by D. G. Lum
The boys arrived in Genting Highlands eight hours later and joyfully checked into one of the hotels. They joked with and poked fun at each other as they made their way up to their room. Outside the room, Ken reached into his pocket for the key and was about to open the door when Billy stepped in front of him. “Wait,” Billy exclaimed, giving the door two knocks and chanting softly at the same time.
Ken gave Billy a curious look, but he knew what Billy was up to, given his superstitious nature. It is said that one must knock first before entering a hotel room. Knocking is supposed to be a sign of respect for the ghosts, which might or might not reside in the room.
Han and Tony brushed Billy aside and dashed into the room. “Whoever enters first gets to choose the bed!” shouted Han, the first to step in. The rest followed.
To the boys’ surprise, the room was a mess. The pillows were on the floor and the beds were untidy. The television set was turned on. In the bathroom, someone had apparently forgotten to turn off the tap. Dirty towels were strewn all over the floor. Tony also found some red-colored stains on the carpet next to the window.
Han was very unhappy and called the housekeeper immediately; then, Ken made a complaint to the front office and a senior staff member apologized. Five minutes later, an old female cleaner came in and began to tidy up the room.
While she was tidying, the boys decided to leave their bags in the room and headed off to have a late breakfast. They came back an hour later to check on things. The room was as clean and neat as it could possibly be. Han and Tony wanted to rest for an hour or two, but Billy and Ken were eager to see if they could sneak into the casino.
“We didn’t come here to sleep! Come on!” said Billy. He seemed annoyed with the other two guys and tried to encourage them to go to the casino.
After some discussion, Ken and Billy decided to go ahead, while Han and Tony decided they would stay in the room. They would all meet for lunch later. “Good luck, guys!” Han called out as the two casino-mongers made their way out. Tony dozed off almost instantly on one of the beds.
Near the casino entrance, Ken busily looked out for the guards. There were none. He could feel the sweat on his palms. This was the first time he was doing this. Many things ran through his mind. “What if I am caught? Will they put me in jail, or call up my parents in Singapore? If I made it, what should I do inside?”
Just then, a crowd of men appeared from around the corner, about to enter the casino. Ken took a deep breath and walked briskly to join them from the back. Billy followed suit. The boys kept their heads down as the whole group made their way into the casino.
“Excuse me. Stop please!” said someone dressed like a security guard. He appeared out of nowhere and stopped Billy, along with another young man in the group. Ken managed to make it through. Then, he got worried, thinking, “Oh, no—Billy! His height might have given him away.” However, Ken was too afraid to look back, thinking that the guard might spot him too.
Ken had entered a whole world of adult entertainment. He was fascinated with the colourful slot machines and exciting table games. Very soon, he forgot about Billy and sat down to try his luck on a roulette game. By the time he finished playing, it was already 12:30 p.m. Time flew in the casino, especially when you were on a winning streak, he decided. With an additional S$500 in his pocket, Ken left and headed for the hotel room to meet up with the rest of the guys.
Back in the room, Han heard a whisper in his left ear: “Give me some room. Move a little.” He shifted a little to the right of the single bed and felt someone lying beside him. He was drowsy but managed to turn back to see who it was. It was Billy.
“Did you make it? Finished your game?” Han asked as he pulled the blanket over his shoulder. Billy did not answer.
“Wake up!” shouted Ken as he entered the room. Tony and Han appeared fast asleep, resting on separate beds. The curtains were drawn and the radio was turned on softly. Ken added, “Time for lunch and it’s my treat today.” He drew the curtain wide open and bright light filled the room. Tony and Han opened their eyes instantly.
Ken then went straight to the toilet. There to his surprise, he found his bag, soaked, in the bathtub that was partially filled with water. “Who did this?” he called out.
Tony made his way to the bathroom and saw the mess, while Han leaned his back against the headboard. He realized that Billy was not beside him, and asked, “Where’s Billy?”
Ken and Tony came out from the bathroom. Ken was surprised that Billy was not back in the hotel room and asked, “Didn’t he come back?”
