Malaysian Villagers Dig For Gold In The Sand!

The term "golden sands" has taken on a whole new literal meaning at the Kampung Seri Pantai beach, Malaysian southern Johor state, local media reported on Thursday.

Hundreds of people have been flocking to the beach since last week after news spread that there was gold in the sand, the New Straits Times said.

The gold hunt continues well into the night with many, including housewives and children, combing the beach with torchlights and candles to look for "sparkly beads" buried in the sand.

It is not only the prospectors who have flocked to the beach, gold buyers are also on standby, ready to buy the precious metal off anyone who finds it.

Policemen have also been patrolling the area to prevent any untoward incident.

A villager, Zulhadnan Salehuddin, 39, said gold prospecting became frantic from last week after some villagers were said to have found between 1,000 ringgit and 2,000 ringgit worth of gold by panning the sand on the beach.

"It is amazing that we can find all these gold on the beach, without digging or mining. We use a steel or wooden dulang (wok-like pan) and swirl the sand with the seawater. The gold will appear," he said excitedly.

A gold buyer, identified only as Mat, said he had bought about 4,000 ringgit worth of gold from the villagers since last week. "The gold found here is of high quality and I buy them at 68 ringgit to 70 ringgit per gram, it was certainly no fool's gold," he said.

District police chief Harun Idris warned that people were exaggerating the size and value of gold discoveries. Those who were lucky might find gold worth 80 ringgit. "It's gold dust actually," the officer said. "It's not economically worthwhile."

The Kampung Seri Pantai beach is located about eight kilometers from Mersing town center, Johor state.

***** It looks like collective foolishness and avarice has taken root and is hyperactive in this part of Johor. Alas, greed has no religious and ethnic boundaries or peculiarities. It is the most universal of human characteristics.
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