SARAWAKI: Jakar, in the normally quiet outskirts of this town, has seen a drastic change to its pace of late, all thanks to a monkey.
Thousands of people – some from as far as Singapore – have been converging here after news went viral that many have struck it rich from 4-D numbers.
And it is all because of claims that a monkey called Anong has brought them luck.
About an hour’s drive from Sibu, the place is especially packed with people from Sarikei, Sibu, Bintangor, Kanowit and Julau on weekends and during 4-D draw days.
A Sarikei resident who gave his name only as Lau said that during peak hours, there would be as many as 1,000 people at a time squeezing their way to get close to the monkey.
“The monkey was in fact spotted by passers-by some months ago walking along the road shoulder. People stopped by to give it food to eat. They tried their luck at 4-D betting after the monkey climbed onto the roof of their car and most of them became instantly rich,” claimed Lau.
He said a woman in Sarikei even struck a 6D number recently when she bet on the number, 505059.
But it was only about two weeks ago – after news went viral on social media – that people started coming in droves to see the monkey.
A resident from Sibu, Jelita Kempa, 43, rushed to the place with her son Max Smith and a daughter after hearing the story from her boss.
Max, however, had his tablet snatched by Anong, which tore up its cover using its mouth.
“I will buy the tablet number (serial number) this weekend to try my luck. Who knows, I might be among those lucky punters,” she said.
Businessman Wong Kai Ping feared that with all the publicity on social media, “somebody might kidnap the monkey”.