Hungry Ghosts Capture On Film

According to China Press, a group of friends had a shock of their life when they found that they “captured” images of a spirit in the photographs they took during a Hungry Ghost ritual recently.

The news report says that the images, which looked like a paper ghost, appeared in the photographs taken by the restaurant workers.

The group had conducted prayers at about 12.30am on the first day of the Hungry Ghost Month at a roadside in Malacca.

The group later decided to hold another prayer at the same site and were relieved that the spirit did not appear in any of the photographs that they took.

However, a photography expert said the image of the so-called spirit might be just a reflection from a glass window.

Source: The Star

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Regulating Traditional Medicine

In view of the lack of enforcement in alternative treatments, the Traditional & Complementary Medicine Bill is a much anticipated one.

TRADITIONAL and complementary therapies have mushroomed in recent decades and the Health Ministry’s Traditional and Complementary Medicine Division estimates that there are 15,000 traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) practitioners in the country.

Despite the numbers, there is no specific law governing these fields.

Last year, the Division received more than 30 complaints relating to unethical practises, overcharging, and cheating, but the numbers are likely to be more because people are too embarrassed to complain, says the Division’s director Dr Ramli Abd Ghani.

“Practitioners may claim that this or that herb can cure cancer, for instance, with no scientific proof,” he notes.

Dr Ramli says for cancer patients, it is better to get modern medical treatment because there is no alternative or traditional treatment that has been scientifically proven to cure cancer, for now. “They should go to a hospital and get themselves examined first, and if they want to go for traditional treatment, they can add that as an adjunct treatment, which must be monitored by qualified medical personnel,” he says.

Currently, the Health Ministry accepts TCM as adjunct treatment, not alternative treatment.

A total of 85 types of herbs imported from China are used in the Health Ministry’s Hospital Putrajaya, Hospital Sultan Ismail in Johor Baru and Hospital Kepala Batas in Penang in their TCM divisions. These herbs are not for cancer treatment. Instead, they are used to overcome chemotherapy side effects.

“When patients do not suffer from side effects, they are more likely to complete their chemotherapy. “That’s the best we can get out of herbs for now,” he says.

Private hospitals providing similar integrated services are the Lam Wah Ee in Penang, Tungshin in Kuala Lumpur and Hospital Putra in Malacca.

Government hospitals incorporating traditional treatments such as massage, acupuncture and Malay post-natal care include Hospital Sandakan, Hospital Sarawak and Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah in Trengganu.

Challenges in TCM

Many people who use TCM tend to think that the approach uses natural ingredients, and hence, there is no toxicity. Contrary to the perception, naturally occurring heavy metals as well as bacteria are found in herbs.

“Before they take it, they have to check if their liver and kidneys are all right, because if these are damaged, the use of these herbs will worsen the condition,” says Dr Ramli.

The concern is that there are more than 600 medical halls and they are not run by people who can monitor these conditions, he says.

On top of that, there are also concerns about steroids and adulterated drugs or chemicals added into the herbs, he says.

Former Malaysian Medical Association president Dr David Quek says that people should be cautious when using TCM.

“They tend to go for it because it sounds more promising. For example, on the verge of losing one’s leg, they tend to opt not to lose their legs if they can and will try other treatments instead of amputation because it’s catastrophic and frightening,” he says.

On patients who claim that they recover from diseases due to such treatments, Dr Quek says it can be due to the placebo effect, or even the fact that in a small number of cases, they recover no matter what they do or not do. Even in modern medicine, in rare cases, someone with a terrible heart condition, for instance, can live for years despite a poor prognosis, he observes.

While he says he will not object if patients want to try out some supplements, they should consult their doctors first to prevent any drug interaction.

Consultant breast surgeon and associate professor at Universiti Malaya Dr Nur Aishah Mohd Taib says some TCM researchers claim that certain products are anti-cancer based on tests in laboratories, but no clinical trials are carried out to prove the efficacy of the herbal products on humans.

“This is unacceptable,” she says.

Dr Nur Aishah urges the authorities to monitor all claims on cancer cures without proper clinical trials done on humans because it may not be effective and can be unsafe.

While the scientific community does not accept TCM as evidence-based or standard treatment, the TCM industry does not necessarily believe that TCM is only for complementing modern treatment as per the Government’s stance.

Federation of Complementary & Natural Medical Associations honorary secretary Tunku Badli Tunku Ibrahim says they usually ask the patient if he or she has seen the doctor and what the doctor’s advice is. “We take the case history and give our views, but the choice is the client’s and they can discuss with their family members,” he says.

He says traditional and Chinese medicine (T&CM) are recognised in many Western countries, and they are decades ahead of Malaysia when it comes to established qualifications. The level of practice in Malaysia needs a boost in terms of professionalism and stringent monitoring.

He says the problem is, there are many who attend courses (for a few days) and claim themselves to be practitioners while others may deceive customers with fake credentials.

Professionalism in practice

Dr Ramli says the Ministry hopes that the Traditional and Complementary Bill will be tabled very soon, since it did not get to be tabled in March, so that they can take disciplinary action against those who flout the law.

“Currently, our hands are tied because there is no specific law governing the activities or to compel practitioners to adhere to guidelines,” he says.

When the Act is in place, the Traditional & Complementary Medicine Council will be set up to look into the rules and regulations and matters pertaining to certification, he says.

Dr Ramli says that many TCM practitioners also misuse the title “Dr”, especially in homeopathy therapies, and this will not be allowed unless approved by the council.

Dr Ramli says the division is promoting voluntary registration of TCM practitioners in the country and 3,000 practitioners have registered themselves online.

“We urge all practitioners to register now because once the bill is passed in Parliament, we will vet through the registration and issue a certificate on a first-come-first-serve basis,” he says.

The Act will also ensure that those who wish to pursue TCM must have diplomas or degrees before they are allowed to practise.

Dr Ramli says they are collaborating with universities and the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) on proper places for the studies and also collaborating with the Human Resources Ministry’s Skills Development Department on getting spa therapists qualified.

As for bomoh practices, they will be guided based on Islamic principles and be given diplomas, he says.

Under the proposed law, practitioners have to adhere to a code of ethics, put patient safety first, refer them to the doctor if it is not their area of expertise, and ensure patient confidentiality, Dr Ramli explains.

