A money changer owner had the shock of his life recently as he thought he saw a ghost when a customer produced a piece of hell note at the counter. This spooky yet amusing incident happened in Sandakan, Sabah on 26 March.
According to Sinchew, the customer went to the counter at around 12.30pm and gave a piece of hell note to the staff, saying that she wishes to change it to Ringgit Malaysia. The worker, who thought it was a legit banknote was puzzled at first glance because the note bears the denomination of 50 million!
Unable to proceed with the standard procedure, the worker went to the boss for advice as they were unsure about the origins of the “currency”. After examining the bill, the owner confirmed that the note isn’t Hong Kong Dollar or Indonesian Rupiah but was still uncertain about its origins.
Suddenly, he spotted Yama, or commonly known as the King of Hell, and the Bank of Hell printed on the note which sent shivers down his spine. Most of us probably know that hell notes are burnt as offerings to the deceased in the afterlife and a living human being has no business carrying this kind of ‘money’ around, let alone producing it at the money changer.
It was understood that the customer didn’t reveal where she got the hell note from, and the boss didn’t dare to burst her bubble for obvious reasons. So he just told her that the shop was running low on cash and couldn’t change it for her. She left after that without questioning much.
The man then immediately checked the CCTV and to his relief, the customer was a middle-aged woman and not a spirit. He said this is the first time someone came forward with a hell note at his premises and he believed that the woman may have picked it up when someone was burning hell notes in conjunction with Qing Ming festival but probably thought it was some foreign currency.
Until now, the owner couldn’t be certain whether the whole incident was just a prank or the woman was really innocent.
Hopefully, this is the last time the owner receives a hell note at his shop. We don’t think he can take this kind of surprises anymore.
Also read: Lady Brings Pig-Shaped Bread on Qing Ming, Mother-in-Law Gets Pissed Off