3/13/2014

Singapore Turf Club - My personal collection of Singapore's history


I just saw the Channel News Asia programme called Treasure Hunt with the items being exhibited at the National Museum. And I recollect that I have this scrip of paper which is a betting slip of the Singapore Turf Club dated 4th October 1958. It is quite a long time for a worthless piece of paper to survive that long. Its reason for longetivity is the herbal prescription written on its back, I think. I am not sure what it was for.

This is something I found left behind by my mother. A little legacy of the past.

14 comments:

PSS said...

Rb: // And I recollect that I have this scrip of paper which is a betting slip of the Singapore Turf Club dated 4th October 1958. //


Part 2: Statistics Applied - Fallacy of the Probability of 4D Lottery

http://pro-sustainable-sg.blogspot.sg/2014/02/part-2-statistics-applied-fallacy-of.html#more


"It must be recognised that very often, the facts in statistics are eventually counter intuitive, thus making it a rather difficult subject."

PSS said...

"If mathematics is about certainty, statistics then is about uncertainty. How then should society or rather the common folks go about utilising statistics to work for them in their livelihoods or daily lives? One way is to learn basic methods to quantify uncertainty which is existent arguably in almost every part of people's lives, if not every aspect."

PSS said...

" One of the favourite pastimes of locals is the game of lottery. More specifically, the lottery game of 4D. In simple mathematics, it seems the probable permutation of 4D combinations is 10 times 10 times 10 times 10 giving it a total possible outcomes of 10,000 combinations for a 4D number. Intuitively it seems so mathematically. But, and that is a big BUT, many would be "surprised" the probability of actually getting a combination similar to that drawn at the lotteries is a lot lesser than 1 in 10,000 chances ....... "

PSS said...

"In simple probability concepts developed way back in the 1600s by mathematicians such as Fermat, Pascal and Sir Isaac Newton, in this form of gambling ( 4D lottery ), there are basically two independent events occurring.


The first event is the choosing of a 4D combination by a punter. Let's denote this action as event A. The second event is the "random floating" of 4D balls at the lottery draw. Let's call this lottery draw event B.

Thus, in simple probability concept, the probability of event A denoted by P(A) is 1/ 10,000.

Likewise, the probability of event B denoted by P(B) is also 1/ 10,000.

Intuitively, often people would then associate the chance of making a correct punt at 1 in 10,000 which is 0.0001."

PSS said...

"If that was the case, people should be striking 4D more often than they actually did because, statistically, though 1/ 10,000 has a small probability of occurring, it is still relatively "big" statistically speaking. But people would not have imagined the probability of striking 4D is not 1 in 10,000 chance but statistically 1 in 100,000,000 chance.

For those who had ever strike 4D, they must be very "lucky"!

Now, up to the part of 1 in 10,000 chance, many would be able to follow the logic but many would likely doubt the 1 in 100,000,000 chance logic.

Why such huge disparity?

Essentially, in probability theory, there is this concept known as independent event."

agongkia said...

Anything that is left behind by our Lau Chor should be treasured and we should not consider it as a worthless piece of paper.

I have plenty of such 'treasures',whether its their marriage cert,birth cert driving licence,BanJeePio,love letters etc.some dated back more than hundred years.I kept them under strict security,monitor by CCTV.

Once when I am about to ChowLor,I pick up one piece and found 4 numbers on it...Place a bet on the number and manage to settle my debt.

So dun play play.See properly and you may find a special number that can help you when you are in need.

Its a treasure.
Never never say its a worthless piece of paper.









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Anonymous said...

The betting slip may be more at home in the Temasek Holdings office.

Jhon Staphen said...

If they are not 3rd world, then they should start behaving and act like first world. This will be their downfall in 2016. The healthcare goodies and spin can keep coming, but they will have to pay for the price of denying the people their CPF!
no 1 singapore migration specialist

Anonymous said...

Kopi level?

PSS said...

Rb: " A little legacy of the past. "

At least hardworking and frugal beans leave some positive legacy behind.

For others, what is left behind is carnage, big mess, unspeakable losses .......

Someone would end up holding the "babies" and face with the shits. Cleaning up the mess would be much more than an arduous job .......

Any person in their right frame of mind would step up for this work?

Traditionally, the more upright, honest and hardworking beans would be left with the chores to clean up after the crazy and mindless parties finally ended ..........

Anonymous said...

That is very sweet, RB. RB only say it is worthless, Agongkia. He say only. Actually it is a treasure to him. If not he won't keep it for so long.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hi Jhon Staphen, welcome to the blog. I just posted a piece about changing the DNA of Sin City.

It was a piece of paper, it was worthless. I think it would have some value to the museum or the Turf Club. It is history. It is a legacy to me.

This is 1958, a year before we gained self govt and many years before we got our independence.

We were still under the colonial govt and horse racing and betting were already there. Many of you have yet to arrive as living souls.

Kopi level yesterday was pathetic.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Although I really liked growing up in and being a part of Singapore's colonial and post-colonial past (will apply for Senior Citizen Card soon), I think modern Singapore is far more awesome and the future hold fantastic possibility.

I too have a collection of memorabilia -- Green Spot bottles, Tiger beer bottle opener once found in every kopitiam, pressed "chee bye leaf" (Dillenia suffruticosa) from NS ICT, bomb shrapnel from WW2, old Jap ammo found in the once dense "forest" in the Woodleigh area, kuti-kuti (a game of combat played by children long before Playstaion, XBox and Nintendo), opium scales and weights, and of course currency, coins and lots of photos of shit no longer in existence like Kallang Airport, fountains (Singapore used to have fountains at intersections), death houses in Sago Lane, Chinatown, opium dens in Chinatown, Tg Pagar etc.

Those were the days...now to the future!

Jhon Staphen said...

"After settling down in a new country, it is a great sacrifice to be uprooted once again to adjust to life here."
migration specialist singapore