Haunted Casino Stories - True Accounts from Genting Casino, Malaysia
Haunted Casino Story: Real-life Experiences from Malaysia's Genting Casino
Upon arriving in Malaysia, everything changes again. Basically, every time we reach a new place, the tour guide first teaches us about local customs and polite phrases. Isn't it about adapting to local customs? Regardless of whether you find them comfortable or not, you must respect their traditions.
In Malaysia, ladies are called "Pang Pang," gentlemen are called "Duan Duan." "Welcome" is pronounced as "Shang Ni Ma De Dang," "thank you" sounds like "Dai Ni Ma Kan Xi," "eating" is "La Xi," "greeting" is "A Ba Kan Bao," and the response is either "Ba Ku Zi" or "Ba Gu Zi." The meanings aren't such, but the pronunciation indeed sounds like that when spoken in Mandarin. We Chinese are clever, so these have all turned into insults. However, traveling is about relaxing, so everyone stays humorous. Because of the uniqueness, even before reaching Malaysia, these were already used as jokes by Thai and Singaporean guides. Thus, they were all well-remembered, unlike the initial shock of hearing terms like "Old Mom," "PP," or "Crystal Crystal."
The intelligence of the Chinese community, with Singapore as an example, is most strongly felt in Malaysia. Although Chinese make up only 25.3% of Malaysia (about six million people, Malays 66.1%, Indians 7.4%), the majority of the country's wealth is concentrated in the hands of the Chinese. The owner of Genting Casino, Lim Goh Tong, the owner of large real estate properties along the way, Lee Chiu Yong, and currently the owner of the Malaysian royal palace properties, Tan Cheng Lock, are all Chinese.
The history of the Chinese in Malaysia is also a history of blood and tears. Most were brought here as indentured laborers during British rule in the early 20th century. They were lured with promises of high pay, signed contracts, and tricked into coming from southern China to Southeast Asia. It took over a month at sea to reach here. If anyone was found sick, they were thrown into the sea because the British feared the spread of disease among the other laborers. After arriving in Malaysia, these laborers were sent to various places to mine tin, working more than ten hours a day in water, eventually leading to rheumatism. To earn money to return home, they worked tirelessly, but being far away from home, they eventually settled down here and had many children. The first-generation immigrants usually had seventeen or eighteen kids. The reason for having so many wasn't due to a lack of family planning, but rather for free labor. Later, after becoming business owners, they needed help. Through the diligence and effort of the first generation, the third generation now lives comfortably. Those with seven-digit wealth are basically Chinese descendants.
However, Indian indentured laborers who came around the same time remain impoverished to this day. Most were sent to rubber plantations and lived in movable stilt houses or bamboo houses. Their living conditions haven’t improved much even today. The reason for their poverty lies in their contentment with little. Like the local Malays, they stop working once they have enough to eat. Unlike the hardworking Chinese who work day and night without stopping, the Indians, after securing basic needs, continue to work, accumulating wealth generation after generation, leading to vastly different outcomes.
The most unforgettable part of the trip to Malaysia was undoubtedly Genting Casino. Not only because of its luxury and grandeur, but also because of the numerous stories surrounding it. Genting Casino was funded and built by Lim Goh Tong, located on a lush but uninhabited mountaintop dozens of kilometers from the city center. The name "Genting" comes from its high altitude, accessible only by cable car. The Genting Cable Car spans 3.4 kilometers, making it the world's longest. In 1965, when Lim Goh Tong spent 600,000 ringgit to buy this distant and uninhabited mountaintop, everyone called him "Crazy Lim." Lim Goh Tong was from Quanzhou, Fujian province, born into a small merchant family. As the eldest son, after his father passed away when he was a teenager, to make a living, he joined his uncle in Southeast Asia, working as a construction worker and then as a laborer at the docks. In 1941, when the Japanese invaded Malaysia, amidst the chaos, he realized money was unstable, so he bought a palm oil 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. His several life-changing decisions were guided by a fortune-teller at the docks, which he trusted deeply. He changed his name from Wu Tong to Wu Tong based on the fortune-teller’s advice, who also told him to form connections with temples, hence the constant renovations at Genting Casino. Elevators might be in one place this year and another next year.
After the casino was built, the situation wasn’t good. Lim Goh Tong decided to build a casino at Genting, knowing that Chinese love gambling. But Malaysia is an Islamic country where gambling is banned. He lobbied the president, arguing that building a casino would create substantial tax revenue and attract foreign tourists. He promised to share the casino's income with the government according to a certain ratio. Eventually, the government agreed to allow the construction of the casino. After over forty years of development, Genting Casino has become massive, with 6,118 rooms. Its luxury and grandeur surpass even Macau's Grand Lisboa Casino. It integrates dining, accommodation, and entertainment, allowing guests to enjoy all kinds of luxuries without stepping outside. Calling it a casino seems inappropriate; calling it a gambling city would be more fitting.
