Superstitions of Malaysian Chinese

Superstitions of Malaysian Chinese refers to traditional superstitious beliefs of Malaysian Chinese.

Examples of superstitions

* Car number plates of 8888, 888, 88, 8, 168, 668 are a sign of good fortune (The Cantonese pronunciation for 8 is "patt" which sounds similar to "fatt" which means prosperity.
* Numbers 4444, 444, 44, 4 and 9413 are extremely bad. (Some buildings in Malaysia replaced '4th Floor' to 3A, and house address 44 and 4 to 43A and 3A.)
* The number "4" is actually unlucky and it means death.
* Red and yellow are the color of good fortune accepted by all.
* Black is a color of bad luck.
* Pineapple is a sign of good fortune.

‘Sacred’ stone attraction

On September 2008, large crowds of people, many of whom are four digit punters, have been flocking to an open area at the Bukit Minyak Industrial area near Bukit Mertajam, seeking good luck from a “sacred” granite stone. Nearby residents claimed the stone was “worshipped” for several years before it was abandoned at the open area where it is found now. The number of people visiting the area increased as word started to spread. Some came from as far as Kuala Lumpur. Locals residents have erected temporary stalls selling praying paraphernalia, flowers, fruits and “holy water” to bath the stone. Ah Poh, 60, from Chai Leng Park near Butterworth said he saw four numbers on the stone when he washed it with water he bought at the stall for RM1. B. Kala, 38, a mother of three children said she won RM1,400 in Wednesday’s four-digit draw. [http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/22/nation/2086286&sec=nation]

Way of the chopsticks

Jane F. Ragavan wrote that many Asian superstitions revolve around chopsticks. An uneven pair of chopsticks, for example, will miss a boat or plane, while dropping chopsticks will bring bad luck, as will laying them across each other. The Chinese have a marriage-related tale: the position in which a girl holds her chopsticks can show how far she will have to travel to find her betrothed. If chopsticks are held at the top, the girl’s future husband will live far away, but if she holds them very close to the bottom, the girl may marry the boy next door. She may have messy fingers at every meal because they’re so close to the food, but if the neighbour boy doesn’t mind, then who are we to stand in the way of destiny? [http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/8/25/lifeliving/1540575&sec=lifeliving]

ee also

* Malaysian Chinese Gods
* Malaysian Chinese
* Chinese religion
* Ancestor worship
* Superstition (disambiguation)
* Fengshui
* Chinese folk religion
* Chinese mythology
* Numbers in Chinese culture
* List of deities

External links

* [http://www.eloka.com/main/display.asp?pID=708 Don't Sit On This Book - A Collection of Chinese Taboos by Philip Cheong]