Saturday, December 31, 2011

Supernatural Phenomena Behind the Batu Caves

I have been living in the Batu Caves area for more than 30 years. Many interesting and 'out of this world' things have been happening. But of late there has been an absolutely astonishing development.

On 1 November 2011, I was driving home after work, and as usual I passed over the bridge which spans the Sungai Batu, which flows out of the Ulu Yam dam, and merges with Sungai Gombak in the PWTC area.


(Confluence of Sungai Batu and Sungai Gombak)


The bridge I mention above is somewhere between Pinggiran Batu Caves and Kampung Laksamana. It is in this river, a bit further down, in front of the Batu Caves, in which the Hindu worshippers wash themselves on Thaipusam, and from where they start their journey up the 272 steps to the temple.


(Stairs leading up to the caves and the Hindu temple)

It was just before maghrib, when I passed the bridge and saw a creature sitting on the far end of the bridge. I did not trust my eyes: it was a giant head of a pig, with two huge, red fangs; it was 'vampire pig'. My hands were shaking so much when I took a picture, that it is quite blurred; but basically, you can see vampire pig as I saw it that evening. It must have had a hangover from Halloween the day before and felt disoriented, so it could not find its way back to the cave it had come from.





(Vampire Pig sitting at the end of the bridge over Sungai Batu, behind the Batu Caves)

I have not seen or heard from it since then, so I assume it continues to go about its usual business.

But another development - related or unrelated, I am not so sure - has been happening in the vicinity. Now we have two 'orang minyak' disturbing the good folks who live behind the Batu Caves. I copy the full report below here:

The ‘oily man’ strikes fear

By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI rashvin@thestar.com.my

The supernatural phenomenon purportedly terrorising Kampung Laksamana in Gombak has rallied the residents to stand together in defence of the young girls in their community.
WHILE most people would be in deep slumber at 2am, residents of Kampung Laksamana in Gombak were wide awake, roaming up and down Jalan Laksamana 1 in Gombak, Selangor.
Around 40 residents all divided into groups of about five to 10 people each and fully equipped with spotlights and wooden sticks were on patrol in the village located about 2km from Batu Caves that Thursday morning. Although they were joking with one another, you could feel the tension in the air.

An outsider might think that a gang rumble was on the cards. But what the residents of this village were worried about were not humans, instead they were keeping an eye out for not one, but two, supernatural beings. They are under attack from a couple of orang minyak (oily man), they claim. This village has been buzzing with sightings of the two paranormal creatures for the last 10 days.
Many residents claim to have seen and heard the orang minyak around the vicinity of the Pangsapuri Laksamana and Jalan Laksamana 1. And they all say the same thing the orang minyak are clad only in their underwear and drenched in black shiny oil. They can jump from one roof to another with ease, and vanish into thin air within seconds.
It's definitely no laughing matter, stresses Aslam Khan, 33, one of the villagers “lucky” enough to have seen them.
As he describes them, one is tall, stocky and bald while the other is thin and curly haired.
“I saw the bald orang minyak hiding behind the water tank of a house at about two in the morning. It was breathing really loudly, like a cow.

Slippery encounter: Aslam pointing towards the water tank where he allegedly saw an “orang minyak”. He claims it then climbed onto the roof and vanished. Right: The oily stains allegedly left by the orang minyak in a resident’s house in Kampung Laksamana. — M. AZHAR ARIF / The Star
“It was black and shiny. When I shone my light on it, the thing stuck out its head to look back at me. Before I could do anything, it climbed up the roof and disappeared,” says Aslam.
He says they also found the possible spot where the orang minyak conducts its ritual of reciting jampi (mantra) and having an oil bath. The villagers stumbled across the spot after chasing the orang minyak into some bushes next to the flat.
“There was a large oil patch there,” he says, pointing to the ground.
Adds Aslam, the next night, they found a packet of fried rice and noodles at the very same spot. After returning about an hour later, the food was gone, believed to be eaten by the orang minyak.
Supernatural or real?
According to popular legend, the orang minyak is a person who has undertaken the study of black magic and as a rite of passage, has to rape a certain number of anak dara (virgins) to pass that course.
The villagers are worried because almost every house in the neighbourhood houses a young girl.
One, they said, has already had a nasty encounter with the orang minyak.

