The government says it has paid out at least HK$9 million for religious rituals to 'fix' fung shui disruptions caused by major public works over the past decade.
But that could be just the tip of the iceberg. Officials were unable to provide figures on how much had been paid out of the public purse for fung shui claims in general, under a system which has been running for half a century.
While the Lands Department disclosed the cost of religious rituals, it could not say how much it spent on the building of bridges, roads, pavilions, arch doors, village offices, worship halls and temple renovations - as well as consultation fees for fung shui masters - over the years.
People with knowledge of the system of fung shui compensation say many of the claims involve under-the-table deals with contractors to make money.
The issue led Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan and a concern group to file requests demanding the department explain how much it spent on fung shui compensation measures and why.
Calls for transparency have been mounting since a Sunday Morning Post report last month of a claim in Kap Lung village in the New Territories. The village chief, Tsang Hin-keung, wants the government to turn a footbridge into one that can take vehicles to compensate for what he says is the disruption to fung shui caused by tunnelling work for the Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou express rail link being carried out a kilometre away.
