Numerophobia is the fear of numbers… although if you lived in Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s, your fear of the numbers 04, 08, 18, 21, 24 and 369 would be for an entirely different reason.

cc image by Leo Reynolds

yg explains the notoriety of the numbers:

do these numbers make any sense to you? no, they cannot be toto numbers because the last one has 3 digits. there might have been other numbers but these were the ones i can recall. if you grew up during the 50s and 60s, you would have known someone who secretly or openly declared that he belonged to one of these numbered gangs. among my schoolmates and kampong kids were some who claimed allegiance to one of these secret societies.

Gangs were a problem in Singapore back in the 50s and 60s, but the tightening of laws, harsh punishments and the will to maintain a clean and efficient government made a life of corruption and crime a less viable alternative. It’s a credit to Singapore society that the only times we fear number like these are during maths period at school! Read more about 04, 08, 18, 21, 24 and 369 in ygblog.