Being a casino, it appears calm on the surface, but behind the scenes, there are many bloody stories. Take our accommodation for example, the windows could only be opened eight centimeters wide, meaning only one hand could fit through before it couldn’t be pushed 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 can't they be opened? Originally, it was to prevent people from jumping off the building to commit suicide. In earlier days when Malaysia was poor, men went abroad to work illegally (i.e., flying to Japan on tourist visas and staying to work illegally), leaving their wives at home bored, so they came to the casino for entertainment. With unlimited free food and drinks available after paying just five ringgit for the cable car ride, these women would borrow high-interest loans after losing money gambling, hoping to recover their capital but ended up losing more, leading to despair and jumping off buildings to commit suicide. The seventh floor of Genting Casino is often locked and rarely open, mainly because too many deaths have occurred there, resulting in frequent ghost sightings.
Our tour guide recounted a personal experience. She said that one year, she led a group from Jiangsu Wutong, and she clearly remembered that one of the tourists was born on July 14th, stayed in room 7714, was only thirty-some years old, and in good health, but was mysteriously found dead the next morning. Another incident involved a tour guide staying alone in a room who woke up in the middle of the night to find a disheveled, blood-stained female ghost lying on the bed, scaring him into mental breakdown and running out screaming. Since then, if no one accompanies them, the tour guides prefer to wander in the casino hall all night rather than stay alone.
Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines and Indonesia were historically referred to collectively as Nanyang by our ancestors. There has been a long history of interaction with China. Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Seas, visiting Malacca five times. Hence, there is still Sanbao Hill, Sanbao Well, and Sanbao Temple here. Sanbao Hill is also known as Chinatown Hill, where many Chinese are buried. Interestingly, locals do not call cemeteries cemeteries but refer to them as clubs or nightclubs. On Sanbao Hill, one tomb mound is adjacent 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 to become Muslims and can marry four legal wives. Marriages are very simple. A dowry of 15 ringgit (approximately 37.5 RMB) and a gold ring are sufficient. Everything else, such as appliances, furniture, and banquet costs, are provided by the bride's side. Guests at the banquet need only give 5 ringgit as a gift. Malay girls get married at ages 16 or 17, and those over twenty are considered old maids. Men can remain fertile into their forties and fifties, largely due to their regular consumption of Malaysian ginseng tea, which is bitter but clears and strengthens the kidneys. Additionally, despite the hot climate, Malaysians consume curry powder (spicy) and hand-eaten rice daily without getting heaty. This is partly due to the efficacy of Malaysian ginseng and their habit of washing their bottoms with cold water. Therefore, when visiting Malay homes, each household's toilet has a shower hose because they use their left hand to wash their bottoms. Thus, when shaking hands with Malaysians, avoid using your left hand as it is considered impolite.
Malaysians, having multiple wives, and Islam prohibiting contraception, often have families of more than ten children. Therefore, although their economic income isn't terrible, they are very frugal. The government subsidizes each family monthly between 1200 to 1600 ringgit, education is free, and healthcare is mostly subsidized by the government, essentially making it free. Our tour guide gave birth to her first child a few years ago and spent only 17 ringgit (equivalent to 42.5 RMB) for three days and two nights in the hospital. In 2004, her second child was born with jaundice and spent four days in the hospital, costing only 28 ringgit (equivalent to 70 RMB). Not only do locals receive medical benefits, but foreign workers also receive significant subsidies from the government.
The mid-to-upper-income Malaysians earn over 2000 RMB monthly. The luxurious properties built by the Chinese-invested Green Wild Fairyland Group, measuring 150 square meters indoors without common areas (Malaysian housing doesn't include common areas and is calculated based on indoor area), cost only 162,800 ringgit for a four-bedroom, two-living-room apartment. For a similar-sized standard unit, it costs only 90,000 ringgit, equivalent to 225,000 RMB.
