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SINGAPORE : They had a one in 10,000 chance of predicting the first prize 4D number for Wednesday's draw - 5853 - and they did.
But in an unexpected twist to "The Impossible 4D Prediction", Singapore magicians J C Sum and 'Magic Babe' Ning revealed after the official 4D results were drawn by Singapore Pools that they did not place a bet on the number that they had predicted.
Instead, they bought a number that would not win - 0000.
Flashing a typewritten note with their prediction as well as their lottery ticket, which had been sealed in a red packet and suspended in a locked box for over five days at St James Power Station, the duo repeatedly stressed that they do not encourage or condone gambling.
"While we did 100 per cent predict the winning numbers for today's draw, we did buy a ticket, but we intentionally bought a number that would not win, so we bought the number 0000," said J C.
"Ning and myself, we are professional illusionists. Our goal is to provoke wonder and thought, and I think we did that this past week."
Last week, the pair placed a S$100 big bet for a single 4D number for the January 27 draw. Had they bet on their predicted number, they would have been S$200,000 richer.
The announcement of J C and Ning's new psychological illusion stunt last Monday made headlines not just in Singapore but also around the region, and created frenzy in forums and social networking sites.
It even caught the attention of the Media Development Authority (MDA) who made radio stations Class 95FM and 987FM cancel scheduled 'live' interviews with the pair as they felt that the stunt promoted gambling.
"We were hoping that they [the authorities] won't stop it [the stunt] because we knew ultimately where we were going. Of course we couldn't tell it from the start because how do you say it? It's like a great movie with a twist and you don't give it away," said J C.
He revealed that they were "71 per cent confident" of predicting the winning numbers at the beginning, but were greatly encouraged by the buzz the stunt had generated, "Just the reaction from the people... that really got us a bit excited. We realised that it was getting bigger than we actually thought."
So confident were they that they decided to add a third item in the red packet last Friday when they sealed their prediction – a cheque of S$10,000.
This cheque, a personal donation by J C and Ning to the Children's Cancer Foundation, was presented to the organisation's chairman, Ravi Sivalingam, during the big reveal.
Said Ning, "The Children's Cancer Foundation is an organisation that I worked with since 2004. I volunteered for their Hair for Hope programme... so I knew about their cause. It was something that resonated with me... and I guess it was now or never that we did this thing with the charity."
"We are thrilled that we did indeed predict the correct winning numbers of this week's 4D draw but I think we are more thrilled that we can really contribute to Singaporeans who need the money more than we do," added J C.
- CNA
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