Face Values
(excerpt from "Better Homes & Family)

The saying goes: "Thou shall not judge a book by   its cover". This rings true, especially when we meet people for the first time. Yet, according to Master Ong Thiam Peng, we are inclined to make an instant, intuitive judgement during that very first encounter and we may or may not change that first impression later. Nevertheless, the point is that we are very ready to judge one's character on the basis of a person's facial appearance.

Over the centuries, in China, the innate behaviour of reading faces has been honed to a fine art. Master Ong said the Chinese were the first to develop a sophisticated and rational system of telling an individual's personality and even fate, by the study of facial features and this is now known as physiognomy.

Master Ong revealed that one's state of mind, be it jealousy, sympathy or desire, can be gleaned from the eye. The alignment of the nose can reveal a deceptive or honest person. The formation of the lip tells whether he or she is a sensuous lover, and from the shape of the chin, you can know whether who is the smarter, him or you.

Thus, knowledge of physiognomy is certainly an asset, especially in the commercial and political scenarios as well as in the personal and social environments.

The human face is a composite of many features and each feature reveals something about the personality of the person and governs a certain aspect of his/her destiny at a particular stage of the person's lifetime. For example, he said the eyebrows reveal a person's destiny between the ages of 30 to 35 years. If a person's eyebrows are well-shaped, nicely textured and dense, then good luck is assured for that person during those years. However, Master Ong said it is difficult to see a person blessed with the perfect face.

The forehead: governs the age between 15 to 30

The forehead reflects one's moral conduct and ethics. It also governs the person's intellect, and reflects the family conditions during childhood. It also tells the story of the person's life, especially between ages of 15 to 30. (The ear tells the story from the age of one to 14 ).

The ideal forehead is long, high and well developed. However, the ideal forehead must be balanced by wide ears. But if the forehead is unusually large, perhaps even out of shape, it may indicate that the person is mentally defective.

Complementing the forehead is the hairline. As a general rule, the hairline should be between two- to three-and a-half inches from the eyebrows.