BUTTERWORTH: The committee of Na Zha the Third Prince Temple of Tong Hai Gong was worried about the fund for purchasing a new plot of land to build a new temple.

This October, through a psychic, the committee requested Na Zha to get the permission from the Jade Emperor on their behalf to approve To Pek Kong to "open half the treasury" send the fortune to them.

As expected, the jackpot that has accumulated for 14 times worth a total sum of RM15 million and the first prize worth RM3 million has been won by a devotee at a ceremony organised by the temple recently. With a purchase price of merely RM10 for a lottery ticket, the devotee has been made a millionaire overnight.

After the news has spread, a huge crowd gathered at the temple on 16 November (Monday) to ask the committee about the "legend" of opening of the treasury. The committee was too excited to share with the public how To Pek Kong manifested His power.

The committee's secretary-general Liang Mi Xin said during an interview with Guang Ming Daily that in order to raise the fund for purchasing a new plot of land and constructing a new temple, the committee held the ceremony in October to express their plans and concerns to Na Zha the Third Prince through a psychic, requesting Na Zha to give them a hand in raising the fund.

"Na Zha responded by saying He would reflect the situation to the Jade Emperor and application for the fund."

Jade Emperor approves to open the treasury

After a week, the committee reconfirmed with Na Zha and His reply was that the Jade Emperor had approved the application and the committee could set their minds at ease in handling this matter.

"Na Zha said we could overcome the difficulty of raising fund effortlessly as To Pek Kong, who was in charge of the treasury, would open up the treasury. He also indicated that To Pek Kong's treasury was three times bigger than the indoor soccer stadium next door.

"To Pek Kong also said the Jade Emperor had instructed Him to open half of the treasury for temple construction."

Liang believed that the announcement of grand prize this time conformed to the timing of the Jade Emperor giving out the cue of "opening half the treasury."

In general, people with luck in money matters would only win a maximum of RM10,000 or more in a lottery and the great act of opening half the treasury was indeed unnecessary. Therefore, they believed half of the treasury meant RM18 million.

Wild boars gives out RM500,000

Besides the legendary treasury, Dong Hai Gong had also been offered an ill-gotten wealth for a devotee.

Liang said there were many devotees winning the lottery during the ceremony after the appearance of a pair of wild boars several years ago. One of the devotees won almost RM500,000 in the lottery after spotting a wild boar.

The committee truly believed that the grand prize of RM18 million was given out by the Gods.

RM10 for RM18 million

RM10 for RM18 million! Thanks to the blessings of Na Zha, one of the devotees became a millionaire at a recent prayer ceremony at Dong Hai Gong by winning the first prize plus the accumulated jackpot of RM18 million.

On the fund-raising cum prayer ceremony on 4 November, the committee purchased 2,000 lottery tickets from a lottery agent and put each of them in a red packet for sale at RM10 to devotees with the hope of raising the temple fund.

There were more than 200 tables at the ceremony but the committee only sold about 500 lottery tickets. They then invited public bids for the remaining tickets on the stage. One of the devotees bid for 1,000 tickets with RM6,333 and distributed the tickets to six of his friends. The remaining 500 unsold tickets were borne by the committee.

The winner is one of the devotees

He said because the grand prize number 5516233 was not on any of the 500 unsold tickets, the committee that the winner was one of the devotees who attended the ceremony. However, they had no idea about the actual winner as all the tickets had been put in red packets.

He revealed, the 2,000 tickets purchased by the committee were packed in 100 pieces in each set. The numbers of the 20 sets of tickets were not in sequence but he confirmed that the tickets with the numbers from 5516200 to 5516299 should include the first prize ticket of 5516233 sold at the ceremony. As all the tickets had been put in red packets, they did not know who the exact darling of fortune was.

Tax paid RM18 million bounty

Senior manager of Pan Malaysia Pools Sdn. Bhd., Chen Zi You said in an interview with Guang Ming Daily that the government had deducted the tax prior to the sale of lottery tickets to the public, thus the actual prize money the winner could walk away was RM18 million.

Besides being the highest amount of prize money won by a lucky winner in Malaysia's history, the vendor of the ticket could also draw a commission of 4% of the prize money, i.e. about RM120,000.

Chen refused to reveal whether the winner had drawn out his grand prize money as the information was strictly treated as confidential. In order to protect the winner, agent and seller from being kidnapped or blackmailed, Chen said he had no choice but to have his lips sealed. (Translated by LIM LIY EE/Guang Ming Daily)