Don't ask this fortune-teller for 4-D numbers.
She says crisply: "If I can predict what the winning numbers are, I should just go and bet my whole life savings, right?
"Why would I need to be here (telling fortunes) at all?"
"I hate it when customers come in and say, 'I have a mountain of debts, please help me out and turn me rich'."
And by the way, she takes exception to the English term for her occupation.
"We read the lot in people's lives. Not 'fortune' as in 'luck', which many people seem to think," says Madam Cheong LaiKit.
Madam Cheong, who is in her 60s, holds court in a small space in a shop unit at
Her tools of the trade are two thick Chinese almanacs, a deck of poker cards (it's an incomplete set as she does not use the diamonds) and three copper coins in an empty turtle shell.
And no, she does not breed or worship a "gwee kia" (literally means ghost child) in a bottle or urn.
Madam Cheong snorts loudly and says: "Ah girl! You have either been watching too many movies or going to the unorthodox fortune-tellers."
She prefers not to elaborate - "every one of us has our own practices", but adds: "You dice with such stuff and you will 'ze shou' (shorten your life in Mandarin)."
Customers can ask about anything - from one's career path to buying property.
She begins her readings with the poker cards - each shuffle and reading costs $10.
The session ends when you have no other questions.
She sees about seven to eight customers a day except on her rest day on Wednesdays.
There are many methods for reading people's fortune, including tarot cards, numerology and palmistry.
Madam Cheong uses the popular Zi Wei Dou Shu analysis based on a person's "ba zi".
She explains: "Zi wei is the purple star, the King of Stars. It's known as the North Star in the West.
"Dou shu simply means calculation."
Ba zi are the eight characters derived from one's hour, day, month and year of birth.
She says: "There is no fixed or best method. It just depends on what you have learnt."
When she begins the reading, Madam Cheong says she also observes the customer's body language and little actions that betray their emotions or thoughts.
She says: "The way they respond will also give me a heads up on whether they believe me."
Madam Cheong picked up the trade from her grandfather.
He was a fortune-teller in
Madam Cheong recalls: "I have always been fascinated by how people used to approach him for anything and everything.
"Some neighbours even asked him to locate missing chickens
or dogs!"
She used to help her grandfather set up his "office" - a foldable table and six chairs.
Her role included "taking appointments and giving out queue numbers".
Much like a secretary, she jokes.
Madam Cheong confesses that she chalked up misses among the hits when she first starting reading fortunes.
She says: "I can't claim to be 100 per cent accurate. There were a few occasions when my predictions were off.
"Sometimes, it can also happen when customers give me the wrong details. A mistake in the minute of your birth time can make a big difference."
Honing one's skills is very important. She says: "You need to keep reading up and studying the charts. Every two years, I take a three-month sabbatical and go off somewhere to meditate."
It's also "extremely important" to remain indifferent to critical comments.
"I never try to defend myself or the trade because no matter how right you are, you end up looking bad," she says.
"Anyway, as the saying goes, the customer is always right."
Madam Cheong says she has come across her "fair share of insults".
"Those who don't believe in us say we are conmen. They say that we have no sense of shame or guilt and that we cheat people."
She says: "Well, in every trade, there are black sheep. I just have to make sure I'm above board."
But she admits too that there have been instances when she has "no choice but to tell a white lie".
Says Madam Cheong: "This is especially when things are getting very rough for some customers, and if you can read that it's only going to get worse, it's not going to help the person if you tell the truth.
"Everyone's fate is predestined. You cannot really change it dramatically. It's more a case of accepting the bad and trying to live life easier under the circumstances."
Business is usually brisk during Chinese New Year and "whenever there is a downturn in the economy".
Most fortune-tellers don't read their own lot, but Madam Cheong says she couldn't resist the urge.
"Like when I was 25 and my parents kept bugging me to settle down.
"I checked and found out that I was destined to lead a lonely life," she says.
Secrets of the trade
1 If you can tell your customer something that he or she does not usually share with people, like family matters or personal issues, then they will know that you're not a fraud.
2 One thing you should never do is to predict death.
The person dies, you are whacked. The person lives, you are a quack.
3 Make it a point to remind customers who ask if they will land the contract or get that job that they still have to work for it.
Don't be stupid - if they sit and do nothing, don't expect the chance to drop from the sky.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
"Some neighbours even asked him to locate missing chickens
or dogs!"
She used to help her grandfather set up his "office" - a foldable table and six chairs.
Her role included "taking appointments and giving out queue numbers".
Much like a secretary, she jokes.
Madam Cheong confesses that she chalked up misses among the hits when she first starting reading fortunes.
She says: "I can't claim to be 100 per cent accurate. There were a few occasions when my predictions were off.
"Sometimes, it can also happen when customers give me the wrong details. A mistake in the minute of your birth time can make a big difference."
Honing one's skills is very important. She says: "You need to keep reading up and studying the charts. Every two years, I take a three-month sabbatical and go off somewhere to meditate."
It's also "extremely important" to remain indifferent to critical comments.
"I never try to defend myself or the trade because no matter how right you are, you end up looking bad," she says.
"Anyway, as the saying goes, the customer is always right."
Madam Cheong says she has come across her "fair share of insults".
"Those who don't believe in us say we are conmen. They say that we have no sense of shame or guilt and that we cheat people."
She says: "Well, in every trade, there are black sheep. I just have to make sure I'm above board."
But she admits too that there have been instances when she has "no choice but to tell a white lie".
Says Madam Cheong: "This is especially when things are getting very rough for some customers, and if you can read that it's only going to get worse, it's not going to help the person if you tell the truth.
"Everyone's fate is predestined. You cannot really change it dramatically. It's more a case of accepting the bad and trying to live life easier under the circumstances."
Business is usually brisk during Chinese New Year and "whenever there is a downturn in the economy".
Most fortune-tellers don't read their own lot, but Madam Cheong says she couldn't resist the urge.
"Like when I was 25 and my parents kept bugging me to settle down.
"I checked and found out that I was destined to lead a lonely life," she says.
By Maureen Koh
The New Paper
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2012
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