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SCMP Reporter

A high court judge abruptly ended the cross-examination of a fung shui expert appearing for Tony Chan Chun-chuen  in the battle over Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum's  fortune after the expert conceded that he was mostly self-taught. 
The sensational tussle between Chinachem Charitable Foundation  and Mr Chan had a surprise twist yesterday afternoon when Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon  questioned  Joseph Yu about  his fung shui skills. 
Mr Yu, who had flown over from Canada to testify, said he had practised in Canada and Greece, but never in China. 
He told the Court of First Instance that he felt fung shui was not a science, so he applied his own sense of logic and mathematics to help advance it. 
According to his personal website, he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Hong Kong in the 1960s. 
Cross-examined by Benjamin Yu SC, for the foundation, Joseph Yu said it was common sense that burning real money was 'ridiculous and something done by a so-called fung shui master who knew nothing about fung shui'. 
Earlier, former legislator Gilbert Leung Kam-ho  had told the court that Mr Chan had told him to burn real banknotes to avoid being jailed for vote-buying. 
Mr Justice Lam then asked Joseph Yu about his knowledge of fung shui. 
He agreed that 90 per cent of his knowledge had come from reading books, while a master who had given him a reading list had taught him the other 10 per cent.
The judge then told Benjamin Yu SC: 'I think there is no need to cross- examine any further.'
Mobbed by reporters outside court, Joseph Yu said he thought learning fung shui from books was acceptable. 
'I  never considered whether the judge would believe me or not, as long as I have fulfilled my duty.' 
He also said he had been baptised  a Catholic.  
Mr Yu said he had been invited in September by law firm Haldanes, which is representing Mr Chan, to serve as an expert witness.  
He said the lawyers had initially asked for his views on topics such as celestial arrangement and the digging of holes, but not about fung shui wills or 'planting a life base' - a ceremony to bring good health.
The lawyers then told him they were happy with his positions and would like to invite him to serve as an expert. 
He declined to say what sort of fee he had been paid.
Meanwhile, in court, one of Mr Chan's lawyers accused Szeto Fat-ching, a fung shui expert appearing for the foundation, of plagiarism in his expert report. 
Mr Szeto yesterday admitted to Mr Edward Chan SC, for Tony Chan, that he had copied information from the website of a temple in Taiwan  concerning his opinion on 'planting a life base'. 
The master said he had checked the information, though he did not know the background of the temple. He said he had only copied down what he thought was correct. 
Speaking afterwards  outside court, Mr Szeto presented some pieces of jade handed to him by a Chinachem staff member. He said the jade, which had been recovered from fung shui holes, was marked with the words 'Wangs' and 'Dragon King of Donghai', or the eastern sea, and therefore he believed that Wang had tried to search for her husband.
After leaving court, the two rival fung shui experts shook hands and exchanged business cards. 
The seven-week hearing concluded yesterday. Final submissions will be heard on September 21.



Judge dismisses self-trained fung shui expert