Some people are excited by specific numbers. Others have phobias of such numbers. Phobias of certain numbers are so common (e.g. 4, 13, 666) that there is a name attached to it. Recently officials of this city have developed phobias of a much larger set of numbers, so much so that they refuse to say such numbers in public.
Most of the numbers are shorthand of specific dates (e.g. 69 for June 9, 818 for August 18). Given that 2024 is the 5th anniversary of multiple incidents relating to the pro-democracy protests (and the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre), numbers on which these incidents occurred are more frequently and the phobia is particular pronounced among officials.
Often officials would avoid mentioning numbers relating to specific dates, instead of referring them as "sensitive dates", "particular dates", or "certain dates". In more extreme cases, they would pay particular attention to items which bear such numbers. Mention of certain entries of multiplication tables which remind people of specific numbers (3x7, 6x4, 8x8, to name a few) have become taboo. The police may perform "random searches" on vehicles bearing specific licence plates (or impounding them) on specific dates on consecutive years. (Police followed a sports car with license plate US8964 before impounding it for "illegal modification" on June 4 of this year as well as the last.) One may wonder if officials would make "suprise visits" to businesses which prominently display phone numbers (or house numbers) contain number sequences which remind them of certain dates next.
The mayor has stated that such dates may be hijacked by those with ulterior motives to incite hatred towards he, his governing team and his bosses up north. It seems the numbers have become eyesores to the city's high-level officials. To make them more at ease, one solution is to remove the numbers they deem undesirable from the public realm. The list include phone numbers, license plates, identity cards, student/staff number and, of course, dates. (The latter would not cause too much trouble as most people in town are already familiar with calling June 4 May 35.)
The list of numbers to be purged from public use include 16, 64, 69, 612, 615, 616, 721, 818, 831, 1112, 1115 or any other number which contains these numbers in sequence. (It is certain the official list would be much longer.) Initials which remind people of the motherland's current enemies rivals (such as US, AU, CA, UK) should also be removed.
Sure, such a purge would be costly and cause great inconvenience to the general public, but the top officials' peace of mind always take precedence. (If anyone refuses to cooperate, officials can simply label them threats to national security.)