The Division has categorised traditional medicine into Malay, Chinese, Indian and homeopathy, while complementary medicine has been divided into four groups – mind and body (music therapy), biological, energy medicine and manipulative therapy.

A therapy is considered a wellness programme if it is not evidence-based treatment, such as a spa programme, but if it is evidence-based, such as acupuncture or certain herbs that help with certain health problems, they are considered therapeutic, says Dr Ramli.

The Government is also collaborating with the government of China and India on traditional treatments, he says.

Every year, 10 to 20 Malaysian students study in three recognised TCM universities in China – Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, he says, adding that in China, a traditional medicine pharmacy degree course requires four years of study.

Malaysia has also signed a memorandum of understanding with India and the latter has offered short-term courses to Malaysians, he says.

Dr Ramli says the Ministry hopes that with the introduction of proper studies, more will move towards evidence-based research. “We want to promote clinical trials,” he says.

Since there is currently no law on TCM practices, patients going for these treatments do so at their own risk. For this reason, if they still want to use TCM, they should be properly monitored by qualified professionals or in hospital settings approved by the Health Ministry.

Source: The Star

This is a typical Chinese traditional medicine shop in Malaysia.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (中醫) refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and look back on a tradition of more than 2000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage therapy, and dietary therapy. These practices are a common part of medical care throughout East Asia, but are considered alternative medicine in the western world. On can find shops similar to this in many parts of Malaysia especially in cities and town where there is a large concentration of Chinese. A Chinese traditional medicine practitioner in Malaysia is called a Sinseh.

This is a standard Jamu shop. Jamu is traditional medicine from Indonesia. It is predominantly herbal medicine made from natural materials, such as parts of plants such as roots, leaves and bark, and fruit. There is also material from the bodies of animals, such as bile of goat or alligator used.

Jamu, traditionally made by at home and sold by street hawkers in Indonesia are produced in factories by large companies such as Fountain, Nyonya Meneeror Djamu Djago, and sold at various Jamu shops in sachet packaging and bottles.

Legand has it that Jamu originated in the Mataram Kingdom some 1300 years ago. Though heavily influenced by Ayurveda from India, Indonesia is a vast archipelago with numerous indigenous plants not found in India.

Jamu is generally prescribed by indigenous Malay or Indonesia physicians (dukuns or bomohs). One can find a Jamu shop is many places in Malaysia occupied predominantly by Malay or Indonesia communities.

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The "Mandi Bunga" Ritual

Mandi bunga (Floral Baths) are practiced by the Malays, Chinese and Indians in Malaysia. As with the different cultures, the methods of the mandi bunga also varies.

The mandi bunga is performed to dispel bad luck (bad vibes) - "buang sui" or "buang sial". The rationale is that once a person is void of bad luck, he's able to attract good fortune.

Kaffir Lime (limau purut) and pomelo (the Chinese grapefruit) leaves are commonly used ingredients in the mandi bunga ritual.

The Chinese believe that pomelo leafs dispel bad luck. The Chinese has been practicing mandi bunga for centuries - when one is feeling unwell, or facing hardship and misfortunes or even when one is in need for better luck, he/she should wash his/her hands, face or take a bath with boiled pomelo leaves with water.

Common name: Pomelo.
Scientific name: Citrus grandis.
Malay name: Limau bali, limau besar, limau tambun, limau abong (Malaysia), jeruk bali, jeruk adas, jeruk machan, limau kibau, limau balak,

limau besar, limau betawi, jambua (Indonesia). Other common names: Shaddock, Batavia lemon.

The Malays and Indians believe that bathing with kaffir lime can dispel evil and bad luck. The fruit is cut and blended with plain water and then bathe with as part of spiritual cleansing to "buang sial".

"Limau purut", the Malay name for kaffir lime, or its scientific name citrus hystrix is of the rutaceae family.

Over the years different variants of mandi bunga have emerged transcending cultures. There is a practice of having a bath fusing both kaffir lime and pomelo leaves together.

Another variation is to select one flower for every color of the rainbow. It doesn't matter what type of flower it is, and it need not have a fragrance. Different colour flowers are used because in Tibetan Buddhism it is believed that each color carries a specific energy or vibration. Healing using colors is 'supplementary' to other types of healing.

First, run your bath water. Then, add whatever other ingredients you desire into the bath - it could be pomelo leaves and kaffir lime. Lastly, place the flowers in your bath water with their stems on; or, you can pull off the petals and place only the petals in the water. Don't place the flowers them directly under the water. Instead just sprinkle them around the entire tub.

Leave the flowers in the water for at least 15 minutes prior to your getting into the bath. After soaking the flowers for 15 minutes, completely soak yourself and stay in the water for at least 15 minutes - you can even completely submerge yourself in the water. After the 15 minutes, you can either choose to remain in your flower bath or you can get out.

Once you're out of the flower bath, take a cool shower. It doesn't matter if you use soap or any other products to shower. :)

In some feng shui practices, kafir lime leaves are also used is space clearing - read more here.

Read articles in Malay on Mandi Bunga here and here

There is, however, no scientific evidence as to how effective these baths are in achieving the desired result or if they do really work. What we know is, that these baths have been practiced for generations and could be nothing more than a case of mind over matter - a placebo. Whatever it is, there is no harm trying - at least it is refreshing.

Despite what is said about Asian rituals, such as, it not being congruent with western science - there is no way to explain the Asian concept "heaty" and "cooling" with reference to western science, but the practice has been proven to effectively cure minor ailments like flu, coughs, colds, fevers etc, nevertheless. Similarly, whilst the effectiveness of mandi bunga cannot be proved with reference to western science, it may nevertheless work.

Please share what you think about mandi bunga. Leave you comments. Thanks.

Tibetan Dzi Beads Rush In Malaysia

According to local Dzi beads enthusiast Lei, the Dzi beads have been in existence in this country since five or six years ago. However, the Dzi beads were not that popular here as compared to crystals at that time.

Lei believes Dzi beads are a precious jewellery that posses the power of bringing good fortune to the owners, such as protection from ill luck, prosperity, wealth, good health and ward off the evil.

The authentic ancient Tibetan Dzi beads are very hard to find today as they are all in the hands of people who really treasure the stones. This shows the value of the "Heavenly eyes."

Because of this, counterfeit Dzi beads have been produced by irresponsible businessmen trying to make some quick bucks by faking the Dzi beads. Old beads are those which have been etched for more than a hundred years and are believed to radiate stronger "good" energy. The difference between new and old piece lies in the age of the etchings.

