Haunted Casino Story: A True Account of My Experience at Genting Casino in Malaysia
As soon as we arrived in Malaysia, everything changed again. Basically, every time we arrive at a new place, the tour guide first teaches us about local customs and polite phrases. Isn't it said that when in Rome, do as the Romans do? Whether you find the customs agreeable or not, you have to respect them.
In Malaysia, ladies are called "Pang Pang" and gentlemen "Duan Duan." The phrase for "welcome" is "Shang Ni Ma De Dang," "thank you" is "Dai Ni Ma Kan Xi," "eating" is "La Xi," "greeting" is "A Ba Kan Bao," and the response is "Ba Ku Zi." The meanings aren't like this, but the pronunciation certainly is. Because they sound peculiar when pronounced in Chinese, and because Chinese people are very clever, these phrases have all turned into insults. However, traveling is about relaxing, so everyone was quite humorous about it. Due to their peculiarity, before we even arrived in Malaysia, these phrases had already been joked about multiple times by the Thai and Singaporean guides, so everyone had already memorized them well, unlike the initial shock of hearing "Lao Mama," "PP," or "Shui Jing Jing."
The intelligence of the Chinese is exemplified by Singapore, but what I felt most deeply was in Malaysia. In Malaysia, although the Chinese only account for 25.3% of the population (about six million, Malays make up 66.1%, and Indians 7.4%), the vast majority of the country's wealth is concentrated in the hands of the Chinese. The owner of Genting Casino where we went, Lim Goh Tong, the owner of large tracts of land along the way, Lee Chih Yong, and the current owner of the Malaysian palace property, Tan Chin Tung, are all Chinese.
The history of the Chinese in Malaysia is, in a sense, a history of blood and tears. Most were sold as indentured laborers to come here during the early 20th century when the British ruled here. They lured large numbers of Chinese laborers from southern China with promises of high pay and contracts, deceiving them to come to Nanyang. After over a month at sea, they finally reached Nanyang. During the journey, anyone found sick was thrown into the sea because they feared infection spreading to other laborers. Once in Malaysia, these laborers were sent to various places to mine tin. They spent more than ten hours a day submerged in water, which eventually led to rheumatism. To earn money to return home, they worked tirelessly. But being adrift abroad, they had no choice but to settle down here and started families, producing many children. First-generation immigrants generally had seventeen or eighteen children. The reason for having so many wasn't due to lack of family planning, but rather to utilize free labor. Later, they became bosses themselves and started businesses, needing help. Through the diligence and efforts of the first generation of Chinese, the third generation now lives comfortably. Those with assets in the seven-figure range are basically all Chinese.
However, Indian immigrants who came around the same time, also as indentured laborers, remain impoverished to this day. This is because after arriving in Malaysia, most were sent to palm oil plantations to process rubber. So, they lived in mobile stilt houses and bamboo houses. Even today, their living conditions haven't improved. The reason for their poverty is that, like the local Malays, they are easily satisfied. If they have enough to eat, they stop working. Unlike the Chinese who work tirelessly day and night, earning enough for basic needs isn't enough for them—they continue to work. Over generations, this has resulted in vastly different appearances.
The most unforgettable part of our trip to Malaysia was undoubtedly Genting Casino. It wasn't just because of its luxury and extravagance, but because there were so many stories there. Genting Casino was funded and built by the Chinese Lim Goh Tong. Located on a lush mountain top dozens of kilometers away from the city center, Genting is named such because of its high altitude; one must take a cable car to get there. The Genting Cable Car is 3.4 kilometers long, making it the longest cable car in the world. When Lim Goh Tong bought this remote and uninhabited mountaintop in 1965 for 600,000 Ringgit, people called him "Crazy Lim." Lim Goh Tong was from Quanzhou, Fujian Province, born into a small merchant family. As the eldest son, when his father passed away in his teens, to survive, he sought refuge with his uncle in Nanyang. After coming to Nanyang, he worked as a construction worker and also did manual labor at the docks. In 1941, when the Japanese invaded Malaysia, amidst the chaos, he realized money was unstable, so he bought a palm plantation. Three years later, when the Japanese left and the British returned, he sold the plantation to the British, earning his first pot of gold. Several turning points in his life were guided by a fortune-teller at the dock, so he believed in this fortune-teller greatly. He changed his name from Wu Tong to Wu Tong based on the fortune-teller’s advice. The fortune-teller told him to form an affinity with Buddhism, hence the Genting Casino is always under renovation; elevators may be in one place this year and another next year.
After Genting was built, the situation wasn't good, so Lim Goh Tong decided to build a casino at Genting. Being Chinese, he knew the Chinese liked gambling. However, Malaysia is an Islamic country where gambling is prohibited. He persuaded the president, saying building a casino would generate substantial tax revenue and attract foreign tourists. He promised to share the casino's income with the government according to a set ratio, and the government finally agreed to let him build the casino. After more than forty years of construction, Genting Casino has become massive, with 6,118 rooms. Its luxury and grandeur are unmatched, even by Macau's Grand Lisboa Casino. It integrates dining, accommodation, and entertainment, allowing people to enjoy all kinds of splendor without leaving the premises. It might be more appropriate to call it a gambling city rather than just a casino.
