Midnight Kids Of Tanjung Bungah (午夜小孩)

There are two roads leading to Tanjung Bungah: one is through the Tanjung Bungah Road and the other is a narrower and winding road, Mt. Erskine. The former road is wider with clearer view than the later and the first road is always the choice; but the second one provides a shorter route. Having said so, since the Mt. Erskine passes through a Chinese cemetery, rumour has it that one part of the winding road is said to be haunted at night.

My pal, Wong is a salesman and his house is in Tanjung Bungah. As a local since childhood, he is very familiar with both of the roads. One night he decided to use Mt. Erskine road to return to his home as it was approaching midnight and he was very tired after entertaining some potential customers downtown. The only thing in his mind then was to return home, take a hot water bath and sleep. So, as usual he drove along the road and everything lust looked normal. The road in front and behind him was in dead silent and complete darkness with street lights far in between.

As Wong was approaching the sharpest corner, he saw a white thick fog gathered in the corner. As a seasoned driver, Wong’s first reflexes was to move his foot from the gas paddle and pressed the brake to slow down his car. Of course, seeing fogs on roads during midnight is nothing strange. But Wong claimed to have seen a group of kids appeared within the fog and they appeared to be crossing the road.

It was a split of a second decision if Wong was to stop or to ram ahead. And for no explicable reasons, Wong has chosen to step on the brake and the car came to an emergency stop right in front of the fog. As the car was stopping, he sworn to have seen all of the kids turned to him, smiled and waved at him. Wong said later that he wanted to return the favour but he was frozen with fright and he could only trembled: Where did the kids from during the dead of the night? As far as Wong knew, that that stretch of the road passes through the middle of a granite hill and no one stays near or around…

Suddenly a motorcycle sound came from Wong’s back and in a second or two, the motorcycle zoomed passed Wong’s car and rammed into the fog with the kids. And almost instantly, the kids and the motorcycle disappeared into the fog. Almost immediately too, Wong heard a loud bang and then there was a dead silent. After that, the fog in front of Wong started to disperse. Strangely speaking at this point, Wong returned to his senses and he restarted his car and proceeded carefully.

A more shocking scene came to Wong’s sight when his car went passed the sharp corner: there he saw the wreckage of a motorcycle wedged in between the granite wall and a boulder. With no intention to investigate if the driver was alive or otherwise; Wong sped off and rammed into his home; and directly jumped into his bed until morning.

After Wong has told me his experience, I just smiled and said: “You know, with all those ‘mat rempit’ (illegal racers) around; you should not travel in the dead of the night.”

Bulldozer Of The Forest (森林里的堆土机)

I seldom go into forest nowadays after stumbling too often over elephants. These enamels often come out in a herd of 5 to 6 and if any one member of the herd feels agitated and threatened; my life flies for the whole herd can charge head on towards me ironing out almost all vegetation in between. For those frequent jungle hikers, they would know that it is exceedingly difficult to move about in a tropical forest; moreover, to run in a dense forest environment. A 5-ton elephant can already cause a lot of damage!

My pal, Ah Seng resides in Sauk, Kuala Kangsar owns a piece of oil palm plantation. We used to go into the forest together to search for medicinal plants. When I visited him during 2005 wanting to invite him to enter the forest; he declined and he told me he dared not after a foreign worker was stampeded to death by a herd of wild elephant. This news was known only amongst the locals only and it is never published in news.

It was said that earlier on, a herd of wild elephants barged into Ah Seng’s oil palm plantation to find food. After devouring a great amount of oil palm seeds and created a lot of damages; two of the smaller elephants felt thirsty and proceeded to a barrel of weed killer to quench their thirst. Normally the barrel would be covered but the plantation worker might have forgotten somehow.

Just as when the elephants were about to leave, two young elephants collapsed onto the ground and died. The other elephants tried to revive those two but they laid motionlessly as if logs. Realising two of their young ones were dead, the elephants trumpeted and the sound shook the plantation. As per norm, those elephants stood guard of the elephant carcases and refused to leave.

