Losing $1.5 million opens new path for restaurateur-turned-'metaphysician psychic'

In this series, AsiaOne speaks to individuals who find themselves changing careers and steering their lives in a new direction, whether by choice or circumstance.

When Amelia Kang lost "about $1.5 million, maybe slightly more" over a decade ago from a business deal gone sour, it wasn't the monetary loss that bothered her most.

Instead, it was the fact that her business partner "was agreeable to lose their money in order to make me suffer", which boggled her mind.

It was unthinkable for Amelia, who was in her early 30s then, "that someone would throw away profit because of an emotion", especially when the project was just six months shy of completion.

"I underestimated the irrational nature of human beings in general," said the now-45-year-old, who also shared that she scored in the top five per cent for the PSLE in her year and was the typical high achiever growing up.

The Dunman High School and Victoria Junior College alumna found herself working at the National Arts Council after graduating from the National University of Singapore. She eventually struck out on her own in 2003 by setting up an events company, before going into the food business.

To Amelia at the time, religion was an "intellectual exercise" more than anything else and she was far from spiritual. But the aforementioned setback turned everything she knew on its head.

Up till that point in 2009, Amelia thought she had it all. The successful restaurateur thought she'd found her niche as an entrepreneur, flipping businesses for profit.

"Once upon a time I thought, oh my god, I'm so successful, I'm a millionaire, and everything business-wise and money-wise was going really well for me," said Amelia. "It was all money, money, money. There was no thought about [things like] social impact or the environment."

Her inability to wrap her head around the "emotional irrationality" behind her business partner's decision to renege on their deal led friends to point out that she was operating as "more machine than man" in the way she perceived the world.

"Losing the money didn't bother me a lot because I always felt that I could make it back, but it bothered me because it didn't make sense," said Amelia.

On a close friend's advice, Amelia embarked on a soul-searching journey to Egypt in 2011, which marked a turning point in her life and was how she made the 180-degree shift to become a "metaphysician psychic". It was a journey that's recently captured in a local documentary series, titled "Letters to God".

So what exactly is a metaphysician psychic, I had to ask.

By her own definition, it is "somebody who is intuitively connected to the universe, and who is always curious about its workings".

Amelia's lightbulb moment came in the form of a lightning bolt while she was meditating at the Temple of Edfu, believed to be home to the ancient Egyptian god, Horus.

Minutes into the meditation, Amelia described feeling "a thunderbolt" entering her third eye, and suddenly for a moment, "I was seeing colours around everyone". She also heard a boy's voice which told her, "Now you can see, so go and do what you need to do."

Paying heed to that voice, Amelia dived head first into setting up her holistic consultancy soon after she came back. At her centre, Amelia provides energy and bazi chart readings, as well as space improvements through fengshui, among other alternative-healing modalities.

Her sudden career change was a decision that puzzled many around her, some of whom even thought she was possessed by spirits.

"My mum and my aunt told me, 'you're becoming a witch, your nose is getting sharper'," recounted Amelia of the scepticism and resistance from her family members.

Despite that, Amelia saw no need to sway their minds. "I firmly believe that sometimes, your biological family may not be the most supportive of you," she shared.

"Instead, they are sometimes the challenges to help you grow, so that we start to see ourselves more clearly," said the eldest of three siblings. Her irreverent personality also made her impervious to the negative opinions of those around her.

Harnessing her abilities

After her spiritual awakening, Amelia discovered that she could not only see energy, but also hear, smell and even taste it. Another one of her abilities, said Amelia, is also in "clearing and purifying spaces easily".

For the curious, Amelia shared that negative energy in a space can smell like "rubbish", or if it's some weird entity "it really does smell like sulphur", a stench often associated with the devil.

One particularly "freaky" encounter which could easily be a scene out of a horror flick was a time when she was asked to cleanse a penthouse apartment in Bangkok of spirits.

"When I tuned in [to the energy] I saw this crying woman in the room on the first floor, a weird dog-like creature in the walk-in wardrobe on the second floor, and on the rooftop there was a woman who was constantly jumping off and coming back up.

"I realised that there was a primordial force that was trapping the spirits there, so the house was basically functioning like a zoo for spirits," shared Amelia, who said she eventually managed to cleanse the apartment of the entities.