Because it's a casino, though it appears calm on the surface, there are actually many bloody stories happening behind the scenes. Take the place where we stayed, for example. The windows in the rooms can only be opened up to eight centimeters wide, meaning you can only stick out one hand before it won't open further. Logically, since the house is on top of a high mountain, if the windows could be opened, it would be cool without air conditioning. But why aren't they allowed to be opened? Originally, it was to prevent people from jumping off the building to commit suicide. In earlier years when Malaysia was poor, men would go outside to jump on planes (i.e., fly to Japan on tourist visas and then stay illegally to work and support their families), leaving their wives idle at home. These women would come to the casino for entertainment. For five Ringgit, they could take the cable car, and the casino provided all sorts of food and drinks for free. When these women gambled and lost, they would borrow high-interest loans, hoping to recover their capital, but ended up losing more and more. Desperate, some jumped off the building to commit suicide. The seventh floor of Genting Casino is locked and rarely opened, and tour guides don't stay alone in one room. The main reason is that too many people have died there, and ghosts are often reported.
Our tour guide recounted an experience she once had. She said that one year, she led a group from Jiangsu Wutong. She remembered clearly that one of the tourists was born on July 14th and happened to stay in room 7714. He was only in his thirties, in good health, but the next morning, he was found dead for no apparent reason. Another incident involved a tour guide staying alone in a room at night. In the middle of the night, he woke up to find a ghostly woman lying on the bed, her hair disheveled and face covered in blood. Terrified, he suffered a mental breakdown and ran screaming. Since then, if no one accompanied them, the tour guides would rather wander around the casino hall all night than stay alone.
Malaysia, along with Singapore and the Philippines, Indonesia, was historically referred to as Nanyang by our ancestors. There has been a long history of exchanges with China. Admiral Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Seas, visiting Malacca five times. Therefore, there is still San Bao Hill, San Bao Well, and San Bao Temple here. San Bao Hill is also called China Hill, where many Chinese are buried. Interestingly, locals don't refer to cemeteries as such but call them clubs or nightclubs. On San Bao Hill, one tomb mound is next to another, but across a small road lies the Muslim cemetery, presenting a very different landscape.
Malaysia is an Islamic country. Men need only undergo circumcision and become Muslims to marry up to four legal wives. Moreover, getting married is very simple—just 15 Ringgit (approximately RMB 37.5) as a dowry, buy a gold ring, and that's it. Other things like appliances, furniture, and banquets are provided or prepared by the bride's side. And those attending the banquet only need to give five Ringgit. Malay girls marry at 16 or 17 years old, becoming old maids if they surpass twenty. Men, however, can still reproduce in their forties and fifties. This is because they frequently drink Malay ginseng tea, which is bitter but clears and replenishes the kidneys. Additionally, despite the hot climate in Malaysia, they eat curry powder (spicy) and hand-grab rice daily without getting heaty. This is partly due to the benefits of Malay ginseng and partly because they frequently wash their bottoms with cold water. Therefore, when visiting Malay homes, each toilet has a pipe for showering. Since Malays use their left hand to wash their bottoms, when shaking hands with Malays, never use your left hand—it's considered impolite.
Malays marry multiple wives, but Islam doesn't allow contraception, so each family usually has over a dozen children. Therefore, despite their economic income not being too bad, they are very thrifty. The government subsidizes each household with 1200-1600 Ringgit monthly, education is free, and healthcare is subsidized by the government, essentially making it free as well. Our tour guide gave birth to her first child a few years ago and stayed in the hospital for three days and two nights, costing only 17 Ringgit, equivalent to RMB 42.5. In 2004, her second child required treatment for jaundice and stayed in the hospital for four days, costing only 28 Ringgit, equivalent to RMB 70. Not only do locals receive medical security, but foreign workers are also given significant discounts and subsidies by the government.
The middle to upper-income earners in Malaysia have a monthly income of over 2,000 Ringgit. However, the properties built by the Green Wild Group invested by the Chinese businessman Lee Chih Yong are luxurious. A 150-square-meter apartment without common areas (houses in Malaysia have no common areas and are calculated by indoor area) with four bedrooms and two living rooms costs only 162,800 Ringgit. Similar-sized ordinary housing costs only 90,000 Ringgit, equivalent to RMB 225,000.
Malaysia has a population of 26 million and covers an area of 333,000 square kilometers, with 75% being undeveloped tropical rainforest. Originally an agricultural country primarily cultivating palms, in 1985, Prime Minister Mahathir began transforming the country, encouraging people to move from rural areas to cities, teaching farmers crafts, and building free houses in the cities for them to live in. However, after moving in, they engaged in unauthorized construction, leading locals to nickname these areas "piglet zones" or "illegal zones." After over a decade, Prime Minister Mahathir transformed Malaysia from an agricultural country into a developing country. Before the 1997 financial crisis, 1 US dollar could exchange for 2.5 Ringgit. After the financial crisis, it took Malaysia three years to restore the value of the Ringgit, whereas Indonesia never recovered. Thus, the Malaysian people highly admire Mahathir, affectionately calling him "Dr. Mahathir" (he used to be a doctor). Although he served from 1981 and retired in 2002, people still regard him as their prime minister—people like him who benefit the public without seeking personal gain are forever loved by the people, much like Thailand's King Rama V, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, and China's Sun Yat-sen.