Some foreign workers who stayed in the oil palm plantation came out to investigate after hearing the commotion. Perhaps condition would not have worsen if everyone just kept quiet and contacted the wildlife department. As we all know, most foreign workers are normally oblivious of how to handle wild animals. So some of those workers started to shout at the elephants and some started to throw stones at them. That certainly had angered the alpha male elephant and it started to charge towards those workers. What else, the workers dispersed and ran for their lives. Unfortunately, one of the worker tripped and fell. In a split of a second, the male elephant was over this poor guy and without hesitation, it rose its front feet and crushed him to death…

While conservationists want to conserve elephants, most of the farmers don’t. The reason is very simple: wild elephants cause a lot of damage to their cash crops. Three months’ hard work could be destroyed overnight; and that translates to invested money loss. No one likes to see his/her hard earned money flies away including you. Maybe it is time for us to think if it is that the ‘human’ we want to conserve; or it is in fact the ‘elephant’ we would like to conserve. Personally, I don’t believe both of the men and wild animals can coexist. Once you come face to face with an elephant ran amok; perhaps the only thought in your mind would be saving your precious ‘life’…

The Problem Of 77 Or 99 (77或99的问题)

Let’s go back to Taiwan in the 80’s when the ‘Happy Lucky Pick’ (大家乐) was just launched.

At that time, this Happy Lucky Pick had taken Taiwanese society by storm. Almost everyone was looking for ‘tips’ which is known as ‘clear card’ (明牌). And there are many ways to get an accurate tip: through a medium or one can also get the prediction through one’s dreams.

This story was told by a friend who served as a police officer then. This is a story of a married couple who landed themselves at police station after a big fight. The reason was the mere disagreement of how each interpreted a dream…

A newlywed couple was a big fan of Happy Lucky Pick. They tried their every effort to get good number predictions including consulting spirits and through own dreams.

One night the husband had a dream of a busybody old lady cursing him all night long. When he woke up from his dream, he thought that the busybody aunty means ‘sam pat’ (三八) in Chinese; so he bet on number 38. Apparently the luck was on his side and he won NDT100k or so.

A few weeks later, this husband had another vivid dream again. In that dream he saw a pair of flags waving in front of him. Since he could still vividly visualize the flags in his mind, he thought this again would be a good hint for the Happy Lucky Pick. After flip flops in his bed for a while, he thought the pair of flags must have meant ‘77’. Just as when he has made his mind; his wife who was sleeping beside him suddenly shouted: “I have won the Lucky Pick!!”

“What did you say?!” The husband yelled out.

The wife turned her back and faced her hubby: “I dreamt of a pair of flags! That must be a sign for coming Happy Pick!”

The husband was happy too as his wife was having the same dream… He said: “I am going to bet on number 77 right after the breakfast!”

The wife yelled: “What did you say? The flags must have meant 99!”

“It is 77!” The husband said.

“It is 99!” The wife was also unyielding on the other hand.

Honestly speaking, if both of them would compromise and bet on 77 and 99 together; the problem would already be solved.

But being a chauvinistic, the husband insisted to put all the bet on 77 since he has the money and his wife didn’t.

The luck wasn’t on the husband’s side this time: when the result was announced, 99 was the lucky pick!

 What else? The already indignant wife started to quarrel with her hubby which ended up in a big fight until so much so that the commotion disturbed their neighbour; and the couple was subsequently ended up in local police station.

Of course, this case had become the laughing stalk of the police station and the neighbourhood. However, I am not sure what is the squeal of the couple now; the story didn’t tell. What I am sure is that think twice when you want to marry a Taiwanese lady!

One Two Three Four (一二三四)

This is another ghost story concerning asking for lucky numbers.

First and foremost, this type of stories was being told time and again during my childhood years by my grandma and grandpa after dinner. About half a century ago, there were not many entertainments available. So the only free and easy past time was to listen to old granny’s stories. You may try to find out if the tales are true; but would just advise you to sit back and listen them just as any urban legends out there. I said this because it is just a waste of energy to track anything. In old days, there were many private and underground 4D operators in operations. I will not be able to tell which is which.