It was crawling up the stairs of the house, just like Spiderman. When it reached the top it suddenly jumped onto the roof. I don’t think a human could do that.-P.MOHAN
As reported by a local Malay daily, the 17-year-old girl did not only see the orang minyak a few times, but also felt “someone” caressing her and calling her to go out of the house.
It reportedly also locked the family members outside the house on Christmas eve, forcing the girl's brother-in-law Kamal Bahari Satar, 36, to break down the door.
“We saw a black heap underneath the kitchen table. When other residents poked it with a bamboo stick, we could see blood stains,” he was quoted as saying. It then fled to a neighbour's house.
After being “disturbed” for five days, Kamal decided to move his family out of their house, and out of the neighbourhood.
Unfortunately, all attempts by Sunday Star to contact him were unsuccessful.
Although some of these stories sound incredible and illogical, it is hard to find any Kampung Laksamana resident who doesn't believe in it, even those who haven't seen it.
The residents have been carrying out patrols from midnight to dawn. Every now and then, a team of youngsters can be seen riding their motorbikes in a convoy around the neighbourhood.
During the Christmas weekend, some 200 people patrolled the street, waiting for the orang minyak to appear and many carried parangs (machetes) and axes, says Aslam.
“Until we manage to catch this thing, we are going to carry on with our patrols. I don't feel calm although I don't have a wife or younger sister,” he vows.
Muaz Amran, 21, another resident who has been patrolling the area every night says he did not believe in such a thing before this.
“I thought the thing existed only in the movies but it seems to be happening in real life,” says the fresh graduate, referring to the 1956 P. Ramlee hit movie Sumpah Orang Minyak. He says that although he hasn't seen the orang minyak for himself, he believes his neighbours.
Another resident who only wants to be known as Man says he did not believe his neighbours at first.
Then, on Christmas day, he was woken up at 3am by a commotion outside his house.
“Apparently, the orang minyak had run into the next door neighbour's house but I just brushed aside the incident,” admits the bank officer.
The next night, his niece, who is a university student, saw the orang minyak sitting on the wall of his house.
“She woke up when she heard something. When she peeked out of the window, she saw a black figure sitting on the wall with its back facing her,” he says.
P. Mohan, 48, also claims to have seen the orang minyak at a house opposite his flat at about 12.30am.
“It was crawling up the stairs of the house, just like Spiderman. When it reached the top it suddenly jumped onto the roof. I don't think a human could do that. It then just disappeared,” he says, adding with a slight shudder, “The hair on my hands just stood up. We can laugh and joke about it, but this is serious. All the families here have young girls.”
K. Chandran, 49, has yet to see the orang minyak but he too is afraid that it will harm his 14 year-old daughter after hearing stories of how it appeared in an abandoned house next to his.
“I feel very scared now. All of us sleep in the hall with the lights on,” says the scrap metal dealer, whose lack of sleep is evident around his eyes.
Chandran shares that he has even installed two additional lights in his house, each costing RM500.
“Ever since these sightings, we have been feeling uneasy. I even dreamt about one of them recently,” he says.
Zaki Zainudin, 42, agrees that it has been difficult to get any peace of mind these past few days now they are startled by the slightest sound and get suspicious of every little happening.
“Last time a broken plate was just a broken plate. Now, we wonder why it has broken,” he says, before checking to see why a dog was howling nearby.
Zaki then takes out his phone to show photographs as proof of the existence of the orang minyak oil stains and footprint of the orang minyak in Kamal's house. He has also taken a picture of a banana tree leaf with an unusual tear. It has been said that the orang minyak is attracted to the banana bud (jantung pisang).
What is clear is that this stress has caused residents to lose sleep. Those on patrol only manage to catch a few hours of sleep before heading off to work in the morning. All the residents also sleep with all their lights on these days.
Almost at their wits end, the residents have made a police report as well as getting help from a few alternative healers, including a bomoh. They have also been holding prayers almost every night to ask for protection from the evil “spirits”.
Their frustration at the menace, and exhaustion, however, is growing by the day.
“I dare it to come and confront me now,” says office worker K. Paramasivam, his exasperation evident, echoing the feeling of every Kampung Laksamana resident.
He claims to have seen the bald orang minyak in an abandoned house, before it climbed up to the roof.
His main concern is for everyone in the neighbourhood, especially the young girls.
“I also have a younger sister in my house. We can't be sleeping two or three hours every day. We are not robots.”
But in a way this orang minyak episode has been a blessing in disguise for the residents of Kampung Laksamana.
Man observes that the slight “tension” between the supporters of the different political parties has disappeared in the past few days.
“Everybody is helping one another out. Everyone is together as one,” he says.
The residents also agree that they are friendlier with their neighbours now.
Paramasivam admits that he never really spoke to his neighbours and got to know them before.
“At the most, I would just acknowledge them. Now I actually talk and get to know them. The neighbourly spirit has been enhanced by these happenings,” he says.
 http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/1/nation/10190056&sec=nation


