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- WASHINGTON - The Hong Kong
billionaire
who bought Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's prized Virginia mansion
for $6
million in 1997, plans to raze it because the place is haunted by
bad
karma.
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- Friends of Eric Hotung, the Chinese philanthropist and
businessman who purchased the house in February 1997, said he is convinced
the property, which boasts a prime view of the Potomac River, is tainted
by negative ``feng shui'' - an ancient Chinese measure of spiritual
balance.
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- ``Hotung has told people the feng shui is not right there
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it's bad karma,'' said Albert Eisele, editor of ``The Hill,'' the Capitol
Hill newspaper that first reported the story this week. ``He wants to tear
it down.''
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- Hotung, a British citizen, was spooked after hearing
that a
caretaker working in the house was mysteriously pinned to a wall
by
some unseen force, the newspaper said.
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- It is unclear whether he plans
to rebuild on the site
or sell.
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- The Kennedy (D-Mass.) camp
seemed flummoxed by the sudden
talk of negative energy in the senator's
old residence.
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- ``We don't really know what to think,'' said Kennedy
press
secretary Will Keyser.
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- The senior senator, who now lives with his wife Vicki
and their two young children in Northwest D.C., was unaware of Hotung's
plans until the Hill ran a small item about the planned demolition of the
property, aides said.
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- ``The only knowledge we had was when it showed up in
the news,'' said Keyser. ``We don't know anything about it.''
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- Kennedy's former
home, a sprawling estate perched along
a hilly stretch of Chain Bridge
Road in affluent McLean, Va., sits on six
acres.
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- The grey shingled home boasts
11,000 square feet and
an outdoor swimming pool.
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- Keyser refused any further
comment, but noted that Kennedy
had not spoken to anyone about Hotung's
plans.
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- Eisele is friendly with Hotung, whom he said was abroad
and
could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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- ``He's a guy who turns up all
over the world,'' said
Eisele. ``Switzerland one day, Hong Kong the
next.''
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- Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice originally used
for
finding burial plots that would help ensure peace, prosperity and good
health for future generations.
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- It has become popular outside Asia in some New Age
circles
in America and England as a means of attaining harmony, good
health, wealth
and peace of mind.
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- In ancient China, emperors
sometimes relied on feng shui
to retain their dynastic family
positions. Today, large Hong Kong banks
use feng shui to decide where
to locate their businesses.
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- ``Feng'' means wind, while ``shui'' translates to
water.
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- An
extensive survey is made of the property using a Chinese
compass called
a Lopan. A complex formula, using astrological and other
information,
is then developed about the property in question.
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- Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.), who
lives in Kennedy's old neighborhood,
told Eisele a few weeks ago about
Hotung's plans to tear down the house.
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- Hotung, who has given
generously to Georgetown University
and other local institutions, had
originally planned to use Kennedy's home
as a base for an institute to
improve U.S-China relations.
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- Hotung's former residence in Hong Kong sold for $94
million
shortly after he bought the Kennedy estate.
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- Kennedy put the home
up for sale in January 1997 with
an asking price of $4.9 million.
Hotung, the highest bidder, paid $6 million
- about a million dollars
over the asking price.
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- Since then, one of Hotung's sons and a caretaker have
lived there. A wealthy Saudi Arabian neighbor had expressed interest in
buying Kennedy's property and turning part of it into a parking lot when
it first came on the market. The neighbor has an elaborate security system
on his property.
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- Eisele speculated that the neighbor might still be interested
in buying the property.
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- Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) had expressed interest
in renting the house from Hotung at one point, Eisele noted.
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- Kennedy entertained
often at the home. During his 1994
re-election campaign, President
Clinton and dozens of senators attended
a gala fund-raiser at the
house.
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