A few years after the end of WWII, many things were still lacking in Malaya. Jobs were very few and unless you know some VIP, you are almost certain to be jobless then. Of course, conditions have not improved today on our local job market too. When jobs are few and people would be thinking of many ways to get money. One of the ways is through getting lucky numbers from the spirits.

The best spirit to ask for lucky numbers is those pregnant mother died with stillborn. The Chinese believe that the mother-baby ghost can give a sure accurate lucky number but the danger is also that the gambler who asked for the number will die. The mother ghost may want the requestor to accompany her and the baby in the underworld. Having said so, there were still many people tried to summon this awful mother-baby ghost.

Unlike in modern times, fatality rate of giving birth was high, so it is quite possible to find a new grave with mother and stillborn. Things have changed today as most corpses are cremated with nearly zero fatality during birth.

Back to the story proper, in order to summon out the mother-baby ghost; one must first choose a new grave of deceased pregnant mother. When I said new, the grave should be within 7 days the best; or it should be within the first 21 days.

Once this grave is identified, the person must prepare some black hound blood, a piece of red string and 5 pieces of long green bamboo sticks. The length of one of the bamboo should be able to reach the coffin cover. Also the blockages within this bamboo should be cleared so that the blood can be poured directly onto the coffin.

Now, the best timing to call out this pregnant ghost is during a black moon night.

I don’t suppose you want to do the ritual… So, let us continue with the story:

A rubber tapper known as Ah Kow was a gambler and he would try any means to get money. Unfortunately, Ah Kow has no good luck so far until he met with a Maoshan Taoist who taught Ah Kow the above method.

It was a coincidence that a pregnant neighbour died during giving birth. Ah Kow thought it was a right time to try to summon this mother spirit to ask for her help; since they were neighbours. To say the least, the mother ghost should not harm her neighbour.

After everything is set, Ah Kow went to the new grave alone. He first planted four green bamboo sticks at four corners of the grave and then the red string is used to tie at the bamboos as protective boundary. This boundary will prevent the mother-baby ghost from harming the gambler.

As the final step, the longest bamboo stick is struck until it pierced through the coffin cover and the black dog blood is poured into the coffin.

Now, Ah Kow only needs to wait. About half an hour later, some white fog was seen emitted from the bamboo opening. Slowly a human shape was formed and as expected, it was the ghost of Ah Kow’s pregnant lady. She was seen holding a crying baby. A few more minutes lapsed and the mother ghost spoke:

“What do you want from me?”

Ah Kow braved himself and said: “I want you to give me a sure open lucky number!”

The mother ghost replied: “One two three fours.”

Ah Kow recorded the number and the mother ghost further said: “Bet on this number at Liu’s place. You owe me nothing if the number is not accurate. Otherwise, I want you to accompany me in my grave!”

The mother ghost then vanished back into her grave.

Ah Kow suddenly felt scared and he ran to a night stall selling liquors. There he got himself drunk and Ah Kow was escorted back to his house by the stall owner, who was also Ah Kow’s best pal.

When Ah Kow regained his consciousness, it was near lunch time. Ah Kow hurriedly to Liu’s gambling stall to bet on 1234. After that, he returned home to sleep until evening. He remembered about his bets… Ah Kow was actually in a dilemma: die if the number came out; die also if his number didn’t come out. As he was pondering, his feet stopped at Liu’s stall and there it displayed: “1^st price: 2444”

It was actually a relief to Ah Kow because the mother ghost’s prediction didn’t come true.

That night, Ah Kow had a dream. The mother ghost came to Ah Kow first congratulated him for winning, then she wanted Ah Kow to hang himself so that she could bring his soul with her to the grave…”

Ah Kow protested: “But your number didn’t come out… you gave 1234, 2444 came out instead!”

