1967 Of Vampires Ghosts and Oil Men

1967 Of Vampires Ghosts and Oil Men

Ghosts, witches, demons and vampires and unmentionable things that stir in the night are all very real in Malaysia. A routine chore for policemen or news reporters here is checking out the latest report of visit from the nether world. This writer has investigated many. For instance, a tip oft last September sparked an investigation of the abandoned Pakistani Embassy, lonely old colonial-style building near a weed-grown Muslim cemetery. The building was left empty in September of 1965 when Pakistan broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia, claiming this country sided with India in the brief war over Kashmir. A bearded jaga (watchman) at the silent embassy beat his chest and swore that the building was haunted. "Every night I hear voices and sounds, Ilke people suffering," he said....

#### **Print Info**

* Of Vampires Ghosts and Oil Men
* By Mervyn Pereira
* Boston Globe
* 12 Feb 1967
* Page 50

# **Of Vampires, Ghosts, 'Oily Men'**

EDITOR'S NOTE - Night life is seldom dull in Malaysia, what with the "Hairy Monster," the “Oily Man,” and the ghosts of soldiers moaning to pain. There are also ghoulish girl hitchhikers, ageless vampires and magic snake stones.

By Mervyn Pereira

Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUK - Malaysia-Ghosts, witches, demons and vampires and unmentionable things that stir in the night are all very real in Malaysia.

A routine chore for policemen or news reporters here is checking out the latest report of visit from the nether world. This writer has investigated many.

For instance, a tip oft last September sparked an investigation of the abandoned Pakistani Embassy, lonely old colonial-style building near a weed-grown Muslim cemetery.

The building was left empty in September of 1965 when Pakistan broke diplomatic relations with Malaysia, claiming this country sided with India in the brief war over Kashmir.

A bearded jaga (watchman) at the silent embassy beat his chest and swore that the building was haunted. "Every night I hear voices and sounds, Ilke people suffering," he said.

The beturbaned Sikh said the sounds were from ghosts of dead Indian soldiers who had come for revenge. And he said that the sounds of suffering from those slain in battle were most intense on the night of last Sept. 5 - first anniversary of the war.

"The dead have wings," he intoned.

Last September was a good month for ghosts in these parts. An army sentry on duty in the jungles of Southern Malaysia that month reported being scared half to death by “a black, hairy monster,” with Luminous eyes.

#### A BIT OF BLOOD

A game warden who led a search for this monster said he was convinced it was a creation of imagination.

But the “oily man” came from something more than an overactive imagination. He shed some blood.

Reports of this character, many of them no doubt inspired by hysteria, kept popping up both in Singapore and in Malaysian villages. Clad only in a thick coat of oil or grease, he kept bothering people, mostly young girls.

Complaints poured in from convents, schools, house-wives and lovers in dark and lonely parks.

But just such an oily man was finally spotted be a number of people in one village and the inhabitants rushed out with sticks, torches, clubs and parangs - deadly, razor-sharp three foot long knives.

One villager scored with a parand and the “oily man,” screaming, badly wounded and bleeding profusely, disappeared into the jungle.

It is not unusual to see witch doctors here and this writer once stopped to observe one who was busily engaged in trying to sell a magic stone to a potential customer.

The stone, he claimed, was a living thing and he demonstrated by putting it on a table where it moved about, always in a straight line. The customer did buy it too, for 50 Malay dollars ($17) and left convinced that he would be lucky ever after.

“This stone,” said the witch doctor, “was taken from the body of a live cobra.” He didn’t explain how the cobra was persuaded to give it up.

#### NO TAKERS

For two Malay dollars (about 75 cents) he described how it was possible to see numerous ghosts lurking about: “Smear tears from a dog or cow over your eyes. Or prick your finger and drop some blood at the foot of a newly harvested banana tree at night and you will be visited.”

None of these suggestions were experimented with, but still, one sort of wonders what would happen.

Last November a girl was seized with fits while attending school in a village just outside Kuala Lumpur and told people she had been visited by a “tall, shrouded figure.” In the next few days several other children were seized with similar attacks.

The principal closed the school and summoned the friendly, old local witch doctor. For a fee, tackled the ghost. He was apparently successful for there have been no visits since.

Kuala Lumpur residents have one favorite ghost story. A young man was driving home early one morning and was stopped by a pretty girl who asked for a ride home. Ho noticed, she was shivering and draped his coat over her shoulders.

Upon reaching home the girl thanked her benefactor and told him to come by the next day and collect his coat. Thinking this was more than just a simple invitation to retrieve a coat, he did call the next day.

#### STRANGE CASE

But an elderly couple in the house said no girl lived there and no coat had been left. The youth noticed a photograph of the girl he had befriended and pointed it out.

"That was our daughter,'' was the reply. “She was killed in a car accident when returning home from a party a year ago."

Curious, the young man visited the girl's graves and there on the tombstone lay his coat.

Those who tell the story swear it is true and man both the girl and the boy. But it has yet to be confirmed.

And there is the story of the Malaysian vampire, usually a very pretty young girl who never grows old. She leads a normal life and may even marry.

Witch doctors say there are more than 100 such pretty, young vampires in Malaysia. One claims he knows a vampire personally.

He says she is married to a shopkeeper and their marriage is a happy one. But the shopkeeper gets more uneasy all the time as he watches his bride of 30 years and notes that she seemingly hasn't grown a day older.

And, he wonders why goats in his flock grow weaker and weaker and eventually die from disease, yet undiagnosed.

### **Keywords, Topics, Subjects**

* Ghosts
* haunting
* Oily Man
* Urban legend
* Orang Minyak
* Nagamani
* Nagamanikyam
* Snake-Stone
* Living Vampires

### **More Information**

#### Also Printed in

1. Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 111, Number 44, 21 February 1967 https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19670221.1.30&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
2. The News Frederick, Maryland Monday, February 20, 1967 Page 19 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/8351253/

#### More Info

* Oily Man https://www.livescience.com/17781-orang-minyak-malaysia.html
* Orang Minyak https://sites.psu.edu/getcultured/2019/02/08/orang-minyak-supernatural-sicko-or-real-life-rascal/
* Nagamanikyam https://www.onmanorama.com/lifestyle/astro/2017/06/30/nagamanikyam-myth-busted.html
* Snake Stones on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake-stone
* Bull Tears and Ghosts https://daydaynews.cc/en/game/can-you-really-see-ghosts-when-you-put-bulls-tears-on-your.html
* “Ying Yang” Eyes https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/living/2017/10/31/who-are-most-likely-to-see-ghosts
* Dog Tears and Ghosts https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/can-dogs-see-ghosts-spirits/