Ghosts, spirits & black magic.....Part 4

It was a long way to Kuantan.... Thoughts ran through my mind..... some of it, angry, some, anguish but no fear. Somehow, I was preocccupied with questioning my own sanity and playing a part in this whole charade.

We arrived in a small town about 70km away from Kuantan at about 4.30 a.m. We couldn't call Kak Sal at that hour so decided to wait for her to give directions. To play safe, I parked the car near a police station and took a quick nap.

At day break, the town began to stir and I was still drowsy when Tom managed to get hold of Kak Sal. After washing my face at a nearby coffeeshop, off we went to Kuantan.

We met Kak Sal and her brother, Zaim and they took us to their house. It was an interesting house, next to a plantation. After a quick bath and breakfast, we left for the BMH's house. Before that, we had to do some shopping. Apparently, it was considered rude to go there empty handed. We had to buy 2 kg of sugar, a 10 Kg packet of rice, chocolates, sweets, a tin of Milo and a tin of biscuits. I thought, `Wow.... like Chinese New Year hamper' !!!

After 2 hours of driving (yes, 2 hours into some remote road), we reached the place. It is a settlement for `Orang Asli', the aborigines of Peninsular Malaysia. My stomach turned and I started to get worried.

When we got down from the car, I could see and even feel eyes staring. They don't quite like visitors, it seems. We had to walk into the jungle and finally reached a small hut. There was an old woman sitting on a small stool, smoking rolled tobacco.. .she stared at us with suspicious eyes. Zaim flashed a big smile and showed her our goodies and her face mellowed. Then he cautiously walked towards her and asked for her son, Noon.

`Noon is collecting herbs and wood', she said. `Wait!'

I tried to put on a cordial smile and whispered to Tom, `Are you sure about this ? This is really spooking me out !' Tom looked worried too but he put up a brave front and said, `We drove all the way here, maybe they can help, ok ?'

`Yes, too late to back out now', I thought. About an hour later, a boy ran out from the jungle and announced that Noon was back. I heaved a sigh of relief but at the same time, worried that he might be even fiercer than his mother. Surprisingly, he was very friendly.

We could not get down to business straight away, it's considered rude. We had to talk about the weather, the beautiful jungle (excuse me, I didn't sleep the whole night!!!), his wild orchid collection, his fern collection, his tongkat ali (an aphrodisiac herb) which was for sale. To be fair to him and being an avid gardener, I did find his fern collection fascinating.

Finally, after an hour or so of appreciation, cordial talks and lots of smiling, we got down to business. I did't mean to be a fake but I was tired, sleepy and I was trying my best to be nice cos I didn't want to be the jerk there.


We sat in the hut in a circle and Noon was in the middle. Soon, smoke from the `kemenyan' (incense) filled the room....Noon's eyes rolled, his body and head began to shake and in a hoarse voice, he began to talk.....

Tom's face paled and I could see him shudder, but, I wasn't scared. Being Chinese, I've had my fair dose of mediums in Chinese temples during festivals, so it looked perfectly normal to me.

But his voice gave me chills.... it was throaty, hoarse and hissing. `Apa... hajat... kamu ?', he croaked.(What do you want?) Everyone looked at me and I gave that `Why are you guys looking at me for ??? Hello, I'm just the driver !!!'

obviously Tom panicked. He hissed,` Say something !!!'

`Err....er...Datuk! Ada orang mau bunuh saya ka ?' (Datuk, someone wants to kill me,is that true ?' The moment I blurted it out, I told myself....Oops, that didn't come out right, did it ? At that time, I didn't know whether to laugh out loud for being so stupid or feel embarassed for being so dumb.

Anyway Noon stared at the incense burner and gave a loud, `Hmmmm !!!' He closed his eyes and started waving a bunch of leaves, mumbling something which I could not make out.

I tried to school my expression to look serious and concerned. My mind was multi-tasking at that time, deciding whether this was a con job, trying to make sense of what was going on, trying to figure out why he did that, wondering what spirit had entered Noon, if, there was one in the first place, wondering if it was a good or evil spirit, wondering what he was going to do next, wondering how how much his ferns would cost, wondering how much he would charge for his services..... Oh gosh!!!

Then he stopped. `You have lots of enemies', he said. Hmmm... I wondered. `They want to put you out of business and if that doesn't happen, you have to die' Woah, this is serious business.

I went blank for a while but quickly composed myself and asked Noon,` Can you remove it for me ?'

`Yes, but not today. Come back tomorrow.' And with that, Noon came out of his trance....