The mother ghost swiftly whispered near Ah Kow’s ear: “Come dear… I gave you one 2, three 4s… You bet 1234; It is not my fault…”

The next morning, some rubber tappers found Ah Kow’s lifeless body hung on a mango tree in front of his house.

Of course, the moral of this story is not to gamble and certainly don’t ask for lucky numbers from spirits.

One Four Five Three (实死无生)

There are many methods to get lucky numbers. One can write some digits on paper shreds and then pick one randomly until the required number of digit is met. Or one can also consult the spiritual world to get said to be lucky numbers. Generally speaking, gamblers believe that the fiercer a spirit is; the more accurate the numbers are. But there is also a price to pay too if those requestors realised what they are asking of course.

Years ago, Liao and May were married couples and they owned a double story building where the ground floor was the minimarket and they lived on the 1^st floor. The family was considered to be quite well-to-do in small town Kati, Kuala Kangsar. That was before the opening of a supermarket in Kuala Kangsar town.

After the supermarket opened for business, the couple’s business declined tremendously until so much so that they were facing with cash flow problems. As usual, the easiest way to solve cash flow issues is to get additional funding. For small business, the easiest way is to borrow from a loan shark or ‘ah long’ as the locals like to call them. Commercial banks required too much paperwork and the approval process would be too long to wait.

So Liao start to borrow from these loan sharks, first time $10k and later $100k; before long the accumulated debt already reached half a million dollars. That was a big sum even at today’s standard.

One night after dinner, Liao said to Mary: “It is no way for me to repay half a million to ah long. My only bet is to sell the shop and bet on 4D lucky numbers in the hope to get a wind fall… I heard the Datuk Hitam spirit in Hassan’s oil palm plantation can give very accurate prediction. I want to give it a try and bet big for once!”

At first Mary disagreed but she too could not think of a way to get that sum of money. So reluctantly she agreed to her husband’s suggestion.

The couples went to a medium and made an appointment to visit an anthill located in Hassan’s plantation at midnight.

At the designated time, the couple and the medium was in front of the anthill. After the medium burnt some ‘kemayan’ (benzoin) he started to fall into trance…

A few minutes later, roaring sound came from the medium’s throat: “Roar…. Roar… Roar!! Who disturbs me!?”

On hearing the words, Liao and Mary kneeled down and said: “Datuk Hitam, we need your help to give us lucky numbers!”

The medium now turned Datuk Hitam replied: “Roar… Roar… I can give you a sure come out number, but what can you give me in return?”

Liao said: “I can give you curry mutton with yellow sticky rice…”

Datuk Hitam: “Roar… Roar… No. I have not eaten human meat for a very long time! I want one of you and you decide which one amongst you! Otherwise I will pick myself!”

Before the couple can discuss, Datuk Hitam said: “Roar… Roar… I give you 1453; take it or leave it!”

Right after the spirit uttered the number, it left the medium’s body. The trio returned to their own home and rested for the night.

At the couple’s place, they argued through the night but finally decided to go ahead with the plan of betting on 1453 with their available money first thing in the morning. After all, none of them believed that the warning of the spirit can come true. And they waited eagerly throughout the day as the result will be announced in the evening.

Time did fly, soon it was evening and after dinner, Liao sent Mary to get the results while he waited impatiently on the balcony. He just could not raise enough courage to see the result himself. An hour passed, and Mary returned. As she has forgotten to bring the house key; she stood in front of the shop and at the same time start yelling and waving her hands at her husband who was waiting at the balcony: “Hey! Open the door!”

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and Liao fell down from the balcony. Mary immediately ran to her husband and propped his head with her hands: “We got the 1^st prize! It is 1453!”

With very faint voice, Liao replied: “I saw you waved your hands! I thought we had lost all of our money!!”

After mentioning the last words, Liao’s head stooped and died.

Mary became insane ever since her husband’s death. Villagers said the Datuk Hitam spirit had kept its promise; it gave the fortune and it too taken a life. The number 14-5-3 actually meant ‘sure die and no chance to survive’.