So here you have it, the supernatural things going on behind the Batu Caves. It seems that the orang-orang minyak are working to unify the Malaysian people!  I am not the only one saying this. See also:

Orang Minyak Kampong Laksamana Gombak secara tak langsong merapatkan jurang di-antara masyarakat sekampong!


Or  maybe better put: The Malaysian people unify to protect themselves from the orang-orang minyak, whoever they may be.

And in addition we have to guard from vampire pig. It has been seen flying in other places as well, recently. So, people, beware and guard well against the evils of the super?-natural? world!


Tuesday, December 6, 2011


In Memoriam  Francis Khoo Kah Siang (1947-2011)

A Tireless Advocate of Justice for Palestinians

By Franklin Lamb


Francis Khoo Kah Siang passed away on November 20, 2011.

In addition to the countless reasons Francis will be sorely missed by his friends and loved ones, he will be missed because he leaves a void for many of us who were and remain inspired by his work for Palestinian rights. Francis Khoo is an icon of countless others, who like himself, are neither Arab nor Muslim, neither from the Middle East nor culturally or politically connected to Palestine by birth, but who support the Palestinian cause.

Many of us, but especially Westerners and Americans it seems, learn essentially nothing about the Nakba in school.  Yet many, often quite by chance and for one reason or another, have come into contact with the Question of Palestine and, learning about the great injustice that has befallen the Palestinian people, could not remain indifferent or idle. Francis was one of these.

To my personal regret, I did not know Francis Khoo well personally for a long period although we knew of each other. But by the time we finally met, which was just fourteen months before his sudden and untimely death last month, I knew what kind of a person he was and something about his lifelong quest for justice.

Over the past half-decade I learned something about his remarkably work through my friend, his wife, the gifted orthopedic surgeon and well known humanitarian, Dr. Swee Chai Ang, who for three decades has embraced and supported Palestinian refugees both with lifesaving medical care under heavy and indiscriminate bombardment inside Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp and Gaza Hospital in Beirut, and with her indefatigable work for the refugees return to Palestine. The latter included lectures and appearances around the World, sometimes in the company of Francis, her beloved husband, advocate, counselor and partner.

It was in September of 2010 that I met Francis in person when he came to Beirut for the 28th annual commemoration of the September 1982 Sabra-Shatila Massacre and he attended a reception at the office of the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign and participated in a heavy schedule of activities during his visit. It was evident that he was a fascinating life-loving person with whom it would be a great pleasure to spend time and to work with which I had hoped to do.

All the while he was in Lebanon he was on peritoneal dialysis for kidney failure which he administered himself three to four times a day.According to his niece Melissa, Francis would often use his walking stick as a hanging post for his dialysis fluids including at the Hezbollah museum at Melita in South Lebanon. He recalled with fondness how the Hezbollah Melita museum guard who was obviously unfamiliar with this version of makeshift dialysis tried to help him. On the bus south, to visit Palestinian refugee camps, Francis entertained the passengers with songs, including Beladi (‘my land’) the beautiful Arabic anthem of the Palestinian revolution, followed by a soliloquy on the origin of the song and his interpretation.

