The beginnings

Think you know everything there is to know about 4-D? LifeStyle sifts through the archives and finds some little-known facts about Singaporeans' favourite game

THE 4-D game is believed to have originated in Kedah in 1951, according to a Chinese expert from Penang, Mr Gee Kok Weng, when he gave evidence during a gambling trial in a Singapore court in 1956. A schoolboy decided to raffle his bicycle for 100 $1 tickets, each bearing two digits. The winner would be the one whose ticket number matched the last two digits of the first prize ticket in a Malayan Turf Club sweepstake. This led to the 2-D lottery, which in turn gave rise to 3-D and later, 4-D, betting games which were wildly popular in Singapore and Malaysia from the 1950s. THE Singapore Turf Club was the first to introduce the 4-D draw in Singapore in May 1966, offering a $2,000 first prize for a $1 ticket. It stopped offering it in May 2004 when its sister company Singapore Pools took over all the draws. Singapore Pools launched computerised betting for 4-D on May 31, 1986, and it got off to an auspicious start when the winning number for the first prize in the inaugural draw turned out to be 8838. The number 8 sounds like 'fa' or 'prosper' in Mandarin and is traditionally a favourite among punters. That number has won six consolation and starter prizes since. Punters loved the new 4-D product and the company's turnover that year increased 215 per cent, to over $283 million. Think you know everything there is to know about 4-D? LifeStyle sifts through the archives and finds some little-known facts about Singaporeans' favourite game