Han replied that Billy did come back to the room and had slept beside him.
Ken then told the guys what had happened at the entrance of the casino and how the guard caught Billy. Tony acknowledged that it must have been stressful trying to get into the casino, and proposed, “Maybe he was angry that you did not come out to help him?”
Han agreed and added, “Yeah, maybe he messed up the bathroom because he was angry with you?”
Ken now regretted leaving Billy behind and outside the casino. The three boys decided to look for their friend. Just then, the phone rang. Han picked it up. It was Billy. He was in a restaurant and waiting for all of them. The boys quickly dressed and went down to meet him.
Billy sat there, smiling, as the guys approached the table. Ken apologized immediately. “It’s all right,” said Billy, explaining, “The guard just asked for my identity card and when I couldn’t produce it, he asked me to leave.”
Tony and Han kept poking fun at Billy during lunch, saying he was too short and boyish-looking. Han laughed at Billy. “Even if you are forty years old, the guards will still think you are a fifteen-year-old kid.”
The boys had a quick lunch. Then, Billy suggested they should try their luck again and see if they could all get into the casino. So, the four boys waited patiently outside one of the casino entrances for a chance to go in. Two ladies went in and then a man.
“I bet the ladies are younger than we are,” claimed Han, “They just look old!”
Ken agreed and said, smiling, “It helps when they are fat and ugly!”
Han and Billy laughed.
About five minutes later, a large group of Korean-looking men approached the entrance.
“This is our chance!” Ken exclaimed. He was the only one in the group who had ever stepped into a casino. Without delay, the boys joined the group as they walked into the casino. Billy tried to squeeze in between the men and it worked. All of the boys got through. They rejoiced. Now they could all boast to their classmates. They would be the only guys in class who had made it past the casino entrance in Genting.
The guys spent the next few hours in the casino. Only Ken and Han gambled. Tony thought winning in casinos was impossible and so did not participate. Billy was too timid. He did not want to lose any money. By 7:00 p.m., they decided to leave.
Back in the hotel room, the guys ordered room service for dinner, had their baths, and watched some television programs. “Let’s play some poker,” Han said immediately after consuming his last chicken nugget. The others agreed unanimously.
Ken and Han had prepared a deck of poker cards for the trip and brought along some other board games for additional entertainment. Han had thought these games would come in handy in case the guys could not make it into the casino.
“A little gambling is no harm,” thought Tony as Han distributed the cards to each person. The boy with the most scientific brain in the group believed that poker is a game of skill, requiring a sound understanding of mathematics and psychology. He thought he was a skilful poker player, and watched the PartyPoker television program on the Internet once in a while.
After three hours of playing, Tony watched in disappointment as his gaming chips were reduced to just a couple. The chips were not real money, but Tony was extremely competitive and did not like to be the loser in any case. Han grinned at Tony, “Expert in poker, ha?”
Feeling humiliated, Tony raised his voi
ce. “Get off my back, Han! I will never play with you again.” He turned his head away from Han and kept mute for a moment.
Ken and Billy tried to break the ice. “It’s just a harmless game,” said Ken.
“Yep, just a game,” added Billy.
Just as Tony raised his head to reply to Billy, the lights in the room blinked for a second.
“That’s weird,” said Han as the lights blinked again.
“Must be some power surge or something,” said Ken with confidence. “Let’s just continue and then go to bed soon. It’ll be more fun at the casino tomorrow.”
Ken, Han, and Billy picked up their cards. Tony, however, did not move a finger and was staring over Billy’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong with you, Tony? Let’s finish this round, okay? Don’t be petty,” begged Billy.
Yet Tony continued to stare over Billy’s shoulder. His face turned pale as he slowly raised his arm and pointed his finger at Billy. “There is a man right behind you!” Tony claimed, his voice trembling with horror.
Ken, Han, and Billy jumped out of their seats at once. They did not see anyone.
“Tony!” Han called out. “You and your stupid trick.”
