Feng shui, eh?

As a reason for objecting to a proposed use for a building, this ancient Chinese practice has given a surprising new twist to the simmering debate surrounding a proposed Muslim prayer centre.

About 60 people, almost all of East Asian descent, gathered in a Waterloo church on Wednesday to discuss strategy and express their concerns.

Local members of the Muslim Association of Canada want to turn a house at 510 Erbsville Rd., near Laurelwood Drive, into a makeshift prayer centre that they could walk or bike to.

Observant Muslims are expected to pray five times a day, preferably in a group. Having a prayer centre close by is more convenient than driving across the city to a mosque, Muslims in the neighbourhood say.

For this to happen, the property must be rezoned to institutional/green, from the current agricultural designation.

There has been fierce opposition.

Some of it clearly is inspired by bigotry. Others worry that wildlife will be harmed if more people come. There are also concerns about increased traffic and noise.

And for this Westerner, there is the most unexpected reason of all.

Several people said Wednesday that any worship centre, no matter what the religion, will result in bad feng shui for those living nearby.

Pronounced "fung shway," this time-honoured system studies the positioning of objects, buildings and even entire communities, in such a way as to maximize the flow of positive energy.

The principles of feng shui hold that a home that's too close to a cemetery, or any place of worship, will attract bad luck to that home because of the disembodied spirits lingering nearby.

After the meeting, several men said they had chosen to buy homes in Waterloo's Laurelwood neighbourhood precisely because there were no churches, temples or cemeteries close by.

Is there any scientific basis to these feng shui beliefs? Probably not. But that's not really the point.

These are cultural beliefs, they said, just as people in North America think the number 13 is unlucky and don't have 13th floors in tall buildings.

As much as we pay lip service to multiculturalism, this feng shui defence is unlikely to stick with Canadian authorities.

I asked Cameron Rapp, the City of Waterloo's commissioner of integrated planning and public works, if he had ever heard of the principles of feng shui being used as a planning argument in an Ontario Municipal Board hearing.

"Absolutely not," he said.

And "as a professional planner, I would not structure an argument based on that," he said.

As for the rezoning request, Waterloo council is expected to make a decision in May.

The discussion so far has taught us a valuable lesson or two.

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First, that while the traditional liberal mindset sees oppressed visible minorities getting the shaft from white people, it's also true that different groups of minorities are perfectly capable of attacking one another.

Second, that the cultural diversity of which Canadians are justifiably proud can sometimes hit a very rough bump in the road. It's not always an easy fit. Who should triumph in this struggle: The people who pray? Or those who practice feng shui?

They can't both win.