Few of the passengers on the bus had much idea about Francis’ background. Francis Khoo Kah Siang was born into a closely knit, devoutly Catholic Singapore Peranakan family. As a lad he sang in the Singing Khoos with his brothers and at an early age developed a passion to work for the rights of the oppressed. Once admitted to the Singapore Bar, Frances began working on sensitive civil rights cases that many other lawyers preferred to avoid.

Francis had earlier developed a reputation as a defender of the downtrodden and while as an undergraduate at University, or later as Vice President of the Student Law Society, he opposed the introduction of the Suitability Certificate, fought the abolition of the jury system in Singapore and condemned the indiscriminate criminal 1972 Christmas Day bombing of Hanoi ordered by President Nixon.

Before long Francis found himself being accused of violating Singapore’s Internal Security Act, which particularly during the 1977-1987 period was used to arrest hundreds of Singaporeans who were held without trial. A fortnight following their January 1977 marriage, the international security police came for him. His young wife Dr. Swee Chai Ang, was also sought by authorities who came for her and threatened to handcuff her while she was in the operating theatre performing surgery. Eventually, and following continuous interrogation, sleep deprivation and solitary confinement, Dr. Swee was released as part of a government scheme to try to lure back to Singapore Francis, who by then had escaped and left for England and he began his 34 years of exile from his country.  Swee joined her loved one and they developed their remarkable careers in London.

Francis’ niece recently wrote that, “They could kick Francis out of Singapore, but they could not kick the Singaporean out of Francis,”as he followed events in his country, frequently wore his Peranakanskirt-the Sarong, and wrote about his homeland including the well-known song, “And Bungaraya Blooms All Day.” Francis had hoped that 2011 would be the Singaporean Spring.
Some friends saw a parallel between Francis’ wish to return to his homeland and his decades of advocacy of the Palestinians Right of Return.

Francis Khoo, was a gifted humanist. He had many God given and self-discipline acquired talents that included using his legal education and life experience to challenge injustices and using his energy and organizational abilities to defend the oppressed.
Just three examples, out of many, include his important work in support of the 1984 UK striking miners and working as Director of War on Want, established by the late British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

 Francis also co-founded with his wife Swee,  and their and my friends, Pamela and Major Derek Cooper who spent the summer of 1982 with Janet Lee Stevens with me in West Beirut, Medical Aid for Palestinians.  Francis served as MAP’s Vice Chairman from 1984 to 2007, while also donating his time and abilities to numerous other charitable works.

Francis’ passions included writing, especially articles, poetry and songs, photography, and drawing. He possessed a particularly unique skill, as explained by his niece Melissa, currently doing her residency in surgery and using the medical term ‘eidetic memory’ in describing her uncle’s photographic memory, that gave Francis the ability to recall images, sounds or objects as well as dates with remarkable precision.

Francis Khoo lived a full and valuable life and left this world a better place because of his lifelong labors for justice. Those of us who were honored to know Francis Khoo Kah Siang and who share his commitment for the liberation of Palestine and the full return of her six million refugees will pay him tribute by continuing his work for peace and justice.

This includes advocating in Lebanon and internationally for the end of the politically motivated excuses from Lebanese politicians and religious leaders, across a wide spectrum, who continue to counsel a go slow approach, after 63 years, for the implementation of even the most elementary, morally and legally mandated civil right to work and to own a home for Lebanon’s quarter million Palestinian Refugees.


Franklin P. Lamb, LLM,PhD
Director, Americans Concerned for
Middle East Peace, Wash.DC-Beirut
Board Member, The Sabra Shatila Foundation and the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, Beirut-Washington DC
Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp
Beirut Mobile: +961-70-497-804
Office:  +961-01-352-127
fplamb@palestinecivilrightscampaign.org