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy where the head of state is called "Grandfather." Each of the 13 states has its own governor, known as "Sultan," who selects the prime minister for a five-year term. The new prime minister is Abdullah Badawi, an anti-corruption crusader. Previously, people dared to bribe when conducting business, but now they dare not.
The king is in his forties this year. His original palace was deemed unlucky, so he chose the auspicious location of Chen Zhen Yong's residence for relocation. After Chen Zhen Yong passed away, he was buried in his own estate, so the palace opens to the public twice a year—once during the Malay New Year and once during Qingming Festival for Chen's family to pay respects. What seems like a mansion is actually very simple, resembling the factory gates in China during the 1980s—just two cement pillars decorated with Maya stone, with two small doorways for pedestrians. It's even less impressive than factory gates, appearing more like a poor household's entrance compared to Bangkok's Grand Palace and Beijing's Tiananmen Gate. Despite its simplicity, it's still a palace. It's rumored that the horses guarding the gate earn more than people, using better shampoo for washing their fur than what regular people use.
The palace covers seven hectares. During Japan's occupation of Malaysia, which lasted three years and eight months, the British returned after the Japanese left. Originally, the king resided in his own palace, but the first two kings died within three years, so the third one refused to stay there. Unable to select a suitable palace location, he eventually chose Chen Zhen Yong's auspicious site.
Speaking of Japan's aggression, it has become a national grudge for Southeast Asian countries. When we visited the Kwai River in Thailand, there wasn't a single Japanese person there because the locals threw eggs and stones at any Japanese they saw. From the 1980s until now, no Japanese tour groups have been received there.
Thailand's security situation isn't ideal, nor is Malaysia's, especially in the Malacca Strait area. Historically, it was a pirate-infested region with a long tradition of theft. The Malacca Strait is located at the exit of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, historically a vital traffic route and a contested area. After the Dutch occupied Malacca, they demolished the local buildings and rebuilt them in their style. The Dutch architecture we see now is all vermilion red, but the guide said it wasn't originally like this—the red color was painted later by the Chinese. After the Dutch occupied Malacca, they treated the local Chinese unfairly, often harming them. Out of hatred, the Chinese chewed betel nuts and spat saliva onto the walls of Dutch houses, staining them with red marks. Unable to deal with it, the Dutch painted the houses red, creating the current style.
Despite its small land area, Malaysia boasts several world records, including the tallest building in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which serves as the office building for the Malaysian National Petroleum Corporation. The Kuala Lumpur TV Tower is also very tall, ranked fourth in the world. Shanghai's Oriental Pearl TV Tower ranks third globally.
On the road, buildings kept entering our view. Whenever tall buildings or new developments came into sight, the Chinese tour guide would tell us that the boss was Chinese, making us quite proud. According to the guide, not only are Malaysians wealthy, but many other countries are similar. For instance, the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia a few years ago were caused by the excessive wealth of the Chinese. At the time, the financial crisis swept through Southeast Asia, causing severe inflation in Indonesia, with 1 Ringgit exchanging for 1000 Indonesian Rupiah (the average monthly income in Indonesia doesn't exceed $20 USD). Ordinary Indonesians couldn't afford enough food, while local Chinese businessmen lived comfortably, with their dogs eating better than ordinary Indonesians. This sparked strong dissatisfaction and imbalance among Indonesians. Initially, they simply stole food from the Chinese, but it escalated to smashing Chinese shops and ultimately led to the shocking anti-Chinese riots in 1998, resulting in many Chinese deaths. Consequently, many Chinese couldn't stay in Indonesia and fled for refuge. In Thailand, the guide mentioned that initially, the remnants of the army there relied entirely on borrowing food from local Thai residents. Initially, the Thais were generous, but later they stopped lending because some borrowed without returning. Our compatriots are indeed clever, but if cleverness turns into shrewdness and selfishness, narrow-mindedness, it becomes self-destructive—like the Jews, who are smart and create great wealth but have a poor reputation. During World War II, Hitler conducted mass genocide against Jews, which had its social background and origins. Therefore, truly intelligent people are those who reflect and learn from experience. Those with broad minds, kindness, and generosity are truly intelligent people who benefit both themselves and others.
This trip to Malaysia allowed me to reflect on my own country and ethnicity from another perspective, discovering things I hadn't noticed before. Writing this down, though it may not be popular because it isn't praise or glorification, I believe that to truly understand oneself, one must step outside their home, stand in society, compare and contrast with others, and let those who interact with you evaluate you to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. I'm grateful for this opportunity to recognize myself.