Editorial Remark: This content is satirical and opinion-based, reflecting the author’s personal views. It is not intended to defame, insult, or target any individual, group, or institution and may contain humor or exaggeration for entertainment purposes.
- To all the 4-ekor lottery punters in Malaysia.
- Here goes the story…
Alex was down and out. Having failed in business, lost in share trading, and scammed by a fake investment scheme, he’d lost everything. Heavy in debt, the world seemed closing in on him. Standing by the edge of his balcony's flat at Farlim apartment he wondered what it would feel like to jump. His mind muddled, heart throbbing, a wave of emotion overwhelmed him. It was an ordinary Monday morning. No one would notice. Beads of sweat trickled down his face as he slowly loosened his grip on the railing.
'Don’t do it,’ said a Voice.
‘Why not? No one will miss me,’
‘If you want redemption, this is not the way,’ said the Voice.
‘What other ways do I have!?’
‘Wait for my call. I’ll give you a second chance—your road to recovery.
He hesitated, then nodded.
The voice was no stranger. Call it a hallucination or a spiritual encounter, the Voice had been visiting him since his discharge for depression.
He decided to take the advice and headed back to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
Just then, his handphone rang. He pulled out his handphone.
'What’s your account number?’ Ah Bob’s voice crackled.
‘Peng You…ah… Haven’t you heard of phone scams?’ Alex scolded. ‘I can’t give you my account number.’
‘Aiyah!… I want to transfer money for you, ma. You don’t want meh?’ Ah Bob shot back. ‘You just struck 1st Prize in the Magnum draw. Don’t believe…ah ?’ said Ah Bob.
He quickly forwarded a screenshot of the result of the evening's Magnum draw.
‘1911’-1st Prize, shone on the first box of the Magnum draw.
Is this the second chance the voice was talking about?
X
Alex watched his contractor friend, Ah Tok, sip his Tiger beer. He pointed at the results of the evening's lottery draw beaming on his handheld phone.
‘Aiyah! ‘3196’ … I bet 3296 le! Shit!, 1st Prize le. Shit…la, ' he frowned. Face reddened, he downed the remaining beer.
‘Do you know why I bet on this number? Ah Tok spoke. ’A few years back, my sub-contractor friend struck 1st Prize twice in a week on this number.
‘Don’t bullshit la! How can the same number come out twice in a week!?’ Alex smirked.
Ah Tok was annoyed. He flipped his phone and showed the history of that number. It really came out 1st Prize twice in a week.
'Look at how he's living life now, Ah How, the one who strike'
Alex's eyes widened. - ‘Wa…!’ How lucky of him.
'He trusted the medium he consulted, and he bet twice. The medium said it will come out again. That’s why I'm betting on this number. My time will come,’ said Ah Tok wishfully.
x
Luck had always evaded Alex. Misfortunes seemed to be his friend.
‘Failure after failure? ‘ he grumbled. ‘ How can I change my luck?’ He was desperate and needed a quick fix. Although the earlier win did help, he needed a bigger win to settle his other outstanding debts. The lottery seemed to be the only answer.
That night Alex tossed and turned in his bed.
X
‘Your fate is like a small sandstorm. It keeps changing. I will help you to fix this.’
Alex woke up in cold sweat wondering what's the message in the dream. Badly shaken, he called Ah Tok and told him about the dream.
‘You should go with me to consult the medium. He can interpret it for you’ said Ah Tok, a believer of the occult. Alex was skeptical but gave in finally.
The medium squirmed in a trance on a wooden stool. A skinny old man with a tattoo on his face. Alex had decided to consult the medium after Ah Tok persuaded him. The medium had a huge following on TikTok. Twisting and turning his head in a frantic trance, he mumbled some prayers. Incense smoke billowed, small explosions here and there. They both shivered inside the makeshift temple. The medium jutted out his tongue and sliced it with the sword. Blood oozed out. He smeared his blood on a piece of yellow cloth and the magic numbers appeared.
‘2218’
‘Bet on it. It’s the number given by Tua Pek Kong!’
Alex never believed in sorcery, but he recognized the number – ‘2218’. It's his wedding anniversary, February 18th
Be careful of coincidences.’ The Voice warned. ‘They may be a curse. Do not make the wrong choice. Wait for my call.’
Alex was caught in a dilemma.
Who is he to believe now? The Spirit of Tua Pek Kong or The Voice.
The two voices were bickering in his head. Sleepless nights and manic disorder followed. After a long tussle he made up his mind.
‘I’ll bet on the number given by Tua Pek Kong.’
