The Ultimate Door Opening Ceremony Feng Shui Guide

Hi,

What did you do with the fruits in the end? Did you throw them away or eat them?

Hi Lim, we threw them away after leaving them in the house for one week.

Hi Evan, after three days are the fruits to be eaten? Thanks

Hi Richard, whether you want to eat the fruits is up to you; there are no strict rules on this. Just make sure the fruits are in good condition before you eat them!

Hi, do you have the PDF version? Would like to print them out if possible. =)

Hello Jane! Sorry we don’t usually have PDF versions of our articles.

Hi, thank you for the informative article. Just wondering, did you leave all the windows open during the 3 days to 1 week period while leaving all the fruits etc in the house? Thank you in advance for your reply.

Hi Wong! No, we did not leave the windows open because we were worried about rain. And there is no requirement to leave the windows open as well. Enjoy your door opening!

Hi,

Realised that you guys left an angbao, could you share what we should put in the angbao? Cash? If so how much did u put inside?

Hi Lyn! We put 8 one-dollar coins inside.

Hi, noticed you mentioned that there is a need to wait a minimum of 3 days. But in the next sentence, you mentioned there is no need to. What’s the purpose of the 3 days wait, and so is it needed or not?

Hi James, what I meant was that this 3-day waiting period ONLY applies to clearing of the items (green beans, fruits, etc). I just wanted to clarify that it is NOT a restriction for anything else, for example re-entering the house after door opening day.

Hi, did you sweep or clear the sprinkled items on the floor?

Hi Jane, initially we wanted to clear it but before we could do so, our floor was already covered with cement screed; a bit of mis-planning there. If you want to sweep / clear the items you can just do so after three days.

Hi, may I know if it’s ok to use a broom to sweep away the green beans, salt and rice later on? Must I use a new broom? Please advise, thanks.

Hi Val, yes it is ok to sweep or vacuum away the salt, rice and green beans after three days. No, you do not need to use a new broom. For the green beans in the plastic container, you can only clear them after they have sprouted.

Hi, you mentioned to sprinkle the mixture of rice and bean all over the house. Can we sprinkle in the toilet, kitchen and service yard too, including all the corners? Please advise.

Hi Val, yes you can sprinkle in the toilet, kitchen and service yard too, including all corners.

May I know if collection of keys for new house entering ritual must be done by the husband? Please advise, thanks.

Hello Val, there is no gender restriction of any kind for the ritual.

Thanks!
As for throwing away all the fruits, rice and green beans on the floor 3 days later, is it from the 4th day of entering the house on day 1? Where do we throw away all the items? Please advise.

Hi Val, yes you are correct. So for example if you entered the house on Monday, you can only clear the items on Thursday. You can throw away the items in a public dustbin.

Hi!

Appreciate the detailed explanation.

I collected my keys a week ago from the agent and I brought my interior designer to the house for a viewing first before the renovations start.

Does that mean it’s too late to do my “door opening ritual” now?

Renovations have yet to commence.

Hi JW!

You’re very welcome.

We did not enter our house before the door opening ritual. However, I understand that you’ve already gone in with your ID. I’m not sure if there is any impact, but personally I think it’s all right to still go ahead with the ritual.

Hi Evan,

May I ask 2 questions?

1. How do you check for the water flow “defects” in the toilet after sprinkling the mixture? I was informed to pour a pail of water to check for water retention at certain parts of the toilet flooring.

2. What are the rituals that your parents asked to do?

Thanks in advance!

Hi SS!

1. We cleared the mixture of rice and green beans before checking for water retention. Yes, we poured a pail of water too. This is because by right toilets should have a very slight slope for water to flow towards the drain. It is a simple check that takes just a minute or so. I think most toilets will be fine and this shouldn’t be a problem for most people.

2. To be honest, I’m not very sure, but it involved burning of incense and joss papers. We simply waited for them to finish the rituals.

Hope this helps!

Hi Evan,

Thanks for your reply! Yes, all the questions and your detailed procedure is very helpful!

May I also check when you sprinkle the salt at the corners of the house, do you go anti clock wise or clock wise?

For example, from your main door, start sprinkling salt from left side then move around the house till you reach the main door again (this will be the clockwise direction) or vice versa.

Hope to hear from you soon! Thanks in advance!

Hello SS,

You’re welcome =)

Actually we didn’t follow any direction at all when sprinkling the salt. May I know where you read about having to follow a specific direction?