Among the other types of healing she performs is also something called "karmic release", where she is able to "see" a person's past life and cut any cords of attachment.

"I receive 'downloads' of [the client's] past lives, which look like fast-forwarded YouTube videos. But at important moments, it will look like the video hung," laughed Amelia.

Her most popular offering, though, is the psychic ability analysis where she tells people if they have some measure of psychic ability.

"I can detail what the abilities are and what stage they are in," said Amelia. But she discourages people from using it as an "ego trip". Instead, she sees it as an empowering tool which people can develop to help themselves.

"Sometimes the worst thing in life is when you meet with a challenge or issue and you feel like there's nothing that you can do," said Amelia, who believes that harnessing energy is like "training a muscle" and that anyone can do it.

"I feel that once people are able to experience energies more, they will start to see the complexity of people. And that's when compassion comes.

"When you are able to see why this person did what they did, then you can choose to respond in an appropriate manner."

'People lie, but their energies don't lie'

Looking back on her journey, Amelia feels that her setback was "necessary" in order to find her path in life.

Apart from acquiring intuitive and psychic abilities, Amelia's spiritual awakening was also a breakthrough that enabled her to see the complexities of humanity, which has made a large impact on her life.

For one, she has stopped being so judgemental of others.

"This is super shallow," Amelia admitted, "but last time I used to judge people based on their job, the car they drive, where they have travelled, and that would dictate how I'd interact with them.

"Post-2010, I realised that the best thing you can do when you meet somebody is to withhold judgement, because you can't change a person's past, but you can help them to become a better version of themselves."

During her consultations, Amelia will usually provide her recommendations based on what she sees, rather than what clients tell her, because "people lie, but the energies don't lie".

But she makes it clear that she doesn't perform miracles.

"I believe that everybody should be responsible for their own healing. And I'm only a facilitator," said Amelia, who charges an hourly rate of US$130 (S$174.45).

It is a price that is "high enough so that the people that come are committed to making it work for them", but also "not so high that the average person cannot come".

Of her pricing strategy, Amelia added: "I realised that the people who are able to pay more do not satisfy my curiosity for human problems." Instead, these clients may just want to "rant and rave" but are not interested in resolving the issue.

Another lesson that she has gotten out of her spiritual journey is that "you can't help somebody that doesn't want to help themselves".

Clients will need to put in the work in order to see any change, and "at some point, [they] will have to make some difficult decisions," said Amelia.

Referencing my "procrastinating energy" in a quick reading she did for me before the start of our interview, she pointed out: "I can't say 'jump now' and then just push you to take the leap.

"But I can put it in such a way that is helpful to you," said Amelia.

For the record, I was told by Amelia that I'm an "overthinker" which leads to the aforementioned procrastination, and that "I may not be in quite the right occupation". She also observed that I have a hunched posture "not just because you type a lot", and advised that I square my shoulders more to expand my weak "receiving energies".

But as they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and one principle that Amelia upholds as a healer is that she doesn't "randomly read people's energy".

"Unless you give me permission to, it's unethical to just randomly read into people's energy and I'm very firm about that," said Amelia, adding that those with impure intentions could easily use such abilities to manipulate others.

So what are the problems that most of her clients hope to solve? Amelia's answer was surprisingly philosophical.

"One of the biggest issues that a lot of people come with — and it's the source of a lot of other issues — is that they have not taken the time to get to know themselves," said Amelia.

[[nid:531805]]

"Instead, their self-identity is built on how other people perceive them to be or through societal conditioning." And when one hits road bumps in life, it is a destabilising force, as "your own core is not strong enough to sustain you".

"For example, issues with love and career, a lot of times it's traced back to the fact that people don't know who they are," said Amelia.

That is also where confidence and self-love issues stem from. "You'll be surprised how many people spend their lives doing what other people want them to."

To that, Amelia advocates dedicating 15 minutes a day to yourself. "Just do something you want to do for yourself and not because somebody needs you to do it or it is expected of you."

The second tip is to spend time to acknowledge and appreciate yourself, because "if you don't even see yourself, how do you expect others to see you?"

And she has finally learned that "things are never black and white".

"There is black in white and white in black. That is the reality. And the only thing that one is in control of is your response and your intention."

candicecai@asiaone.com