Dzi beads were first discovered in the Tibetan Plateau and have played a very important role in the Tibetan culture for the past two thousand years. They are precious possessions for the Tibetan people, and there are so many fascinating stories around their mystical powers.

Formed under the earth long, long ago, Dzi beads are patterned agate beads mainly cylindrical or tabular in shape with symbols consisting of circles, ovals, squares, wavelines, stripes various other symbolic patterns which carry some specific meanings with different numbers of eyes etched on the beads.

Lei believes the nine eyes beads have given him blessings with so many positive attributes associated with them. As a result, he has been inspired to travel all the way to Tibet to collect Dzi beads of other patterns. Today, Lei even has his own store selling Dzi beads to people who are interested in the stones with the hope of sharing the good fortune with others.

Fake beads

Fake Dzi beads that are found in the market are mostly made of plastic, pottery or glass. To verify the authenticity of the beads, we need to look through the hole and check the colour of the inner part of the stone. If it is white in colour, the Dzi bead is authentic.

Lei also says the Dzi beads sold at very cheap prices at roadside stalls are mostly counterfeit.

About Dzi beads

Q: Where are the origins of Dzi beads?

A: Dzi beads are mostly found in eastern Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Ladakh and the Himalayan mountains.

Q: What kind of power do the Dzi beads possess?

A: According to the experts of precious stones, the Dzi beads are second hardest substance in the world after diamond, and are therefore also known as "semi diamond" in Tibet.

Q: How do we differentiate between new and ancient Dzi beads?

A: Based on the age of etchings.

Source: Sin Chew

Dzi bead (pronounced "zee"; alternative spelling: gzi). The meaning of the Tibetan word "dzi" translates to "shine, brightness, clearness, splendor". In Chinese, the bead is called "heaven's bead" or "heaven's pearl".

Dzi is a bead stone of mysterious origin worn as part of a necklace and sometimes as a bracelet. In several Asian cultures, including that of Tibet, the bead is considered to provide positive spiritual benefit. These beads are generally prized as protective amulets and are sometimes ground up into a powder to be used in traditional Tibetan medicine. Beads subject to this process have small "dig marks" where a portion of the bead has been scraped or shaved away to be ground into the medicine.

Beads that are broken are believed to have a diluted benefit, because they have taken the brunt of the force that it is assumed would have otherwise impacted the wearer.

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Valuable Special Geckos

KUALA LUMPUR: You can get almost anything you want in the Pudu market, including geckos.

Nevertheless, they are in fact not ordinary geckos but the “fine medicines” that are said to be efficient in curing the HIV and AIDS. A big crowd usually gather in front of the stall of selling geckos to take a close look at a few valuable geckos.

This kind of geckos has a huge demand in the Chinese and Japanese markets. A gecko weighted 300 grams can be sold from RM35, 000 to over a million ringgit.

Meanwhile in Kuching, there were large lizards for sale. It is said that the lizards cost RM250 each has a miracle effect in healing AIDS and the HIV. However, its medical benefit has not yet been scientifically proven.

Source: Sin Chew

Related post: Tokay Geckos For Sale

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Evil Spirits Attack Widow's House

The Star reported Zainab Sulaiman’s house is infested with djinn (spirits) which are believed to have caused 200 mysterious fires in her home in Kampung Penambang Bunga Emas, near Kota Baru, in Kelantan.

On Wednesday night, a group of local Muslim exorcists called Darul Shifaq spent half the night in her house chanting Quranic verses in attempt to drive out the djinn but without success.

The group apparently also used holy water to cleanse her ancient keris (Malay dagger), swords, and brasswares where the spirits are believed to be "occupying".

According to the group leader, Zainab's ancient keris and swords, possibly inherited from her ancestors, could have been used by her forefathers in the practise of black magic.

Prior to this a Siamese medium had attempted to drive away the spirits but was also unsuccessful.

Apparently an American couple visited Zainab recently at night offering to help rid the house of the spirits but she politely declined because of language problems and feared the attempt of exorcising would anger the spirits further.

In a report by the Daily Chilli, the latest spiritualist to attempt to exorcise the house is Master Ong Q Leng from Penang. Master Ong uses Kung Fu (Chinese martial art) in the exorcism ritual. She went over to Zainab's house on Saturday to drive away djinns and seal the house to prevent them from coming back and causing trouble again.

Master Ong said she could sense the presence of evil the moment she stepped into the house. There are allegedly little djinns under the house while the larger ones are outside the premises.

Master Ong claimed that she able to chase away the small djinns but there is a 50-50 chance that they will return to cause trouble again.

Zainab is a widow who lives in the wooden house with her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

Related story: Exorcism Singapore style - watch these videos of a Chinese medium performing an exorcism.

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Witches To Put Curse On Government

Witchcraft has been recently recognised as a legitimate profession in Romania and witches, including astrologers and fortune tellers, have now to be registered and pay tax.

In protest of this new tax law, Romanian witches from the east and west will head to the southern plains and the Danube River to threaten the government with curses and hexes.
Romania has always had a strong tradition in witchcraft and it still does. Romanian witches are still plying their trade in casting spells, telling the future, selling amulets for protection and good fortune, curing illnesses or bad habits and even causing death of ones enemies.

In Romania, witchcraft is a multi-million dollar business. The Romanian TV used to be filled with advertisements of witches advertising spells, magic formulas and portions. As matters got out of control, the Romanian government had to ban the witchcraft advertisements on TV.

While white and black magic are just history in many countries, are still widely practised in Romania.

In remote Romanian villages, as in villages in Malaysia, people often go to a witch before they go to the doctor.

63 year old Queen witch Bratara Buzea, who was imprisoned in the 1970s for witchcraft under the previous communist government, is furious about the new tax law. She plans to cast a potent spell using a secret ritual in collaboration with many covens of witches in Romania. Apparently, she claims that her spells always work. We will have to wait and see how effective the spell is and its effect on the Romanian government.

In Malaysia, like Romania, people from different faiths and religious traditions still hold a strong belief in the supernatural. Malaysians still consult mediums, astrologers and bomohs (Malay shamans), even at the risk of being cheated by charlatans, to attain solutions to their daily and professional problems including using black magic. The effectiveness on these "traditional methods" are still difficult to determine as they produce no consistent results. There is still a roaring demand for the black arts in Malaysia from the common village folk and local celebrities to businessmen and politicians.