Grabbing For That Number (鬼也抢号码)

You probably heard about the Taiwanese ‘happy lucky picks’ (大家乐) gambling method. In this gamble, a person only need to bet from number 01 to 99. If these double digits coincide with the ‘patriotic lottery’ (爱国奖卷) then the person will get a windfall. Like the TOTO game in Malaysia, the pay rate is of course proportional to the amount of betting.

It would not be a surprise if every living soul in Taiwan is interested in this additional fortune; you may be surprised to learn that even the spirits too want a grab of this handsome fortune! As I was told, the below story was being reported in local news before:

During one of the official number picking function for patriotic lottery one night, when the lady who was in charge of picking the numbers was about to pick the last two digits; which also mean the opening of the ‘happy luck picks’ number… The said lady in-charge suddenly claimed to have saw multiple gigantic hands barged into the container that contained 99 small balls to grab the last two numbers.

Since these giant hands wanting to grab their own preferred numbers, they started to fight amongst each other and this poor lady was so shocked that she just stood beside the ball container dumbfounded; she subsequently fainted. This ‘strange occurrence’ was subsequently made headline and went viral at that time because the program was on live telecast with quite a number of audiences.

Although none of the workers and audiences actually saw the giant hands, since that lady was adamant on what she saw and that she was willing to swear on her honesty; then it is perhaps wise to leave it to your own judgement as to believe it or otherwise.

Taiwan maybe full of spirits and strange tales until such a stage that these invisible good brothers and sisters too are interested in taking part in lucky picks!

Chinese Animism & Gambling (多神信仰与赌博)

Most Asian Chinese are animists and they worship just about anything: rocks, anthills, trees, animals etc. Malaysian and Singaporean certainly top the list, followed by the Taiwanese and Hong Kong Chinese. Westerners would not understand why these Chinese folks are so fond of worshipping almost everything they come across. Well, being a Malaysian Chinese; I certainly have no doubt that the sole motivation behind these spiritual worships is for ‘luck’. In another words, Chinese believes that spirits can help them in getting the best bets in gambling.

Most of the Taoist temples have one sort of giving out lucky number services or another. And there certainly are lucky ones and unlucky ones; but the number of the unlucky ones would usually be many folds more than the lucky ones. News of disappointed gamblers burnt down some temples because of inaccurate lucky numbers given are no news too.

News reports from Taiwan concerning many statues of Taoist deities found amongst rubbish in rivers after the announcement of lottery results has become a norm. This is perhaps the revenge of those disappointed gamblers towards their once revered gods or goddesses. Of course, Malaysians are more ‘polite’ in that the deities are left under huge trees to rot. Heavy fines for littering certainly prevent those disappointed Singaporean gamblers from throwing the statues just anywhere… but I am sure there are places where these useless deity statues can be disposed of.

In Malaysia and Singapore one can purchase lotteries or 4D numbers, and in Taiwan there is the ‘patriotic lottery’ (爱国奖卷) and the ‘everyone’s lucky picks’ (大家乐). The everyone’s lucky pick is simply another betting that is based on the last two digits of the patriotic lottery. That is to say that the betting of this lucky picks only betting on numbers between ‘01’ to ‘99’. Of course, elsewhere other picks to try one’s luck would be on horse races, dog races etc.

Since one’s money is limited and the combination of lucky numbers are many, unless a potential gambler has an extra ordinary prediction capability and to get rid of one’s guilt; it is still best to consult a rock, tree, anthill or animal for the best lucky number. As a rule of thumb, the place for getting one’s lucky number can be just anywhere: be it in a temple, at the graveyard, in the jungle, at a rock or under a huge banana tree. The timing of getting the number is normally after 9pm.

In order to get the number outside of a temple, one can employ a medium; or any methods described in this blog. Of course, with spirits and gamblers around; more stories shall entail. Again, I don’t like to gamble but only interested to share the stories of gambling that I have heard. So stay tuned!