most important room in the house," she advises.
"Everybody must be shown happy , smiling!" she adds.
I make a mental note to ask about hubby Too Wan Jin; Lillian
had said earlier that he was partial to his privacy, and all
I could unearth from press reports was that he was a retired
engineer. We go out to her garden, where she shows us her "white
tiger" of the west and points to the embattled guardian lion
at the gate. "Look at the cracks," she says. "this means that
it have been doing it's job, protecting us from some misfortune
or other. Also, never hang pictures of wild life inside the
house or they will 'eat' you up," she says.
We are brought to the back of the garden to see Lillian's stupa,
a shrine which were made to circle three times. My husband is
very supportive of me. I wouldn't be where I am today if he
wasn't. "Dad's wonderful," Jennifer says staunchly. "He's a
fun kind of guy. We have great times together.
"When I first came home from Hong Kong, all I wanted was to
lead a queit humble life. ....thats how i became a writer. But
why feng shui? "Ah, feng shui is very close to my heart. It
turned my life around. It saved my marriage, and gave me my
Jennifer. Did you know, we were childless for nine years! "When
my friend and mentor Master Yap Cheng Hai first introduced me
to the science, I told him: " all I want is a baby. When I became
pregnant, then maybe I'll believe it works.
"Feng shui has brought me so much personal happiness, I just
want to share it with others. The wonderful thing is you don't
even have to believe in it, it works regardless! "And now, on
top of it all, it has brought Lama Zopa Rinpoche into my life."
Lillian is a Buddhist, which accounts forthe numerous Buddhist
statuettes and thangkas displayed around the house.Lama Zopa
is the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation
of the Mahayana Tradition, is involved in the building of the
Matreya Project, an ambitious plan to build a 50 story high
statue of the Buddha Maitreya, the Buddha -to-come within a
massive complex of meditation centers and park in Bodhgaya,
India. One of her readers had given lama Zopa a copy of her
book, and the lama had contacted Lillian for feng shui advice
for the project. "Can you imagine, ME of all people! I told
him: 'I'm not good enough, . But he was persuasive so finally,
I went with MR Yap and we assisted in the design of the complex."
She is very proud of the honor, and showed us photographs and
a personal scrapbook she compiled of her trip to Bodhgaya. "Lama
Zopa is a very very beautiful person, you cannot imagine. I
am completely taken by him. He exues such compassion, such serenity,
yet he is so warm and real.
"My life is so rich, so fulfilling, and now at,50, I have found
spiritual sustenance as well. I feel very blessed." |
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