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The Underworld

Eight individuals tell of their encounter with denizens of the underworld.

Who doesn’t enjoy sharing spooky stories with friends — usually encounters that have happened to a friend of a friend? But listening is one thing, experiencing is another.

Businessman and part-time actor Tan Chin Choy, 29, says he had a glimpse of an alternate universe when he visited his brother at hospital a few years ago.

“My brother was admitted into the hospital for appendicitis. This incident took place on the second night I visited him. I was in the lift going to the 5th floor. When the doors opened, nothing looked familiar. The place was empty except for the presence of a large Malay family who stood waiting in the hall — there were about 10 of them,” he remembers.

“Two young kids were running around playing. I walked around and looked into the wards but I didn’t see anybody; not even the nurses. So I went back to the lift, thinking I had made a mistake.

“When the lift came, the bell sounded and the doors opened. Before I could enter, the two kids stopped playing and stared in confusion at the lift. One said to the other: ‘Eh, didn’t that lift just open?’ I thought that was weird — I had pressed for the lift, so of course the lift doors would open. The two kids didn’t seem to acknowledge my existence at all and neither did the rest of the people there.

“I entered the lift and went down to the 4th floor. It still wasn’t the right floor, but this one seemed ‘normal’. I called my brother on the phone to check but he insisted that he was on the 5th floor.

“So I took the lift to the 5th floor, and this time, I arrived at the ‘correct’ place — it was busy and there were nurses and people walking about. I found my brother’s ward easily.

Later, just to be sure, I checked each of the floors but I never came across that ‘empty’ floor again. I was really jittery after that. It was as if I had a glimpse of an alternate universe,” Tan remarks.

How bizarre is that?

Peeping Tom

Tan’s brother Chin Huei, 26, has had his own share of hair-raising encounters. About 10 years ago, the professional golfer crossed paths with a paranormal Peeping Tom.

“My dad and I used to play night golf at this club, and we would shower in the changing room after every game. I often saw a shadow going past the shower stall’s frosted door. I thought it was probably just someone else from the club.

“It started to feel weird when I noticed that the shadow was peeping at me — I would be washing my hair with my eyes shut and when I opened them, I would see this shadow quickly move out of sight. Once or twice I even saw it flicking a towel across, back and forth. Apparently, my dad had also experienced the same thing.

“This one time, before I turned on the shower, I saw the shadow walking past towards the left side of the room. When I went out to check, I didn’t find anyone in the other shower stalls. What’s creepy was that the shadow had moved towards the side of the room that was a dead end. The club has since renovated the changing rooms,” he says.

Possessed

According to Norhashida Harmi, 22, when she was in Form Three, her late grandmother decided to send a message to her children — through her. The personal assistant only knew of this later when her mother reluctantly told her about the incident.

“I was out with my friends around 7.30pm, when I suddenly fainted and collapsed,” she remembers.

“I was brought to the hospital but the doctor found nothing wrong with me — no fever, nothing. My back hurt when I woke up. The doctor did an MRI scan on me, and again, he found nothing. By then, my parents were quite worried so the doctor suggested that they bring me to a bomoh (medium).

“My dad found a bomoh and brought me to him. It was really scary because the bomoh said that I was being followed by ‘something’

“Ada orang tumpang belakang you (there’s someone following you),” he said.

My parents didn’t know what to do, so they brought me home and that was when I collapsed again. I was put in bed. My mom was crying when suddenly they heard a strange voice — I was speaking in my grandmother’s voice but my eyes were still closed. My grandmother had passed on two years earlier.

“At first my dad thought I was playing a trick. But the voice identified itself as my grandmother and started addressing her children — naming them one by one. She wasn’t at peace — we had forgotten about her and nobody was praying for her.

“I was quite close to my grandmother because I was the first cucu (grandchild) she took care of when I was young. After that incident, I woke up but I couldn’t remember a thing. I only remember seeing a bolt of lightning before I fainted. I didn’t feel anything when it happened.”

Invisible presence

Over 10 years ago, Y.Y. Foo, 32, had to work overnight to complete a project in a recording studio. Now a photography producer, Foo recalls the strange feeling of being watched.

“It was about 1am, and I was working alone in this studio that had an enclosed voice booth and a large desk with a counter. Someone had left a flashlight standing upright on the counter and I had propped open the voice booth door with a fire extinguisher.

I was at the desk working on the audio console when I suddenly felt ‘something’ going around the room,” Foo recalled.

“It came out from the voice booth and it was passing by the counter. I didn’t see or hear anything but I could feel its presence.

“The thing went round the counter, then stopped and hovered above the flashlight. I didn’t dare look up but I could feel a pair of eyes looking at me while I worked.

“After a while, the thing left. I felt the studio doors — which are extremely heavy for sound-proofing purposes — bump slightly. It sounded like someone was either leaving or entering the room but there was nobody outside. I was scared but I didn’t feel threatened, so I continued working.”

Film director Daniel Khoo, 38, also had a strange experience when he first started working. He was sent to live in a bungalow by the beach in Penang for a two-week training course.

“There were five to six rooms in the house. The guys took the rooms downstairs and the girls stayed upstairs. I stayed in a room with five of my school friends. We were all eager to start work the next day so we went to bed early that first night, at about 11pm. It had just started raining and the weather was nice and cool.

“I woke up suddenly. I was sleeping face down and something — it felt like a fist — touched my back. At first I thought it was one of my friends. I sensed that somebody was watching me. I slowly turned to my left and there was this white figure standing by the corner of the room. She was wearing a tudung (scarf). I could not see her face or feet. I felt my hair standing up. I was so scared!

“I thought I was dreaming but I could hear the rest snoring. I didn’t dare look anymore and I didn’t dare move. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to sleep. The next day, I decided not to tell anybody. For the next two weeks, I took on extra shifts and made sure that I exhausted myself with the training so that I would be ‘knocked out’ immediately when I got home.

“The last night before we left, we were celebrating over drinks and food when one of the guys asked, ‘Did anybody see anything in this house?’ To my surprise, everyone said yes — all the guys had seen the same lady in a tudung. Some saw her in the toilet. Once, she even raised her hand and beckoned to one of them. She also appeared to some in their dreams.