X
At the kopitiam, Alex was drinking beer with Ah Tok as usual. They talked about giving up.
‘Your medium is a conman’ said Alex. ‘ My money is running out!’
‘Well, it depends on the individual’s luck. Ah How's 1-Million- Dollar had it. Why not we give it a last try,’ said Ah Tok.
Saturday came – a Lottery betting day again. Alex and Ah Tok both promised themselves this would be their last bet. With the last of his remaining winning money, Alex bought all the tickets available on that number.
Evening came. They both sat at the kopitiam for their usual dinner. At 7.30 pm Alex peered at his handphone. The results of the Magnum 4-D lottery started appearing. First the Consolation Prizes, and then the Starter Prizes. No luck. No numbers came close. Finally, the top three prizes started to appear. Third Prize – nothing.
Second Prize – BOOM! ‘3296’, Ah Tok’s number came out.
Alex’s jaws nearly dropped as he watched the numbers blinked on his handphone. He couldn’t believe what he saw. The number ‘2218’ glimmered brightly on the first box of the top three prizes. He kept staring at the number as if in a trance. His body felt numb, body shaking. He began to shake his head like the Tua Pek Kong medium. As if possessed his heart started pounding hard, beating out an unexpected erratic rhythm. Suddenly he felt nausetic.
A rambling in his stomach stirred like a volcano as waves of liquid began building up. He tried to hold but it was too late. A torrent of vomit gushed out from his gullet and puked all over the floor. He rushed towards the toilet and locked himself up.
‘What’s wrong bro?’ Ah Tok shouted and banged on the toilet door.
‘We’re rich!! Aren’t you happy?’
No sound.
Alex sat on the toilet bowl, cold sweat breaking out, scratching and holding his head with both hands as if a million ants were crawling inside.
I’m rich! I should be happy, but why am I sick! ?
‘ I’m breaking down the door! shouted Ah Tok.
Silence.
The puke came wave upon wave like a burst pipe. Then his tummy purged and growled. A round of diarrhea emerged. He was purging and vomiting from both ends – a sickness he had never experienced before.
The motions and puke came relentlessly until he was completely drained. He sat on the toilet bowl, teary eyed, sick and exhausted. He then remembered his lottery tickets and pulled out a pile of tickets from his pants pocket.
Fumbling through he stared at them.
’2218’. ‘Yes!’ The tickets were there and it showed he had bought RM200-Big and RM200-Small which will amount to a total winnings of RM240,000! Another ticket slipped out from the pile. That ticket had a combination of two numbers – 2218 & 3296.
He took it out and stared, shocked at what he saw.
‘ Oh!…Oh!… Ho Liow la! ‘ he screamed. He had struck 1st and 2nd Prize which would make him the new winner of the Grand Jackpot Prize of RM18 million!!
Alex could not take it anymore. His face turned pale, fingers trembled, head throbbed and his heart pounded so hard that he stood up, held the ticket high above the toilet bowl and started crying hysterically.
In a fit of euphoria and madness, he raised his hands high up holding the tickets, hailed and screamed like mad..
‘ I’m rich!, I’m rich!
In that moment of excitement – Kaboom!!!!! a rusty old pipe hanging above broke and dropped on his head.
Oooch..ch ! Aiyah!!!!
Aiyoh!!… he screamed, and flicked his fingers with the winning tickets. The tickets flew and dropped into the toilet bowl. The bowl was filled with his feces and vomit.
‘ Si liow la,!!! ‘ he cried out.
He scrambled quickly trying to find something to pick up the tickets but as he bent, a sharp pain suddenly shot across his chest.
‘Urgh…..! My heart!!…I can’t breathe,’ he clutched his chest, stumbled, and slumped his head on the flush lever.
GROOM….GROOM. . flush … .flush…
A powerful gust of water rushed out like a torrential storm. The water spiraled and turned with a strong current gushing out from the toilet bowl and sucked everything out to the sewerage.
‘Bro ..bro… Are you ok?’ knocked Ah Tok.’‘
Silence.
Crack!! Bang! Ah Tok with the help of the Kopitiam’s owner and the customers broke down the door.
Silence.
Ah Tok went over to Alex and turned his body. There was a deep cut on his head. No pulse. No heartbeat. Dead.
Clutched in his fingers was his handphone. A voice message was beaming on the screen. Ah Tok tapped on it and the voice read:
Alex.
What is yours is yours. What is not, is not. Your fate depends on the choices you make. You should have waited for my call. The Voice.
Jack Ung (jack.uct1953@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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