Tony remained still. The image he saw had vanished. He was still shivering with fear but started to wonder if it was all his imagination. “I thought I saw something!” Tony claimed.
Tony was confused and unsure of what he saw, Ken thought, so he tried to be exceptionally understanding. “He must be tired. It was a long trip here.”
The guys decided to go to bed. Tony was to share a bed with Ken, while Han would bunk in with Billy. It was around 11:45 p.m.
It was a weird night. The guys had never slept with other boys in the same room, let alone on the same bed. It took a while for them to get to sleep. Han, in particular, was still angry with Tony. “Why must I share a small bed with him?” thought Han, almost dozing off to sleep.
Tony, on the other hand, was still trying to figure out what he thought he had seen. It had seemed so real, but yet it was impossible. Tony wondered with uncertainty, “Could it be a ghost or just my imagination?” He had always thought there was no such thing as a spirit or ghost.
On the other bed, Billy and Ken were soundly asleep. That night, Ken had a dream. He dreamed about a male ghost chasing after him and the pot of money that he had just won in the casino. He vividly dreamed that he was screaming loudly, “No…No…that’s my money. Go away!”
Then, he heard someone shout repeatedly, “Ken, wake up!”
Ken woke up, covered in cold sweat, in the middle of the night. It was 2:00 a.m., and he could hear loud noises from outside the room. It sounded like kids screaming and then a father shouting back. He wanted to check it out. Just as he stood up, the noises stopped. There was complete silence, except for the sound of Han snoring. Ken went back to bed again, trying not to disturb Billy. Billy was lying still on the bed with his back to Ken.
At around 4:00 a.m., Han too had a nightmare. He dreamed that a big man pushed him onto the floor and was about to stab him with a sharp knife. Then someone slapped him on his face (in the dream) and he woke up.
Han opened his eyes wide and stared at the ceiling. He tried to get up but could not. He felt something pressing on him. “Is this a dream?” he wondered tiredly. He tried again but just could not get up. He then tried to scream. Nothing seemed to come out from his mouth. His voice was muted somehow. Then, to his horror, he thought he saw a man floating near the ceiling. He struggled even more, closed his eyes tightly, and tried to convince himself that this was just a nightmare. Before he knew it, he had drifted back to sleep.
The next morning, Ken and Han shared their dreams with the others. They had not slept well. In fact, they felt more tired than they were before they had gone to sleep the previous night. The boys’ stories about their dreams made Tony recall what he had seen the night before. They compared the descriptions (the face, height, hair, and so forth) of the man they had seen. It sounded like it had to be the same man, or more appropriately, the same ghost! They stared at each other in disbelief and then decided to leave. They hurriedly packed their belongings.
“Now, do you want my amulet?” said Billy to Tony as they packed up to leave their hotel room.
“Yes, please!” replied Tony shamelessly.
One night in Genting was good enough for these boys. They intended to check out immediately and place their bags with the concierge. Their coach would leave for Singapore in the afternoon. None of the boys had any desire to enter the casino again. Ken, Han, and Tony were preoccupied with their encounters, while Billy simply wanted to get home, since he had now tasted the ‘excitement’ of being in a Genting casino. It was not that fun!
When they reached the front office reception area, Tony suddenly remembered that he had left his watch in the hotel bathroom. It was because they had left the room in a hurry. Tony was afraid to go back to the room by himself. Luckily, Billy and Ken agreed to go with him.
The guys knocked on the door before entering. Billy did a quick chant while Tony promised he would be quick. To their amazement, the room was much messier than it had been when they left. The pillows were all over the place and the television was turned on. Tony also found the bathroom dirty, covered in some mud, and the floor was wet. Without hesitation, Tony retrieved his watch and the three boys dashed out of the room immediately.
Tony and Ken did not dare speculate about what they saw. They did not even mention it to Han. While they had left the room earlier in a hurry, they knew they had not left it in the state they had just seen. Billy thought something must have messed up the room after they left—and it was not human.