“The girls thought we were only trying to scare them as none of them had seen the ‘ghost’. When we got back to Ipoh, we asked the manager about the encounter. He finally told us that yes, ‘something’ was there, but it only hung around downstairs in the bungalow — which was where all the guys stayed!”

The extra colleague

W. N. Lee, 31, says she has been “seeing” things since a Girl Guides camping trip in secondary school. The project manager was told that she had offended the spirits when she cut down some bamboo in the forest.

“Most of the time, I don’t see them in full — their opacity is about 50% to 60%. But at first glance, I will know whether it’s a man or woman, an adult or kid. They look like regular people but their faces are expressionless. Sometimes they disturb me; usually they are just standing around,” Lee divulges.

“This one time, I had just joined a new company and the first week was a rush; there were a lot of projects and everyone was busy.

“A few of my colleagues were seated at this particular row of desks isolated from the rest. When I had lunch with one of them who was seated in that area, I asked him, ‘Don’t you find it weird that the four of you are sitting there in the middle with all those empty spaces around you?’

“He gave me a very strange expression and replied, ‘Four? There are only three of us.’ I thought he misunderstood me, so I counted out the four of them and told him that there was another guy seated right at the end. Quietly, he told me that there were only three desks in that area.

“When I went back to the office I counted the desks and sure enough, there were only three. What I saw previously had been an extra ‘person’ — a guy — sitting at an additional desk, seemingly busy at work. After that, I never saw him again.”

Shapeless blobs

In her university years, P. L. Leong, 35, says she was haunted by an entity that lurked in the apartment she rented in Ohio, the United States. The designer recalls how it all started with a man’s voice emanating from the radio.

“On the third day, after I moved in, I started hearing a muffled voice coming from my radio. It sounded like an angry man who was scolding someone. It was clearly English but I couldn’t understand it,” she says.

“At first I thought it was the neighbours. I went to check, but nobody was home. When I stuck my ear to the radio, I heard the voice again, even after the radio had been unplugged. I thought maybe the internal clock had malfunctioned so I didn’t think much of it.

“A month after that, I had a huge argument with my boyfriend, who was also staying in the apartment. I went to sleep early in my room, but in the middle of the night, I woke up suddenly. I was semi-awake; my eyes were half-open and I felt really tired. Something was pressing down on me, but I couldn’t see what it was. I couldn’t even move,” Leong recounts.

“The room was pitch black. I started to get really scared and that’s when I noticed these dark blobs — at least five to six of them — moving around in the room. They had me surrounded. They were like figures, but shapeless without heads.

“I heard something say, ‘Let me’ over and over again in a whisper. I understood it as trying to tell me to calm down. After a while, I pretended to relax. Then I used all my might and finally broke free of the invisible force that held me down and screamed loudly — but all I heard was a tiny voice calling out.

“When I sat up in bed I saw the blobs, now shadows, flying out the window behind me. At that moment, I heard a loud noise echoing in the distance. It sounded like the noise a flock of birds make whenever they fly off. Then the street lights from the shutters suddenly streamed into the room. It was still dark out.

“I got up and ran to wake my boyfriend in the other room. I couldn’t stop crying. We moved out after that,” she shudders.

Living dreams

Writer Tony Siva, 42, says he, too, has seen the “others”, but only in his dreams. Are they real or just a figment of his subconscious mind?

“My mom was staying over at my apartment during a long weekend break. On the third night, I dreamt that my dad was in the apartment talking to me. He had passed on over 12 years earlier, and I had never dreamt of him before. He repeated to me, ‘You have to read between the lines’.

“When I woke up, I had this bad feeling that something was going to happen to my mum. She was already up having coffee, and before I could say anything, she said, ‘I dreamt of your father last night and he was here talking to me. He says that he’s proud of you and that he likes this apartment a lot’.”

“A month later, my mum had a heart attack and passed away. I took the dream as a warning.

“In the days following her wake, I had another strange dream. I saw my mum drop a letter into a basket. I drove back to her house and found the letter. It was really in a basket — one that I had never seen before.

“It turned out to be my mum’s goodbye letter, detailing what coffin she wanted us to get, telling us what to do and that we should take good care of ourselves. She must’ve written it before she got the heart attack, knowing that something was going to happen to her.

“That night, I had another dream, and this time, it was of a Christian hymn. I woke up and told my sisters. When I sang the words to them, they froze; the hymn was my mum’s favourite and we had, in fact, forgotten to sing it at the wake. This second sign made me believe in the existence of another universe, and that it’s trying to communicate with us.”

Source: The Star

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Exorcism Singapore Style

Part 1

Singapore ghostbuster Master Chew Hon Chin leads Madam Liang through the ring of fire to dispel the spirits and demons that have been haunting her for seven years.

Part 2

Madam Liang steps into a tank of water with a burner underneath it.

Will soaking in warm water chase away the evil dark forces that have been bothering her?

Part 3

At 12:20am sharp, Madam Liang would be rudely awakened from her sleep by something brushing against her body.

It gets worse every first and fifteen day of the Lunar month.

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Beware Of The Boatmen At Local Island Resorts

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It was reported by a local daily recently that boatmen ferrying visitors to 2 famous island resorts in Peninsular Malaysia had sexually taken advantage of women tourists after offering them drinks spiked with drugs.

The boatmen would allegedly first befriend solo women travellers and will offer spiked drinks to these women before taking advantage of them.

It is also possible, says the news report, that the boatmen could have been using black magic in the form of minyak dagu, or corpse oil on the woman. Some believe that applying Minyak dagu on women makes them lose inhibitions and enter into a trance-like state open to seductive suggestions.

Minyak dagu is normally obtained from a Bomoh (local Shaman). The oil is believed to be extracted from the chin of a dead person. To do this, the Shaman will exhume a fresh grave, heat the fat at the chin of the corpse to collect its oil in a small bottle. He would then perform magical rituals to empower the oil which can be used for many different supernatural ends.

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20 Famous Haunted Hotels In The US

Even people who don’t believe in ghosts like a good ghost story. They’re creepy but fun, and the places ghosts are rumored to haunt wind up becoming tourist attractions. The rule applies to hotels, too, and there are plenty of them across the country with their own eerie tales of lost loves, bad killings, and spirits doomed to haunt the living.

