To Succeed, One Must Have the Courage to Face Tigers

NUS and MediaCorp both sit on “tiger land”. No wonder they are so mighty!

In the classical Chinese novel Water Margin, a drunken martial arts practitioner Wu Song went alone to the secluded Jingyang Ridge where wild animals roamed. The plots of novels are usually filled with coincidence: it was in this coincidental manner that Wu Song bumped into a ferocious tiger, and this unlucky tiger was killed bare-handed by Wu Song. Thus, the names of Wu Song and Jingyang Ridge spread far and wide. Did you know that Singapore has quite a few places that are home to ferocious tigers? Of course, we are not referring to a real tiger, but the “tiger land” observed in Landform feng shui.

While small, Singapore has several tiger lands, but there are only 3 “Crouching Tiger” ridges, with Kent Ridge being the largest. National University of Singapore is located on top of it, creating a “crouching tiger ridge”feng shui formation. Typically, a “tiger land” benefits the advancement of medicine, academics, research, and the arts. You might wonder: tigers can harm people, so how can a tiger land aid medical advancement? In fact, this is thanks to the traditional Chinese medicine doctor Sun Simiao, who reported “rode a tiger to visit patient”.

Legend has it that while Sun Simiao was in the mountains picking herbs, he saved a tiger. In order to repay his kindness, this tiger would always protect Sun Simiao from wolves and other beasts whenever he went into the mountains. After following the doctor around every day, this smart tiger slowly became familiar with the medicines that Sun needed to pick and would guide him to where the herbs grew in abundance. Hence apart from arts and academics, pursuing medical research on a tiger land can also yield great results.

You might not know this, but the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine happens to sit at the reproductive parts of this “crouching tiger ridge”, giving medical students studying obstetrics, gynaecology, and paediatrics an advantage. In addition, there’s a sculpture in the School of Medicine that resembles the shape of a “tiger tail pearl” (the pearl on the tip of a tiger’s tail is said to be an elixir that grants wishes, immortality, and marital bliss), helping the school’s long-term development. You might want to stroll around the area and have a taste of this “elixir”! However, the “crouching tiger” of Kent Ridge is a tigress, so NUS has strong yin and weak yang forces.

Being located on Singapore’s largest “crouching tiger ridge” has, naturally, helped the National University of Singapore gain renown. However, this “crouching tiger” has yet to wake from slumber, meaning that the best is yet to come; there’s still plenty of room for growth. Perhaps the relevant authorities could consider making adjustments to this rare tiger land and renovate it in order to awaken the tiger and further improve the university’s global ranking.

Apart from NUS’s Kent Ridge, have you noticed that other tiger lands – such as Caldecott Hill, Fort Canning Hill, Singapore General Hospital (SGH), and Paragon – all have something in common? SGH and Paragon specialise in medical services, while Singapore Management University (SMU) is close to Fort Canning Hill, which is great for learning!

On another note, Caldecott Hill is also a tiger land that’s advantageous to artistic development. This explains why MediaCorp, which has been located here for decades, has been doing well both locally and regionally – it’s probably the influence of the land’s qi! Based on our analysis, the new MediaCorp headquarters is an “eagle land”, a “land to soar from”. Looks like MediaCorp should expand overseas to continue its reign in the industry. What do you think?

Be it Jingyang Ridge or Kent Ridge, if you want to walk with the “tigers”, you will need a significant dose of bravery to overcome any challenges and succeed!