A pair of aggrieved grave owners are suing the Springvale cemetery over their right to have a tomb with a view. Liz Porter reports.
EVERY day the Victorian County Court deals with claims for damages over lost money. But the court will soon hear a pair of landmark cases in which two Melbourne men are claiming damages for lost feng shui.
What makes the twin cases unique is that they deal with the effect of “bad feng shui” on two graves in the Springvale cemetery.
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Why do humans waste so much prime real estate burying rotting meat and bones?
Not surprising really when you take into consideration the type of people that live in Springvale (I used to live 2 suburbs over).
Its predominantly a Chinese/Vietnamese area so the whole feng shui bull-poop thing has a lot of adherents there, and the way our society likes to sue over nothing (thanks for the great example America) makes this kind of thing an inevitable problem.
There was a case in the GOUSA of someone suing for loss of fortune telling ability when going thru a CT scanner. Being interested in advanced technology like the CT Scanner, I’ve always been curious as to the proximate cause portion of her lawsuit.
#1–A lot of poetic symetry in being returned to the dust that formed us? Much better than polluting the atmosphere to burn things up, or are you thinking of the most practical soylent green option?
#2–You Ozzies have shown the way in several social issues I can think of. Dont blame GOUSA when your courage falters. Lead ON!!!
3 – bobbo
Sorry about the atmosphere but I always thought ashes made more sense. Now, if you’re less worried about the ocean, we could always switch to cement boots and the Soprano solution for humongous friends who die suddenly.
4–No, I’d be worried about the fish kill and the oil slick==at least in American waters. The fit Aussies may get by.
I seem to remember that at one of the North American Indian tribes (the Cree maybe?) used to put their dead on a raised platforms and let birds each the bodies, which I think is dead cool.
The only real proper way to send someone off is a viking ship burial, at sea, being lit by flaming arrows. I keep hoping that Viking are going to gain the religious right to hold such ceremonies just so I can go off in style….
As for someone loosing their fortune telling ability by going through a CT scanner, could the defense argue that the person really should have known that they were going to loose it in the first place…. 😀
Feng Shui (Foong Schway) is a very serious thing to many Chinese especially those in South China and Hong Kong where arguments about someone wreaking someone else’s feng shui escalates to the point where people have been killed. The central Chinese government has an official policy to eradicate feng shui but for 5000 years it is firmly ingrained in far too many people.
An interesting offshoot of feng shui is language. The Chinese language is tonal with four tones when applied to a syllable changes the meaning. Therefore In China the number 4 is very bad luck as it’s pronunciation sounds similar to the word for death just by changing the tone. (The word for ‘Food’ is becomes the word for Shit just by changing the tone…with hilarious results for someone new to speaking Chinese.)
My apartment building in Pudong, Shanghai incorporates feng shui so there is no floor with the number 4 in it and to be safe there is no 13 either. So the floors are numbered 1-2-3-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-15 and so on to 32.
Eight is considered a very lucky number for Chinese people and they say I am fortunate to live on the 18th floor because of the number 8.
I have argued that I actually live on the 15th floor due to skipping over the 4th, 13th and 14th floors. Bad luck I added can simply count the floors
I have suggested that they could preserve the correct numbering of the floors and have better luck with more 8s if they numbered the floors thusly; 1-2-3-8A-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-8B-8C-15-16-17-18 and so on…
Another common feng shui feature found in older buildings is a step over the threshold of a entry door which must be stepped over. The logic for that is bad spirits do not walk like we do (first thing to go when you die I suppose). They have make small hops with both legs held stiffly together. (So that is that sound at night)
In a previous apartment building I lived in the guy next door was a feng shui consultant (!) and had this 15cm high step in his door way. I argued with him that how can bad spirits not only get up the three steps of the entrance of the building but are able to press the buttons on the elevator? He answered back that they can fly in though the windows in the hallway of the apartment building so he still needs the step. Oh I see that explains it… 😉
Cheers
#7 – Feng Shui (Foong Schway) is a very serious thing to many Chinese especially those in …”
And yet it is still nonsense with absolutely no scientific value.
The lawsuit isn’t amazing at all. What is amazing is that in the 21st Century there are people who believe in BS like Fung Shui and God and happy little elves and unicorns who dance and play under the magical candy trees.
#8
Beliefs of any kind are a powerful thing and what gets us into trouble. It doesn’t need to be…
“Feng Shui and God and happy little elves and unicorns who dance and play under the magical candy trees.”
It can be politics and how they were raised in their culture.
While a people from another culture can be wrong from another point of view the reverse is also true. Who then is right? There are things in various cultures which are seen as morally wrong from a human rights point of view. To only condemn this aspect of a culture and send an army in to force change without understanding its origins will never solve anything instead only reinforces the resistance to change.
On a lighter side:
I have many laughs with Chinese over a beer (or two) about how feng shui and other Chinese things that are strange and funny to me and all the strange, funny and stupid things which are funny to them about my culture. In that situation if we don’t belittle each other’s beliefs we can part as friends with funny stories from both sides to recall – then life is good and that is what it is all about.
Cheers
#9 – While a people from another culture can be wrong from another point of view the reverse is also true. Who then is right?
The one who is backed by evidence.
This is simple. We can disagree on politics, art, child rearing, etc., but anyone who is attributing mysticism and supernatural malarkey to the realities of life may be harmless, but they are undeniably wrong and by extension, either stupid or too poorly educated to know any better.
#10 Yes, beliefs such as feng shui, religions, mysticisms cannot be proved and so they are, by definition, wrong. In fact there is very little we know of the physical world which can be proven beyond all doubt. We exist in a rich tapestry of theories which are ostensibly correct.
A good example of something which is not proven but is generally accepted by us all is light. Put simply, light, colour does not exist. It is an illusion, something cooked up by our brains from the simulation of our eyes by a limited spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. In addition the debate still rages on regarding the true nature of light and all electromagnetic radiation as it is still a theory and not 100% proven. (is is particles or waves or both? neither? Damn, particles and matter cannot be proven to actually exist either as matter is fundamentally energy and energy is electromagnetic radiation and the entire universe was farted out from a single point infinitely small…oh damn damn damn). Not understanding the science and technology of a motor car does not prevent us from operating it.
I submit that it is not so simple as you suggest to reverse beliefs.
Lack of education or intelligence does necessarily mean that with education or smart people will forgo their beliefs upon evidence to the contrary. Scientists will argue that point all day long!
A good example of a popular belief in which there is no scientific evidence to support it is Horoscopes. The belief in horoscopes transcending entertainment is followed by many educated smart people. How can they believe in something something so obviously not true? President Regen comes to mind.
So while you and I agree in essence that a belief should have a foundation of proof this flies in the face of basic human nature and need. So we’re stuck with it and I believe that people will believe in exactly what they want to and you or I will in presenting a winning case to the contrary will have very little effect.
James Randi is dedicated to overturning these unfounded beliefs and can be found at http://www.randi.org
Cheers
PS feng shui still is some funny stuff though… 😉