1. Hotel Provincial (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Located in the city’s French Quarter, the Hotel Provincial dates back to before the Civil War. One of its buildings originally housed a medical hospital, and to this day people claim to see Confederate soldiers and doctors walking around or asking for help. One story talks of a ghost of a soldier from the 1930s who loved country music, and who will tune the room’s radio to the country station if it’s changed.

2. Stanley Hotel (Estes Park, Colorado)
Opened in 1909, this classic American hotel is best known for inspiring Stephen King’s The Shining after he and his wife stayed there. There have been numerous reports of hauntings, including staff claiming to hear a party in the ballroom only to find it empty. Some also claim to have seen a man standing over their bed, and believe this ghost to be responsible for stealing some guests’ personal effects.

3. Hotel del Coronado (San Diego, California)
One of the city’s most popular hotels, the Hotel del Coronado is the site of many strange happenings, some related to the death of Kate Morgan at the turn of the century. Morgan checked in under an alias in November 1892, looking sick but claiming her brother, a doctor, was arriving later. No doctor ever came, and a few days later, she went into town and bought a gun. She was found dead outside the hotel the next morning.

4. Menger Hotel (San Antonio, Texas)
San Antonio’s Menger Hotel is one of the oldest in the state with tons of history, so it’s no surprise that it’s become a hot spot for reports of otherworldy sightings. Some claim to have seen President Teddy Roosevelt drinking at the bar; Roosevelt used the hotel as a recruiting place for Rough Riders. But it’s the ghost of Sallie White that’s proven to be the most popular. White was a maid there in the late 1800s, and she was attacked in the building by her husband and wound up dying days later. People say she can still be seen walking the halls, carrying linens for guests.

5. Sheraton Gunter Hotel (San Antonio, Texas)
Another south Texas landmark, the Gunter Hotel was built in 1909. In 1965, a young man using an alias checked in alone to room 636 but began spending time with an unidentified blonde woman. A few days later, a maid entered the room to find the man standing next to the bed covered in blood. He grabbed a bundle of sheets and ran out. Police came and found the woman’s blood everywhere and parts of her flesh in the toilet. The man was located at a nearby hospital, but he shot himself as police approached. The woman’s body was never found. People have since reported strange happenings in room 636, including sightings of the spirit and the woman’s sudden appearance in photographs in the room.

6. Bullock Hotel (Deadwood, South Dakota)
Sheriff and hotelier Seth Bullock is best known to modern audiences as one of the main characters on HBO’s “Deadwood,” but the man was real. Present-day visitors to the Bullock Hotel in South Dakota have reportedly seen Bullock himself walking through the building or heard a male voice call their names when no one else is present.

7. Crescent Hotel (Eureka Springs, Arkansas)
Opened in 1886, the Crescent Hotel looks a little creepy from the outside, with its old-style architecture. Originally built to capitalize on the popularity of Eureka Springs’ reputed “healing waters,” the hotel has had ups and downs over its long life, as well as quite a few brushes with the supernatural. One spirit, whom the staff have named Michael, is reportedly the ghost of one of the stone masons who built the hotel and who died in a fall on the second floor. As a result, room 218 is said to be the most haunted of all of them, and Michael reportedly loves to turn appliances off and on and pound on the walls.

8. Imperial Hotel (Cripple Creek, Colorado)
The Imperial Hotel opened at the turn of last century in part to house the miners and visitors who needed a place to stay after the 1896 fire wrecked most of the town. It’s rumored that George Long, the hotel’s former owner, haunts the building to this day and can be seen playing the slot machines and flirting with women. Night guards have reported hearing sounds from the casino floor at but found no one there.

9. Ghost City Inn (Jerome, Arizona)
Jerome is a tiny tourist town in the Arizona desert, and the Ghost City Inn is rumored to be the home of multiple spirits who haunt the building and its inhabitants. A female and male spirit have been spotted lurking in different rooms, and some guests have reported having their doors slam shut on their own.

10. Lumber Baron Inn (Denver, Colorado)
This elegant bead & breakfast was once the mansion home of lumber baron John Mouat. The inn was restored and reopened in the early 1990s, at which point people began to hear strange sounds like phantom footsteps. Some paranormal investigators claim to have made contact with the spirits of two women who were killed at the hotel in 1970: One girl was 17 who was raped and killed, and the other was her 18-year-old friend who came across the scene and was killed by the murderer. The case is still unsolved.

11. Skirvin Hotel (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Constructed with oil money earned by W.B. Skirvin, this Oklahoma landmark was a popular speakeasy during Prohibition. Rumor has it that Skirvin had an affair with a maid who became pregnant and was subsequently confined to a room on the top floor to prevent the scandal from leaking out. After the baby was born, the woman became so depressed at her imprisonment that she took the child and jumped out the window. For decades, random guests reported an inability to sleep over the cries of a child coming from somewhere nearby. The hotel was closed in 1988 but recently reopened, and the maid’s spirit is alleged to still haunt its halls.

12. Tutwiler Hotel (Birmingham, Alabama)
The ghost of the titular Colonel Tutwiler is rumored to haunt this Southern hotel. After a string of occurences in which the bartender came to work to find the kitchen appliances running despite having been turned off the night before, the staff began to half-jokingly admonish the ghost of Tutwiler for messing up the kitchen and ask him to not do it again. Weirdly enough, that fixed things, though some people still say you can see the ghost of Tutwiler around the hotel.

13. Plains Hotel (Cheyenne, Wyoming)
Cheyenne’s Plains Hotel opened in 1911 with much fanfare and soon became known for catering to wealthy visitors in the oil and cattle industries. But a sinister event led to what many believe to be the hotel’s haunting. A bride and groom checked into the Plains Hotel on their honeymoon, and one evening the husband met a prostitute in the hotel bar and went back to her room, his wife watching the whole time. The wife took her husband’s gun and followed the couple to their room where she killed them both and then shot herself in the honeymoon suite. All three spirits are said to still linger in the hotel, and staff claim to have heard weeping and crying coming from the couple’s former room even when it’s empty.

14. The Inn at Merridun (Union, South Carolina)
The innkeepers at Merridun cheekily play along with their hotel’s ghostly past. Rumor goes that ten different ghosts or “energy forces” linger at the inn, leading to unusual happenings, freaky sightings, and minor issues like missing or moved possessions.

