Palmist rewrites fate by sleight of hand
Palmist rewrites fate by sleight of hand
By K. Basrie
JAKARTA (JP): For some people, fame and fortune lies in their
hands. Literally.
While many consider palmistry -- the practice of reading a
person's character or future from the lines on the palms --
little more than a pseudoscience, others trust implicitly in its
judgments.
They would even go to great lengths to change the lines in a
bid to turn around misfortune.
Haptop Best claims to be able to reroute palm lines to ensure
success, but his service comes at a hefty price.
"As long as the client is healthy and able to pay US$700,
credit card or cash, I can make lucky lines and marks on his, or
her, palms which, in return, could make life and career a big
success," the 32-year-old palmist told The Jakarta Post in an
interview recently.
Haptop, who rents an office on the sixth floor of the Gedung
Rahardjo building on Jl. Roa Malaka Utara in North Jakarta, shuns
the title of fortune-teller.
"I'm a scientist, expert and researcher of palmistry, and I'm
the first and only one to invent the key to success, which is by
changing the lines and marks on human palms."
There is no invasive surgery, no loss of blood. The process to
"improve" lines for life, fate, health, fortune, heart, head and
marriage takes only one hour per client, he said.
Afraid of ersatz imitators, Haptop balks at disclosing his
method. He has even registered his method at the Office of
Intellectual Property Rights, Patents and Trademarks.
His clients must faithfully follow set rules, what he
describes as a prescription. "For example, they are prohibited
from committing crimes and having too much sex."
Clients must also make a verbal oath not to divulge the
routine.
He refuses to serve disabled and elderly people, or those with
"bad" marks of asymmetrical eyebrows, noses and lips.
"I don't want to be blamed as the cause of their poor fate
because people with those marks have the potential to do bad
things," he said.
Ideal clients are of standard intellect and disciplined. The
surface of their palms should not be too thick, which might be
uneasy for Haptop to modify the lines.
Clients must also be able to communicate in Indonesian. "I
don't understand English and do not allow my clients to bring
anyone, including an interpreter, to the service room."
But he warned that clients would not become rich or famous in
just a matter of weeks.
"It depends on the 'condition' of the clients, and better
means sooner," he said. "Like planting coconut palm trees, my
clients should also work hard to make their dreams come true."
Haptop boasts a remarkable success rate: 97 percent of his
hundreds of clients allegedly noticed a turnaround in their
fortunes. He was tight-lipped on their identities.
"I cannot tell you who and what they are because my clients
are mostly famous figures, such as politicians and high-ranking
officers," he said.
Failure of the others was due to their inability to follow his
directives, he said.
Childhood
Haptop was born Tjian Tiong Djin to poor parents of Chinese
descent in the North Sumatran capital of Medan. His early years
were fraught with difficulty and unhappiness.
"My father had dozens of wives," he recalled. "At the age of
four, I had to work at a biscuit factory to help my mother earn a
living."
He dropped out of elementary school in the third grade because
of his family's money problems.
Little Tjian then traveled to several cities in Java,
including Jakarta and Bandung, working as a bus conductor,
street vendor and casual laborer. Throughout his travels, he
loved to examine people's hands and read books on palmistry.
His sister, who had just married, gave him a small tin of gold
when he was 19. It took him just four months to spend all the
gift.
Dismayed and guilty, he rushed to a nearby plantation and
swallowed dozens of sleeping pills in a suicide attempt.
A worker found him, getting medical assistance which saved his
life. But Tjian was disappointed when he regained consciousness.
He prayed to God to take his soul soon.
"But, suddenly, I looked at my palms and had an idea to change
the lines so I could have a better life," he said.
After modifying the lines on his palms, he felt motivated by
an invisible power to work hard.
His life turned around. He opened a barbershop in Sabang on
the northern tip of Sumatra with his sister as one of his staff.
He moved to Pontianak in West Kalimantan in 1990 and set up
another barbershop under his new name: Haptop Best.
"I later knew that my original name, Tjian Tiong Djin, meant
one trouble comes after another," he said.
After waiting for almost two years to prove the positive
impact of changing his palm lines, Haptop set up his own
palmistry practice.
"In the beginning I was afraid that people might think I was
insane or intended to cheat them," he said.
He then registered his method. "I don't want anyone to copy my
work, which I bought at a very expensive price: (almost)
committing suicide!"
He vows to sue anyone, including former clients, who tries to
copy his method.
Haptop said he rejected an offer from an American businessman
to open up an office in the U.S. He also once refused to be
interviewed by Japanese television network crew because it wanted
to film his method.
The scientific community is not swayed on the alleged powers
of palmistry.
"It sounds irrational. What (kind of invention) is that?" said
John Siswanto Nimpoeno, a senior lecturer in psychology at
several universities in Bandung, West Java.
Psychologist Utami Munandar from the University of Indonesia
confessed to knowing little about palmistry, but described
Haptop's claims as "sounding funny and illogical".
Haptop is unfazed by the naysayers. "I strongly believe in
Allah the Almighty and everything that He has planned for us, but
as humans we are ordered to do something to improve our life," he
said.