Malaysia has a population of 26 million and covers an area of 333,000 square kilometers, with 75% being undeveloped tropical rainforest. Malaysia was originally an agricultural country primarily cultivating palm oil. In 1985, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad began changing the status quo, encouraging people to move from rural areas to cities, teaching farmers handicrafts, and building free housing in the city for them to live in. Initially, they lived in designated areas, but after moving in, they started illegal constructions, leading to what locals call piggy zones or illegal zones. Over more than 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 hasn't recovered to this day. Therefore, the Malaysian people greatly admire Mahathir, affectionately calling him Dr. Mahathir (he was previously a doctor). Even though he served from 1981 and retired in 2002, people still see him as their prime minister, 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 "Ah Gong." Each of the 13 states has its own governor called Sultan, who selects the prime minister for a five-year term. The current prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is an anti-corruption crusader. Previously, people dared to give gifts and bribes when doing business, but now they don't dare anymore. The king, in his forties, originally lived in a palace deemed unlucky, so he moved to Chen Zhen Yong's residence after noticing its good feng shui. Chen Zhen Yong was buried in his own mansion after passing away, so the palace opens twice a year—once for the Malay New Year and once for Qingming Festival, allowing the Chen family to visit the graves. Though called a mansion, it looks simple like factory gates from the 1980s in China—just two cement pillars covered with Mayan stone, with two small doorways for pedestrians, even less impressive than factory gates. Compared to Bangkok's Grand Palace and Beijing's Tiananmen, it resembles a poor family's gate. Despite its simplicity, it is still a palace, and it's rumored that the guards' horses earn more than humans and use better shampoo.
The palace occupies seven hectares. During the Japanese occupation of Malaysia, which lasted three years and eight months, the British returned afterward. Originally, the king lived in his own palace, but two consecutive kings died within three years, prompting the third king to abandon it. Unable to find a suitable site for a new palace, he finally chose Chen Zhen Yong's feng shui location.
Speaking of Japanese aggression, it has become a national enmity for Southeast Asian countries. When we visited Kanchanaburi in Thailand, there were no Japanese tourists 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 great, and neither is Malaysia's, especially in the Malacca Strait region. Historically, it was a place frequented by pirates with a long tradition of theft. The Malacca Strait is located at the exit of the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, historically serving as a crucial traffic route and strategic location. After the Dutch occupied Malacca, they demolished local buildings and rebuilt them in their style. Now, the Dutch architecture we see is all red, but the tour guide says it wasn't originally like that. The red color came later when the Chinese painted the buildings red. After the Dutch occupied Malacca, they treated the local Chinese unfairly and frequently harmed them. Out of hatred, the Chinese chewed betel nuts and spat on the walls of Dutch houses, staining them with red marks. Unable to keep them clean, the Dutch painted the houses red, creating the current style.
Although Malaysia's land area is not large, it boasts some of the world's greatest achievements, including the tallest building, the Petronas Twin Towers, located in Malaysia. The twin towers serve as the office building for Malaysia's national petroleum company. The Kuala Lumpur TV Tower is also very tall, ranking fourth in the world. China's Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower ranks third in height worldwide.
As the vehicle traveled along the road, various buildings continuously appeared in sight. Whenever a towering building or new real estate project entered our view, the Chinese tour guide informed us that the owner was Chinese, which made us feel quite proud. The guide mentioned that not only are the Chinese in Malaysia wealthy, but in many other countries as well, such as the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia a few years ago, which were triggered by the excessive wealth of the Chinese. At that time, the financial crisis swept through Southeast Asia, causing severe inflation in Indonesia. One Malaysian ringgit could be exchanged for 1000 Indonesian rupiah (the current average monthly income of Indonesians does not exceed $20 USD). Ordinary Indonesians couldn't afford enough food, while the local Chinese businessmen lived comfortably, feeding their dogs better than the average Indonesian, sparking strong resentment and imbalance among the Indonesians. Initially, they merely stole food from the Chinese out of hunger, but it escalated into smashing Chinese shops, culminating in the shocking anti-Chinese riots of 1998, killing many overseas Chinese. Consequently, many Chinese fled Indonesia to seek refuge at that time. In Thailand, the tour guide also mentioned that initially, when the remnants of the Nationalist army were stationed there, they relied entirely on borrowing food from the local Thai residents. Initially, the Thais were generous, but later they stopped lending because some never repaid. Our compatriots are indeed intelligent, but if their intelligence turns into excessive cunning, selfishness, and narrow-mindedness, it becomes self-destructive behavior, akin to the Jews. Despite their intelligence and creation of immense wealth, their reputation isn't great. During World War II, Hitler carried out mass genocide against the Jews, which had its social background and origins. Therefore, truly smart people are those who reflect on themselves and learn from experience. Those who are broad-minded, kind, and magnanimous are truly smart individuals who benefit both themselves and others.
This trip to Malaysia allowed me to examine my own country and ethnicity from another perspective and angle, discovering things I hadn't noticed before. Writing this, I realize it may not be welcomed since it's not praise or glorification. However, I believe that to truly understand oneself, one must step out of home, stand in society, compare and contrast with others, and let those who've interacted with you evaluate you, thereby identifying your strengths and weaknesses. I'm grateful for this opportunity to recognize myself.
