[fuyumi]

IS popular Mediacorp actor Christopher Lee's recent trouble with the law linked to his move to change the characters of his Chinese name recently?

Some geomancers and his friends appear to think so because Lee, 36, had been riding on a wave of success prior to the change.

In August 2004, Lee, a Channel 8 leading man and boyfriend of popular actress Fann Wong, changed the middle character in his Chinese name, Li Ming Shun.

The character 'ming', which literally means engraved, was replaced with a similar sounding word, meaning 'name'.

While the words sound alike, in written form, geomancers say the left portion of the original character, which means gold, was dropped.

Lee told reporters then that he changed his name after consulting a fengshui practitioner.

The actor had hoped the name-change would tone down his impatient nature so that he would be more meticulous and level-headed.

Also, the move was supposed to make him a hotter star.

In 2004 and 2005, Lee made it to the list of the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes.

He also landed himself a leading role in The Best Bet in March 2004. The Jack Neo film became an instant hit when it was released in June that year.

But the TV version, in which Lee reprised his role, and which premiered in November 2004, did not take off.

On 8 Oct last year, two years after he changed his name, Lee's star fell when his car hit a motorcycle.

Lee, who was arrested soon after the accident, pleaded guilty to drink driving.

He made headlines in Singapore and even Malaysia, but for all the wrong reasons.

Last month, Lee was sentenced to four weeks' jail, fined a total of $4,500 and given a three-year driving ban. He began serving his prison term on 28 May.

Because of this, it is believed Lee now wants to revert to his original name.

Celebrity hairstylist and close friend David Gan told The New Paper on Sunday that Lee shared his intention before he served his sentence.

David, 44, said: 'When Chris asked for my opinion, I told him frankly that I would not have changed the name my mother gave me in the first place.

He added: 'Chris was already popular before he changed his name. It was not like he became even more famous after that.'

Other fengshui practitioners also questioned the 'rationale' for his name-change.

Retired geomancer Lien Bin, 67, who lives in Kuala Lumpur, said: 'Fengshui is an art of living in harmony with the environment, where the cycle of life changes each year.

'Changing one's name does not really make a difference, and even with good fengshui, a person still has to practise self-discipline.'

Mr Tan Khoon Yong from Way On Net Geomancy agreed.

START RIGHT

Mr Tan said: 'That is why I prefer to pick the right name for a newborn. You start right from the beginning, not halfway.'

David confessed that he had also changed his name in the past, though it had nothing to do with fengshui.

He had changed the 'tian' in his Chinese name, Tianfa, from the character 'sky' to 'add' because he felt it was savvier.

It was a decision he regretted. He has since returned to using his original name.

He said: 'Although it didn't upset my late mum, I felt bad about doing it.

'I was born with that name. My mum gave it to me. Why should I change it?'

He took the chance to reinstate the original Chinese character when his application for citizenship was approved in December 2005.

'I felt it was the right thing to do, so I changed it in my pink identity card,' he said..

While David is not a fengshui fanatic, he said he is not averse to placing auspicious items in his home.

However, he cautioned: 'Don't follow instructions blindly, you must feel comfortable about it.

'It's fine to practise fengshui, just don't let it turn into an obsession. Being true to your conscience is more important.'

[GreenSn0w]

'Changing one's name does not really make a difference, and even with good fengshui, a person still has to practise self-discipline.'

i agree with this..some ppl are juz too obsessed with these kind of thingz liao lor.. o.O

[Shyraiiyann]

Den my name must be super duper bad, to not bein able to even drive a car to land in jail for reckless drivin

[Ican]

Hahaha.....change name for wat? if you are good in nature, you are good...if you are bad, whatever you do to, it wont help.

Nothing can help you if you dont first help yourself.

[djchris]

Just curious, where did you get all your fengshui articles? Please kindly state source for copyrighting purposes..

[astrea]

i tend to agree... shall not change ur name unnecessarily....

[genzo2106]

Originally Posted by Shyraiiyann

Den my name must be super duper bad, to not bein able to even drive a car to land in jail for reckless drivin

hmmm u sure you wanna drive a car to land urself in jail?? :confused2: :confused2:

[CyanSupra]

Drink n drive is ur own mistake , wad has it got to do with luck?

[icetea]

ya..trust urself..believe urself..:rock:

[derelicte]

Actually, he should feel lucky because for all the years he might have drink driving, he did not hit anybody leading to a loss of life. The regret will be much heavier to bear.

[applepie]

I agree. It is lucky that there were no deaths as a result of the accident. I think Idols like Chris are given the same treatment as mere mortals when they break the rules.

[baywanting]

I dun tink the accident got anyth to do with changing name. It got more to do with self discipline. But I tink Chris learnt his lesson and well, everyone makes mistake. Just hope that history won't repeat itself.