15. Ballastone Inn (Savannah, Georgia)
Before it was an inn, the Ballastone was the home of General Robert Anderson and his wife, Sarah. Robert fought in the Civil War, and the family lived there into the 1880s. People say you can still see Sarah’s ghost walking along the second floor, or using the elevator.

16. Sheridan Inn (Sheridan, Wyoming)
At one time operated by Buffalo Bill Cody, this inn near the northern border of Wyoming is now the home of Miss Kate, the ghost of a woman who worked at the hotel for 64 years in a variety of positions, including desk clerk and hostess. When Miss Kate died in 1968, her ashes were interred in the wall of her third-floor room, which is prone now to chills and erratic light behavior.

17. Buxton Inn (Granville, Ohio)
One of the most ghost-filled places in the state, Ohio’s Buxton Inn is known for its many hauntings. Reports of spirit sightings date back to the 1920s, when people saw what looked like Orrin Granger, the man who built the inn early in the 1800s. There’s also Bonnie, a former innkeeper who died in room 9 and reportedly haunts it to this day. Guests in the room claim to have seen a woman dressed in blue, which was Bonnie’s favorite color.

18. Laguna Vista (Eagle Nest, New Mexico)
This one’s another honeymoon of heartbreak. There are many spirits said to be stuck haunting the Laguna Vista, including a young bride whose husband went out on a hunting trip and never returned, forcing her to work as a saloon girl to suppoert herself. Some people say they’ve seen her spirit hanging around the building, looking for husband. Other ghostly occurences include a piano that plays when no one is around.

19. Glick Mansion Bed & Breakfast (Atchison, Kansas)
Billed as the most haunted town in Kansas, Atchison has its share of attractions rumored to be populated by spirits from beyond the grave. The Glick Mansion, home of one-time Kansas governor George Washington Glick (in office from 1883-1885), is a tourist destination that’s also on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s also the supposed home to a benevolent ghost that’s prone to open and close doors at random.

20. Lemp Mansion (St. Louis, Missouri)
The Lemp Mansion has seen several incarnations before its current status as a hotel. The Lemp family was a major name in breweries in St. Louis before Prohibition, but their family empire fell to ruin, divorce, and death by suicide. The building is considered one of the most haunted in the country, and the various members of the Lemp clan have been seen roaming the halls. People have also said they’ve seen candles light themselves, doors open on their own, and glasses flying off shelves to crash on the floor.

Source: Hospitality Management Schools

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UFO Sighed In Tuaran Beach Resort, Sabah

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A Malay tabloid reported recently that a UFO (unidentified flying object) had been sighted at a beach resort near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

A witness, 27-year old Jemas Dungil, reported seeing a round, blue object floating in the air that turned green seconds later.

The UFO, witnessed by several Tuaran Beach Resort staff members and guests, emitted blue and green light, floated in the air for a minute, and then vanished into the night sky.

While some eye witnesses claimed to have successfully captured images of the object with their handphones, but others said that their mobile phones mysteriously "went dead" when they attempted to do so.

Look at this video of a UFO sighted in Penang in January.

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Paul, The Psychic Octopus, Predicts World Cup Matches

Paul the psychic octopus has a 100% accuracy for Germany's World Cup games so far.

Paul was perfect in his predictions on the German team at the World Cup, choosing correctly Germany wins over Australia, Ghana, England and Argentina as well as Serbia’s victory over Germany.

Paul lives at Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany but was born in Weymouth, England.

This oracle uses two two plastic boxes lowered into Paul's tank, one with the German flag and the other with the opponent's flag. Each has a tasty morsel of food inside. The box which Paul opens first is judged to be the predicted winner of the game.

Paul's latest prediction is Spain winning over Germany tomorrow.

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Pontianak In Police Lock Up

Police Officers on night duty at the Betong district police headquarters have been seeing apparitions of a Pontianak (female vampire, in Malay folklore), reported a Malay tabloid.

The Pontianak,which appears as a woman with long hair in a white dress have been spotted several times at the vicinity this police station and its lock up, approximately 150km from Kuching.

Apparently the apparitions started when the police headquarters shifted to the current location sometime in April this year.

The Ustaz (Malay priest) brought in by the police to solve this matter, told them that the ghost was not in peace.

According to the Ustaz, when the woman was alive, she was raped and murdered there.

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Joe Choo's Feng Shui Advice For Property

Joe Choo, President of Malaysian Institute of Geomancy Sciences talks about feng shui.

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Do You Believe In Ghosts & Spirits ?

Colonial era schools such as this one in Kuala Lumpur tend to have more than their fair share of creepy stories.

Historic haunts

Invented or real histories of schools are a common starting ground for terrifying tales.

At the more historic schools around the country, it would seem that some of the troops who arrived in Malaya during the Japanese Occupation of the early 1940s have never left.

Tales of schools being former Japanese torture camps are a particularly popular explanation for apparitions of headless corpses and sounds of marching soldiers in the dead of night.

Perhaps the strangest tale in circulation at the moment are sightings of beheaded nuns in a well-known girls’ school in Kuala Lumpur.

 

While the school canteen may be the focal point for students during recess, it can at other times, turn out to be an eerie place where one can hear mysterious sounds and witness strange happenings.

 

Although the brutalities committed during that era cannot be denied, conclusive proof of all the exact spots where the Kempeitai (Japanese secret police) murdered their victims is hard to find.

Consultant Mavindren Naidu however, believes that his former school in Ipoh is a hotbed of paranormal activity.

“From 1943 till the end of the war, the Japanese government did have their headquarters in Perak.
“It’s not surprising then if some of the locations in my school were previously used as execution spots by the army,” he says.

Mavindren claims that his former schoolmates have seen silhouettes of bodies hanging from trees, and screams echoing down empty hallways.

“I’ve experienced the screams myself once, while waiting for my father to pick me up after co-curricular activities. Maybe it was a classmate pulling my leg, but there were no other students around and it didn’t sound human...” he says.

Many a student will swear to spirits lurking in empty classrooms.

 

Declaring himself to be a sceptic, Tan Seng Hong says a misunderstanding of history can easily cause rumours to spread.

“Some say that my school was a prison, or that it was built on an ancient tribal burial ground,” says the secondary school student.

“But my school is fairly new, and this area has always been a commercial one!

“Of course, if I believed the stories to be true, I too would feel scared or see things that aren’t really there.”

