Damn 40

For some reasons the figure 4 (and its associated 40, 4K and 40K) seems to be popular with some Malays, wakakaka.

However, the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese avoid it like the plague as it is the homonym for 'death' in their languages (shi, si).

I recall my kiddie days when my mum warned me not to utter that word during Chinese New Year (pantang) especially when we played p'a kau (cards).

In the game of 21, getting cards totally 22 or more means lu si liao lah, with that dreaded word slipping in. So how mum, I asked? She instructed us to use the colloquial kampung word kian wakakaka. Kian means mati juga. And by the by, we were allowed to use mati word if we wish, wakakaka.

Other Chinese euphemisms for 'dead' which could be used without violating the Chinese New Year taboo were k'iao hare (dead shrimp), koo-dare (probably a patois version of k'iao hare), maatong k'iao (something dead, I'm lost here, can anyone from Penang help?) and paangchet (punctured, wakakaka).

The Japanese have been as innovative as my mum when counting - ichi (1), ni (2), san (3) - all derived from Chinese lingo, and thus so far so good - but when it comes to shi (4, also the dreaded homonym for 'death') they cleverly switch over to bumiputera (indigenous Japanese) language and have 'yon' (4) after the ichi, ni, san ... my late mum would have admired their lexical 'cornering' skills, wakakaka. 

Maybe the Malays like 4 because in Islam 4 can auspiciously represent the 4 Archangels, 4 Rasidun (rightly guided caliphs), 4 sacred Islamic months, 4 witnesses (as required in cases like alleged bonking outside the authorized marital ambit) etc etc etc.

Musa pbuh (Moses) spent 40 days on Mt Sinai before he came down with the ten commandments. And Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) was 40 years old when he received the first revelation from the Archangel Jibril (Gabriel).

I wonder whether the Islamic version of Noah has rain pouring down on Earth for 40 days and 40 nights as per the Judeo-Christian version?

Scholars reckoned the Judeans adopted either the Greek myth of Deucalion or the Mesopotamian Utnapishtim, both being flood legends with ark and all which preceded the biblical account by a few thousand years. It's more likely the latter when the Judeans were slaves in Babylon and picked up that myth and incorporated it into their own biblical tales, as they did for the Moses story of being picked up from the river.

Anyway, according to Wikipedia, the planet Venus forms a pentagram in the night sky every eight years with it returning to its original point every 40 years with a 40 day regression (some scholars believe that this ancient information was the basis for the number 40 becoming sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims).

In the first Bersih rally (in days before it was subsequently hijacked) the figures for the rally crowd being bandied around was 4K by the mainstream media and 40K by non-mainstream media, wakakaka.

Years back in Kelantan someone wakakaka claimed that 40,000 Thais would be coming down across the border to vote for BN. Years later, this 40,000 became Banglas, wakakaka - same bloke same 40K, thus must be his fave number. Maybe there'll be 40K of Taiwanese or Mainlanders this time, wakakaka, hopefully the China doll type, wakakaka again.

But more relevant today, that damn 40 is back again, to wit, the 40% registered Chinese voters in the Kajang state constituency (N25).

Unfortunately for the Chinese, once again they are thrust (unwillingly) into the political limelight as the 40% registered Chinese voters in Kajang seem to be the crucial factor in the coming by-election, making them the king-maker, a political role they don't wish to own as one old man will be bloody pissed off, 40 times over, wakakaka.

However this time someone's fave number wakakaka will favour Anwar Ibrahim, because those 40% Kajang Chinese voters (almost all) will, as I said yesterday, spit out anyone from BN especially a MCA candidate.

According to political analysts, this probably has been the principal reason that Anwar or his lil' Napoleons had the axe put on Lee Chin Cheh's neck so that Mr Manmanlai can be assured of almost all of the 40% Chinese support in Kajang; and then all he needs will be just another 10 to (for added safety) 20% from the remaining pool of 48% Malay voters and 10% Indian voters. Kow tim!

This probably has been ALSO the principal reason that the EC has, most unusually, dragged out the election and nomination date to its max permissible time limit, to give BN plenty of time to scratch their collective head for a suitable by-election candidate.

The EC's explanation for their unusual heels dragging in determining the by-election schedule has earned for them a scornful sneer from Ambiga Sreenevasan for its 100% (not 40% wakakaka) pure grade bull.

Nalla or other BN Indians can forget about contesting there. Sorry, it's not your Indian-ness but your BN-ness lah, wakakaka.

Similarly, an UMNO candidate will find it hard to win support from the 40% Chinese voters, not because he/she is a Malay but because he/she is UMNO, for the Chinese are mighty pissed off with UMNO's (including Dr Mahathir's, Utusan's, Perkasa's, Ali Rustam's, etc) demonization, condemnation and vilification of them since May 2013.

And MCA? Thus, can you now see why they have been so desperate for a reasonably popular Chinese candidate like Lee Chong Wei?

Mind you, MCA won more than 12K in the last election. But has this base support of 12K been chipped away by the UMNO's demonization of Chinese since May 2013? ... which reminds me of an old African saying "Don't f**k around with Mother Crocodile until you have crossed the river", wakakaka.

Or, is the 12K MCA's fixed deposit? wakakaka.