Hi Evan,

I only read from another website that they started from right side of the door.

But from my understanding, usually Feng Shui thing starts in a clockwise direction. I’m not very sure too.

Hello SS,
I see thanks for letting me know. Sorry I can’t help you out here because I’m not very sure about the significance of direction as well.

Hi,
I’m collecting my key on Monday 11.30am.
And I am going away on Thursday morning and only coming back on Sunday night. I cannot clear after 3 days because I am not in Singapore. Can I clear all the items more than 3 days later?

Hi Jennie,
Yes it is all right to clear the items more than 3 days later.

Hi Evan,

1) Once I have settled the door opening rituals on the day that I collect my key, can I bring my friend to come in the same night or the next day to see my house layout? I am confused by the minimum of 3 days after door opening date? Can I only let people come into the house after 3 days?
2) During these 3 days, can anyone go into the house anytime?
3) Can I use the toilet and water?
4) Must I prepare 8 angbaos (with 8 one dollar coins inside)? After that, what should I do with the money?

Hello Jennie,
1) Yes you can bring in anyone at anytime after you’ve completed the door opening rituals. The “minimum three days” rule only applies for clearing of the bean sprouts, green beans, salt, and rice.
2) Yes.
3) Yes you can.
4) This practice was not included inside Master David Tong’s instructions for us, so I can’t really advise you on this.

Hi Evan,

I’m collecting my HDB key from the agent 2 days earlier. And my actual HDB completion agreement is on 25 March Monday. Can I start my door opening on Sunday, 1 day earlier?

After I do my door opening on Sunday, can my designer go in on Monday to measure and see my house layout? Can anyone go into the house anytime?

Hello again Jennie,

The door opening date is not determined by the HDB completion agreement. You can either engage a Fengshui master or use an online almanac; check out the first paragraph in the above article.

Yes, anyone can go into the house anytime after completion of the door opening rituals.

Hello, if one of my four corners is the master bedroom toilet or the balcony, do we leave the angbao and oranges in the toilet/balcony? I am conscious of the rain.

Thanks!

Hello Jessica, I am not sure about the exact rule for this. However, we did not place any angbao or oranges in the toilet. We did place them in the balcony and luckily it did not rain.

Hi Evan,

Just want to check on placing the angbaos and oranges at the 4 corners of the house. Because this step wasn’t mentioned in your post but I saw this in one of your photos, are you able to explain this step to me?

Thanks!

Hi Joanne,

Yes we placed angbaos containing 8 one-dollar coins at the corners of our house. I did not mention this in the article because it was not part of Master David Tong’s instructions for us; we found the procedure online. I would classify this as an optional step, no harm doing it.

Hi Evan, can I check, you mentioned “putting 8 one-dollar coins and oranges at the corners of our house”.
You meant only the 4 corners right?
How many oranges did you put at each corner?

Thank you,
Angeline

Hi Angeline,

Yes, I meant the four corners only. I put one orange at each corner.

Cheers,
Evan

I find this amusing. You seemed to have turned into a Feng Shui master already. Still getting questions 2 years after you posted this.

Hi Low, I am not a Feng Shui master, just sharing what I know with my readers. Hope you had a good door opening ceremony =)

Hi there, thanks so much for the detailed explanations. Can I check whether for resale purchases, the steps should be the same too as with your BTO? And that this ceremony should be done on the day we collect our keys from HDB and enter the house? =)

hi JC!
Apologies for the late reply. Yes the steps should be the same for resale.

No it does not have to be done on the key collection day itself, but it has to be done before entering the house for the first time.

Hope this clarifies and congrats on your new house purchase! =)

Hello,

Able to share more on the “burning of incense and joss papers”? And what’s needed?

Hi ST! I do not know the details because my parents handled the rituals. According to Master David Tong, these rituals are optional and depend on your religion.

Hi Evan,

Those fruits in the living room – you brought it back home on the door-opening day itself ?

My key collection is on 7 Dec 2020.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Meng Lai,

We left the fruits in the living room for 3 days.

Hello Evan,

A few question here,
1. When did you activate the electricity and water supply, before key collection, door opening ceremony?
2. When did you install the Uni-arm mechanism, before start of renovation’s auspicious day?
I asked because if the the Uni-arm mechanism,is part of the hacking procedure ( 动土) bcos if the knocking hammering sound while installing.
Thank you and very much appreciated.