Permanent residents

As they tend to be located in isolated surroundings, boarding schools are rife with supernatural anecdotes.
One of the most infamous yarns is that of the boy who wakes up in the middle of the night at his dormitory room.

Upon seeing dark shadows hovering along the beds of his fellow students, the boy pulls up his covers and pretends to be asleep.

The abandoned Shih Chung school in Penang is supposedly haunted and the abode of different types of ghosts.

 

The terrified boy then hears a disembodied voice singing: “The rest are asleep, but one is awake.”
Civil servant Shazliza Ramli thinks that such tales are a way of keeping students in check.

“You can be sure that once a student hears a story like that, he is bound to keep to his bedtime,” she laughs.
Shazliza adds that another common “happening” at her former residential school in Kelantan is the doppelganger effect.

“One story I can account for is when a friend of mine had to go home for the weekend due to an injury.

“But the night warden claimed to have seen my friend wandering around the corridors late at night, and thought she was rude for not answering the warden’s calls.

Sightings of apparitions are often spotted along empty corridors and at disrepaired stairwells in schools.

 

“Upon learning the truth, the warden subesequently refused to do the night shift again; but I think it was an effective caution for the girls, because after that, none of us loittered around at night!” she says.

Residential school student Azfar Masom meanwhile, thinks that his seniors just take sadistic pleasure in scaring the wits out of younger students.

“This is especially true when we have overnight leadership-building or camping events,” says Azfar.

“The students would do things like sneaking up on unsuspecting individuals who dared venture out to answer the call of nature.

“The teachers have more subtle techniques — when doing the head count at the end of the day, they would add an extra person to make it look like we had an unexpected ‘guest’ sharing our tent for the night.”

Tertiary terror

At higher education institutions that are built around dense jungle areas, the old wives’ tale goes that empty buses were sent from the proposed site to the middle of nowhere.

It is said that this was so that bus drivers could transport unwanted spirits to their new “home”, away from the university.

While the sprawling campuses of some local universities appear spacious in broad daylight, taking a nightly stroll in them can be an unnerving experience for even the bravest of souls.

Economics student Sandra Ooi claims that sightings of a lone woman in white are common at her campus in Selangor.

“When my boyfriend came to pick me up one night, he said he saw a girl dressed in white in the distance.

“Thinking it was a student looking for a lift, he slowed down his car — but as he got closer, she disappeared.

“Several of my male classmates have seen this girl while walking back to their dorms,” she says.

In similar vein, Wong Li Ping is certain that she has personally experienced the urban legend of her former private higher education institution in the Klang Valley.

“I saw a person standing on one of the balconies of the hostel block facing mine,” says the sales executive.
“Suddenly the figure leapt down; I thought I had just witnessed a suicide.

“I immediately started to dial the emergency number, but when I glanced up again, I saw the figure standing there as before.”

Li Peng adds that the scene repeated twice, before the figure completely vanished.

Although there is no concrete validity to the relations above, they do reflect the Malaysian appetite for the supernatural.

As this writer went through numerous interviewees for this article, it seems that most people had a spine-chilling tale that happened to a friend of a friend of a friend.

Whether you are a believer or not, the very least these stories do is plant a small seed of doubt when walking down a lonely corridor.

Source: the Star

Studying About Ghosts At University

If you're interested in ghost sightings, spirits, ghouls and everything supernatural, you can now study parapsychology, where paranormal phenomena are investigated using scientific methods.

You can pursue courses learning about the supernatural at the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dr Caroline Watt, a senior lecturer at the university, says that “Parapsychologists are studying the subject and testing hypotheses in a carefully controlled and scientific manner,”

You can read more here.

Indian Man Who Didn't Eat Or Drink Anything For 70 Years

Doctors and experts are baffled by an Indian man who claims not to have eaten or drunk anything for 70 years - but is still in perfect health.

A team of scientists and doctors in Sterling Hospital, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, are studying the claims of Prahlad Jani, a local holy man, who is over 70 years old.

He claims to have been blessed by a goddess when he was 8-years-old, which has enabled him to survive without sustenance and that he derives energy through meditation.

Most people can live without food for several weeks, with the body drawing on its fat and protein stores. But the average human can survive for only three to four days without water.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan reports.

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New Zealander Buys 2 Ghosts For RM6,644.25 Online

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A male New Zealander from Christchurch bought 2 captured ghosts stored in glass vials from TradeMe, a New Zealand auction website, for $NZ2,830 (RM6,644.25) on Monday night.

Christchurch woman, Avie Woodbury, an exorcist, who listed the ghosts for sale said they had been captured from her house.

The seller said one one the spirits is an old man named Les Graham, who lived in her house during the 1920s, and the other is a powerful and disruptive little girl, which was captured during a ouija board session. The ghosts have allegedly been kept inactive by putting them in holy water which dulls the ghosts' energy.

Apparently all proceeds from the auction will be donated to the SPCA.

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Malaysians Lose Millions To Conmen Bomoh & Fortune Tellers

The NST reported that Malaysians are losing millions to conmen bomoh and fortune tellers.

Last Year, there were 229 reported cases where RM9.9 million were cheated. In 2008, the 185 reported cases involved RM5.5 million in losses. The previous year, 140 cases involving losses amounting to RM4.2 million.

The police said in most cases the victims handed over their money willingly, hoping for a miracle cure to their problems or ailments.

These cases are classified under Section 420 of the Penal Code where offenders, if convicted, could be jailed between 1 and 10 years, whipped and fined.

Victims are usually conned by bomohs or fortune-tellers by convincing them to have certain rituals or prayers done to cure their illnesses or eliminate their problems - and these supernatural procedures cost money.

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Black Magic Activities At A Cemetery

There are reports of black magic activities at a cemetery in Bukit Tunggal, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu.

The activities were discovered when witchcraft paraphernalia were found by villages during a gotong-royong at the cemetery. They found a white bundle containing soiled panties, pepper, rotten eggs, needles, lime and rice which are allegedly used in necromantic rites.

The practice of necromancy is still quite common in Malaysia of all races. Although the majority involved are 4D lottery punters seeking favorable draws, others practice this to obtain supernatural powers.

It is believed that there are still Malaysian businessmen, politicians and artistes who seek bomohs to obtain special favours for power, wealth and fame. For instance, the procedure called susuk is reportedly popular with local artistes seeking career progression by supernatural means.