After their lunch, the boys waited impatiently in the lobby for the coach. Once back on the coach, they were relieved. They looked forward to going home and seeing their parents. No one said a thing in the first few hours. It was only when the coach left Kuala Lumpur that the boys began to relive their short but unforgettable experience in Genting.
Several hours later, Ken, Han, Tony, and Billy arrived safely in Singapore. Before they parted, they agreed to meet again for dinner when school began next week. Ken watched the younger boys leave and then took a cab back to his home in Siglap (a suburb in Singapore).
Although exhausted, and still terrified by his ghostly encounter, Ken nevertheless felt fortunate that he had had an opportunity to see the interior of a casino. However, given a second chance, he felt that he would not have done it this way. He would have waited for his twenty-first birthday and walked into the casino like a man.
His mother opened the door and welcomed him home. Ken went straight to his bed and fell asleep, only rising for the evening meal.
During dinner that night, his parents sat together with Ken and his younger brother. They made Ken tell them about his adventure in Genting: they were a close-knit family. Ken was just beginning to recount his Genting trip to his family when his mum stopped him.
“Billy? Billy Kim?” she said with surprise. Ken’s mum and Mrs Kim were good friends.
“Yes, Mum. What’s wrong?” Ken replied.
“Are you joking?” Mum asked again. “Don’t you remember? Billy died from a sudden heart attack during the start of the school holiday. He was jogging in a stadium and collapsed on the track. We went to his funeral, remember?”
Ken was startled. He suddenly remembered Billy and his death. He felt puzzled and thought maybe he was still in a dream. Mum was absolutely right. Billy had died a few weeks ago. He had always wanted to go to Genting with the other boys and see the casino.
Ken reached for his pocket and found the amulet there. He had many unanswered questions. Did Billy really join them in Genting? Was it all a dream? Did Billy protect them against the hotel ghost in Genting? Or was he the ghost that haunted them on their trip?
Ken looked out of his bedroom window into the distant city lights. He closed his eyes and said a prayer. He prayed for Billy and hoped his friend would rest in peace.<
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Chapter 10: A Family of Ghosts in Macao
Macao is a special administrative region of China; it consists of the Macao Peninsula, Taipa Island, Coloane Island, and the reclaimed land between Coloane and Taipa (commonly known as Cotai). Although it is tiny (less than 30 square kilometers), Macao has more than thirty casinos, at least one casino for every square kilometer of land. In 2010, Macao’s gross casino gambling revenue was close to US$24 billion, which makes it the biggest casino gambling market in the world, far bigger than Las Vegas.
There are now more than 550,000 people, most of them Chinese, residing in Macao. Surveys in 2003 and 2007 found more than 20% of Macao’s adult population gambled in its casino at least once a year, and around 6% of the population encountered some sort of gambling problems each year. Generally, a person is defined as a problem gambler if he or she continues to gamble despite causing harm to themselves and/or the people around them. Previous studies found that every problem gambler can potentially affect three to fourteen other people. Based on this figure, problem gambling potentially affects at least 20% of Macao’s population.
Now and then, news of people becoming addicted to gambling or having gambling-related problems would surface in Macao. One story stood out from the others. This is a ghost story told to me by a Macanese friend, who lived in an apartment block located on the west side of Taipa Island.
The story takes place some time before the gambling liberalization of 2002. At that time, the western end of Taipa Island had a number of uncompleted blocks of apartments, while Macao was still a relatively undiscovered city. There was only one casino operator in Macao: Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macao, SA, or STDM for short. Dr. Stanley Ho, the Asian gambling tycoon and billionaire, and his family owned STDM at that time and still do today. The company held a monopoly over casino gambling licenses for forty years, until 2002.
A family with two young kids lived on the Macao Peninsula. Both parents loved to gamble and to try their luck in the local casinos. What started out as a leisure activity for them had become more of an obsession. The couple would go to casinos to gamble frequently. They would leave their kids at home, ensuring there were enough food and drinks for them. Once, one of their family members warned them that it was unsafe to leave their young kids at home alone. The concerned relative told the parents that if an accident happened, there would be no adult around to help the kids.