7 Malaysians tell us their weird habits for good luck… we can’t tell if they’re legit or not

If you clicked on this thinking it’s something dirty, shame shame on you because we’re actually talking about the nasib kinda lucky 🙄

But whether you wanna call it “nasib”, “odds”, or “fate”, the idea of luck has been around for as long as people have existed. And for equally as long, people have tried all ways and means to get lucky (you know what we mean). For example, Tennis star Andre Agassi apparently forgot to pack underwear for the 1999 French Open and won the match without them. He started playing every match full commando, and won the title. FYI, sportsmen are some of the most superstitious people on the planet.

In Malaysia, things aren’t all that different – banana tree numbers, bang car take number plate, etc.

And you might have to bring all these methods out, to win a life-changing prize

So this is actually quite nuts la. We know some of you find it hard to buy numbers cos sounds quite technical, so Magnum created a game called Magnum Life that’s easy, and OMG the prize is ridiculous.

Yep. You read that right. If you win, you’ll get RM1,000 EVERY DAY for 20 frickin years! That’s uh…

More than RM7 MILLION!

Can you even spend RM1,000 a day? That’s like 150 Kaifans a day, a trip to the Maldives every week, and can even drop your phone every day and buy a new one (not S10 la) ! Even the 2^nd prize onwards is nuts…. And all you have to do is pick any 8 numbers from 1-36. No big small, no complicated forms…

Usually, you’ll need to pay RM1 to play at any Magnum store. But for a limited time, you can get to try it for free! Just fill in the form below, and cross your fingers HARD.

To increase your chances of winning, we asked some Malaysians about their unique ways to shift the odds in their favor; whether to do well in exams, win CILISOS contests, win at Magnum Life or to make themselves rich. Here’s what some of them told us…

1. Eat a telur mata kerbau without breaking the yolk

There have been many arguments on how important breakfast is to start off the day. A good breakfast can result in you being more alert, healthy, and apparently even help you lose weight. But for Syaza, breakfast also affects her luck for the rest of the day.

Ever since she was a little girl, Syaza’s favoritest breakfast food in the whole wide world are sunny-side eggs, or locally known as telur mata kerbau… except she liked leaving the whole, unbroken yolk to be eaten last. At some point she realized that whenever the yolk got broken, it didn’t only ruin her breakfast – it ruins her entire day ._.

One day, I accidentally broke the yolk and I had a really really unlucky day in school. Kena scolding, misunderstanding with friends, and fell down from the bicycle. It was a really bad day. And I realized these things always happen on the day I ate a broken yolk. – Syaza

2. Ask your crush to wish you luck

3. Look out for lucky numbers

Many cultures believe that numbers can affect luck, with the easiest example being the Chinese infatuation with the number 8 (because it sounds like “Prosperity” or “Wealth”). But while most people go out of their way to get the lucky numbers and avoid the unlucky ones, Alissa‘s lucky number comes to her.

“My family and I have always had strange sightings revolving around the number 42 or 24. Every time we see it, it’s either something good had just happened or is about to happen.” – Alissa

Alissa tells us it all started when her mother bought a Proton Satria with the plate number BFF424, and they’ve started seeing the numbers everywhere since then, from her UPSR results (You got 42 A’s???) to when they moved to a new house – it showed up in both their house AND phone number! She didn’t give us her address or phone number as proof, but sent a picture of her first ever lottery ticket, which she also won. Guess what the winning numbers were?

But the number doesn’t always show up and, when things aren’t going well, stops appearing altogether:

“My now-husband and I were in a long-distance relationship for 8 years. There were plenty of off and ons, and every time we broke up, 42 stopped appearing until we got back together again.” – Alissa

And when they got married, guess what decided to show up?

Alissa doesn’t really have an explanation for why this happens, but she thinks it’s pretty coincidental that in Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the number 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Works for us 
So much for “Sui” Chinese Lucky Numbers.

Actually hor… why don’t you try it now? You may be the next lucky grand prize winner to win RM1,000 EVERY DAY for 20 years!

 4. Wash feet before sleeping

Other than for hygienic reasons, the idea of feet-washing for religious or cultural reasons have been around for a really long time. For Anuradha though, washing her feet makes all the difference between a good night’s sleep and being kacau-ed by unseen things 😯

Anuradha picked up the practice after spending her uni days at a campus in Sintok, Kedah:

“I’ve heard, felt and seen some pretty strange things during my time there. One of the most common “tips” from our seniors to prevent spirits and ghosts from following you back is to wash your feet before you get in bed.” – Anuradha

Unfortunately for Anuradha (and fortunately for her friends and hotel owners), she got so used to the feeling of having clean feet before sleeping that she’s continued the practice no matter where she’s staying!

But one time, she was so tired after a late night out that she collapsed into bed and fell asleep with unwashed feet. Here’s what happened in her own words:

“For a whole month I had strange and very lucid dreams of people I’ve never met before — some would float next to me and talk to me, some would try and grab my hands or just cry…it was very disturbing and took a while to get rid of them.” – Anuradha

You might be wondering what this has to do with luck and, well… there’s the belief that spirits are able to affect a person’s luck, but also on a more down-to-earth note, not having enough sleep tends to make you depressed and affects your ability to make good decisions; leading to increased chances of getting into accidents. Which, y’know, could be a sign of “bad luck”.

