Confessions of a fortune-teller

TNP ILLUSTRATION: Jonathan Roberts

This fortune-teller does not give out 4D numbers because she says: “If I can predict what the winning numbers are, I should just go and bet my whole life savings, right?”

Madam Cheong Lai Kit, who works in a small shop space in Waterloo Street, relies on 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.

But don’t expect to find 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.”