God of Wealth mascot allegedly sells 4-D numbers to seniors in Boon Keng, sparks concerns
A person allegedly selling 4-D lottery numbers to residents in Boon Keng while dressed as the God of Wealth has raised concerns over whether seniors were being taken advantage of.
Instagram user @renaecjc uploaded a series of pictures on Feb 19, showing an individual wearing a God of Wealth costume and interacting with people at Bendemeer Market & Food Centre. The images show the mascot holding a golden ingot in one arm and red packets in the other.
"Thought it was organised by some company, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like just a random guy who happened to rent/buy a cai shen ye costume," the caption from one of the posts read.
She then questioned whether the ploy was a scam aimed at taking advantage of seniors or a scheme to earn extra money.
'Lucky numbers' written on scraps of paper sold for $2
Renaecjc, whose real name is Renae Cheng, told Stomp that she saw the mascot distributing pieces of scrap paper with numbers for $2 each at the hawker centre around lunchtime.
The plastic ingot purportedly held:
- Paper scraps containing 4-D numbers
- The mascot's earnings
- A piece of paper reading "LUCKY NUMBER $2" in English
- A piece of paper reading "4-D numbers" in Chinese.
Ms Cheng recalled the mascot piling up so many $2 notes that one accidentally fell, only for a passer-by to pick it up and return it.
Person wearing costume looked sweaty 20 minutes later
About 20 minutes later, Ms Cheng saw the mascot near a row of neighbourhood shops, surrounded by a small crowd of curious onlookers.
Ms Cheng noted that the person inside the costume was already "all sweaty".
She then saw the mascot handing a piece of paper with numbers to an uncle, without charging him.
"The uncle looked confused but accepted the paper. Maybe he was tired by then and wanted to call it a day," said Ms Cheng.
Stomp has reached out to Jalan Besar Town Council for comment.
See something interesting? Contribute your story to us.
