What do you do when you’re told by a fortune teller that your life will be… meh? If you’re like Dato’ Joey Yap, you blow up your own birth chart and ‘fortune telling’, one step at a time, to discover self- and situational-awareness to do the needful. This is the business of self-transformation that underpins the Joey Yap Group of companies. Here’s where it’s all at, in his own words:
“I got into Feng Shui and the Chinese Five Arts because it wasn’t cool. Trends fade; timeless ideas don’t. What hooked me was the possibility that these old systems could actually transform lives—including mine. Turns out, ‘uncool’ ages better than cool.
“I was lost. That’s the honest answer. Seeing the fortune teller wasn’t about chasing destiny—it was curiosity mixed with desperation. I knocked on that door because I had no map. The irony is that moment gave me one.
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“The fortune teller said I’d be poor until 45. And I was only 15 at that time. So, I thought, nothing to lose if I tried (to learn how divination works). And if I didn’t like the direction Destiny was taking me, I could always go the other way. That’s what pushed me to study the art on my own and along the way, I discovered some hacks. So, here I am.
“It really is like cutting your own hair. You can do it, but it’s kinda messy, and the back always looks odd. And I’ve been cutting my own hair ever since. Same with charts: I read my own, give myself advice and pep talks—but I know I still miss some things. Even barbers need barbers. Perspective matters more than prediction. So, I keep in touch with many masters in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We can cut each other’s hair.
“No, I don’t wing it. I listen. The trick is knowing when life needs a hammer and when it needs a feather. Most people get that backwards: they swing hammers at things that need only a touch, and tiptoe when boldness is required.
“People want certainty more than they want truth. The danger is that charts can be like prisons instead of maps. A chart shows possible routes, but you still have to drive the car. And the thing is, the road always changes with time. I’ve even met people who wanted their chart to tell them what sandwich to eat. They need a slap.
“Every parent is tempted. It’s human. I’m tempted, too. But kids aren’t furniture you arrange; they’re seeds you nurture. I’ve learnt that Feng Shui for children isn’t about controlling outcomes; it’s about shaping the environment. You plant the tree, but you don’t get to choose the fruit.
“What’s left? Keep asking better questions. The day I stop exploring is the day the chart wins. And I’m not letting that happen. Besides, retirement sounds boring anyway. When people ask me how to spell growth, I tell them: L-E-A-R-N.
“Charts give you the structure, but Grace decides the timing. Serendipity is that friend who shows up uninvited and changes the night. Guan Yin is the reminder that wisdom without compassion is useless. Chinese metaphysics is kinda like jazz: pattern plus improvisation. Grace shows up in many ways, but most people miss it because they’ve already decided how Grace ‘should’ look. If you dictate the form, you’ll never recognise the gift when it arrives.”
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