5. Use Kopi O to attract luck

Whenever Sean feels anxious over a big event like exams, he starts his day with one and a half cups of Kopi O. But that isn’t his secret… his secret is that he only drinks one cup – the half cup is for the Powers That Be.

“I found that the easiest way to get good grades is to ask the Powers That Be, so I offer half my Kopi O to whichever Power is willing to help. I don’t discriminate.” – Sean

Sean claims that his method has a 90% success rate, like literally 90% because his grades jumped from the mid-50s to the high 90s ever since he started doing it. He also tells us that he has failed some classes, but they don’t count because he never intended to pass them in the first place ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

He’s also used this method for business purposes since he sells trading cards in his spare time:

“I also do this when I have big sales coming up, and none of my buyers have ditched me so far. In fact, they buy even more from me!” – Sean

But bribery aside, Sean thinks that his method works on a psychological level as well… it helps him manage the anxiety he experiences before important events; and because he’s still studying he tells us that there will be plenty more Kopi O’s to come!

6. Let your lucky charm make decisions for you

Nelson actually told us that he has two lucky charms, the first of which is a pair of really old sports shoes that he wears to win sports events. However, it’s his second charm that got our attention because it’s a Maneki-neko or Lucky Cat in English.

But what makes Nelson’s on unique is that it has a hole on the bottom so when you shake it, it’ll berak out a tiny metal plate that says “Good Luck”, “Bad Luck”, or nothing at all. Plus, it’s small enough that he keeps it hanging from his pencil case – great for bringing into exams!

If you’ve ever tembakked answers in an objective paper before, you’d definitely know how stressful shading that little dot with your pencil can be:

I once sat for a really difficult paper and felt absolutely hopeless. Since I knew there was a high chance I’ll be failing, why not try my luck with the cat? Maybe it’ll change my fate! Amazingly, I did decently well for that paper… Somehow I idiotically trusted the cat hahaha. – Nelson.

And since then, there was no turning back as Nelson has used the cat to help him out with other exams since. He says that the cat gets the answer right most of the time too

“My cat’s accuracy can fight the octopus that predicts the World Cup results!” – Nelson.

So all ya’ll World Cup kaki know who to ask for predictions next time la  😛

7. Touch your friend’s lucky charm without permission

Of all the entries on this list, Marcus‘s technique made us laugh the most because of the trolliness involved.

He tells us that the lucky charm involved is an Omamori – a small talisman wrapped in a silk envelope that’s very common in Japan. A number of years back, his friend visited a Shinto temple in Japan which also sold souvenirs… including a selection of Omamori:

“Without any hesitation and with the flick of his thick wallet, he bought a small red Omamori as a lucky charm. As expected with his teasing personality, he always “berlagak” with his lucky charm right in front of me!” – Marcus

Both of them were medical students, which most people would agree isn’t the easiest course in the world. Marcus (like many students) struggled with the course and one day, in desperation before a particularly challenging exam, decided he needed some help…

“There it was, the Omamori lucky charm bag left unattended, forgotten and deserted on the table. Vulnerable as it appeared, I touched the red bag…” – Marcus

Perhaps because the charm was tired of being neglected, it seemed to welcome the attention it was getting and made sure Marcus noticed as well:

“All the topics I hoped for came out! Not just that, the invigilators were caring enough to give me tips during exams but rejected my friend’s request for attention! The funniest part was I scored top marks and my friend barely passed as though his marks was credited to mine macam bank account!” 😆 – Marcus

Ever since then, Marcus has been curi-curi touching his friend’s Omamori before any important occasions despite the death threats from his friend. So if there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that you should always take care of your lucky charm or someone might steal them away from you.

Surprisingly, science shows that good luck charms actually work!

… But not in the way you think.

Basically, researchers have found something that your skeptical Uncle Margaret has been saying for years – that it’s allllll in your mind. Whether or not you believe in lucky charms or practices, believing that something is “lucky” improved confidence and concentration… y’know, 2 things that really go a long way if you’re under stressful conditions like an exam or a competition.

The other thing is that there’s always an element of repetition when it comes to lucky charms or rituals – you must always do it a certain way, or it must always be there in order for you to be lucky. This is because human beings are creatures of habit; we naturally look for patterns and follow them even if tak lojik, so if you happen to be looking at a picture of Donald Trump and got a call saying you’ve been promoted, you might start thinking Donald Trump brings you luck. This is called conditioning, and when you lose that charm or forget to do that ritual, you’d expect things to turn out bad. This affects your confidence and concentration, and yea…. basically a self-fulfilling prophecy la.

If you still like the idea of a confidence boost, the best part is that you don’t even need to follow the methods in this article, since anything can be lucky as long as you believe it can make you get lucky.

… But not in the way you think. Or not  😉