Regards

Hi LZ!
1. Both my electricity and water supplies were activated before the door opening ceremony. This is because my renovation was due to start shortly after the ceremony.
2. The Uni-arm was only installed after the start of the renovation. However, I recommend installing it as early as possible because the renovation workers will need the door to stay open when carrying things in and out of the house. I installed it a little later and my door got quite dirty because the workers had to push against it frequently.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Evan

Hi Evan,

I saw that you put candles and a pot of sands there, did you 插香拜神？
Can you share how your clean that after that? Throw away? Thank you for sharing

Hi Ks,

Yes we did 插香拜神, but we did not use sand – we just put the incense sticks inside the holder. We left the items there for a few days before disposing of them after.

Hi Evan
For the rice and greenbean, can we premix at home?

Or do we have to take the whole packets and mix it at the new house?
Do we have to finish the whole packet?

Thank you.

Hi Kelly!

As far as I know there are no fixed rules for these. You can premix at home if you wish, and I think you will probably be able to finish the whole packet quite easily =)

Regards,
Evan

Hi Evan,

What do you do with the balance of rice, salt and bean? Did you sprinkle outside too?

Thank you.

Michelle

Hi Michelle!

No I did not sprinkle outside, I believe I finished using them all.

Cheers,
Evan

Hi, apologies for asking after you have moved in so long. Thanks for the post! May I know what do you so with the 8 $1 coins in the angpow that you put together with the fruits? Thanks in advance.

Hi Grace! No worries at all. I didn’t know about any specific ways to handle the coins so I just spent them afterwards.

– Evan

Hi,

Did you guys perform a post reno ceremony before moving in?

Thank you.

Hi Linda, no we did not.

Hi Evan

Can I roll the pineapple into the foyer instead ? My house door does not open into the living room

Also is the pineapple meant to be thrown away together with the other fruits after 3 days ?

Thanks for your help in advance

Dear Sam,

Yes you can roll the pineapple into the foyer.

Yes you should only clear the pineapple after three days.

Hi Evan,

What is the significance of this door opening ceremony?
How Is this more for the smooth renovation?
Is this similar or different from the ritual done before moving in?

Hey C, the ceremony is to ensure a smooth start to everything, including your renovation. The ceremony done before moving in involves a different set of rituals. You can consult Master Tong at +65 98299670 (website: https://cmgconsulting.com.sg/) for more details. You can also check out my experience with him here: https://www.eatandtravelwithus.com/2017/07/david-tong-review-cmg-consulting/

Hi, just wanna commend your efforts for replying to the qns even 5 years after this post. Great informative post, thank you!

Hi Sheryl, thanks for taking the time to leave such a nice comment, appreciate it =)

Hi, I want to check with you what is the procedure of having the green beans with cotton to plant flower? And what is it for?

Total pineapples how many do we need as I’m concerned after entering and we roll the pineapple, do we roll to all the areas including toilet, shelter and kitchen? After rolling and pick up and roll and pick up until the last location, do we just leave it there as it is or must pick up and gather pineapple with all the fruits in living room?

My bto is covered with vinyl flooring, salt might damage it.. What do you recommend?

What about the tea leaves and salt, which common brand do I have to buy?

I saw there are items like huat gao in your photo, what is that for?

Hi Lee,

You can just put the green beans on wet cotton wools in a container and they should sprout (as you can see in my photo). The sprouting of the beans symbolises bountiful offspring.

We only used one pineapple, and we rolled it to all areas except for the toilet (due to hygiene purpose). After we were done with the rolling, we put it with the rest of the fruits in the living room.

Perhaps you could lay some newspapers / papers at the corners of your house and sprinkle the salt on the papers instead?

The tea leaves and huat gao were used in religious rituals performed by my parents, I do not know the details.

You can buy any brand of salt.

Hi Evan,
I wish to check with u whether is Qing Ming festival for year 2023 is it not a good months for moving house? I heard some said 10 days before and after the 5 April start or the whole months of April also cannot move house?

Hi Kel,

Sorry I am not too sure about whether it is ok to move house during the Qing Ming period. Personally I would just avoid moving house during the Qing Ming week (03 to 09 April 2023).

Hi, my house already has flooring done. For the sprinkling of rice and green beans mixture, can I put them in a cup and place them in the corners instead of sprinkling them?

Hi Ryan, would be best to sprinkle them!