I would like to start this post by offering my sincere apology for my extended absence from the fields of blogging. To all my fans out there who has been anxiously waiting for my latest blog entry, I present to you……..”HYSTERIA”, (if you listen carefully, you may actually hear my egomaniacal laughter in the background, the sound rendered mute due to its harmful effect to human ears).
For the past few months, the word hysteria had made its way to the front page of most tabloid newspapers in this country. The small, seemingly unknown town of Tanjung Lumpur in Pahang was shaken by screams and wails of high school girls (and a few boys) who fell victim to what seemed to be a case of mass hysteria. Day after day, more and more girls (and a few boys) in a somewhat secluded boarding school break in bouts of “hysteria” which left the school authorities baffled and exasperated, being put under constant pressure from parents and the authorities to resolve this matter ASAP to ensure the safety of all the students in that school. A newspaper reported that so far 35 students has fallen prey to this condition since May. The school despite suffering from this agonizing ordeal remains open until today with only a few students opting for a transfer. The school administrators is currently resolving into hiring traditional healers (bomoh) to perform exorcism, chasing away evil spirits who are believed to terrorize the school grounds and possessing poor innocent girls (and a few boys) causing them to break into “hysteria”.
I am called to give my point of view on this matter for two main reasons: Reason #1: I spent five years in an Islamic-oriented boarding school (better known as sekolah agama) and since my adolescent years, I was brought up believing in the existence of the paranormal world. During my stay, I’ve had my fair share of “hysterias”, where the girls in my school break into hysteria every time the lights go off during blackouts or when big exams like PMR or SPM closes in. Reason #2: I am a doctor by profession and during my student days, I developed a huge interest in psychiatry. I had long left my ambition of becoming a shrink due to its somewhat disturbing and more often depressing nature of work. In other words, my upbringing and higher education has made me both a believer and a skeptic. In more popular words, I am both Mulder and Scully rolled into one. So what would the Mulder and Scully inside me say about this case?
The Mulder part of me would say…………………….
Hysteria, in Malay culture, is often viewed as a manifestation of demonic possession of a human body. It often involves women as women by nature has weaker spiritual energy (in Malay, we call it lemah semangat). During their monthly menses, they are considered “unclean” (the word used is berhadas) and during this period, they become more susceptible to demonic possession compared to men. The same cannot be said about gays however, especially sissies. Having the same “weak spirit/lemah semangat” and the tendency to break out into an emotional outburst at the first instance of distress but devoid of the ability to menstruate every month, the relative risk of a sissy to be possessed by a demon compared to average men cannot be acertained for sure. Based on my very limited experience however, demonic possession of a member of the gay community is very rare.
The school in Tanjung Lumpur (like many other boarding school suffering from the same problem) was beleived to be built on lands that used to be an ancient burial ground. This might have upset the ancient but not necessarily evil spirits residing in that previously tranquil and pristine area. I am a strong believer of the notion that human beings share this world with creatures of the paranormal world. We co-exist, them fully aware of our presence but us being insolent and ignorant, fails to acknowledge their existence. Out of greed, we continue to conquer every single corner of this world leaving them no choice but to retaliate when their territories are invaded by us. This may sound like a scene from Hellboy and the Golden Army but I still beleive it’s true. I strongly suspect that the students of this boarding school must have commited lewd acts that may have incurred the wrath of the already angry spirits repulsed by such misconduct. When their world is threatened, being unable to make a formal complaint to the authorities, they resolved this matter by turning to the media for help, just like mortal men do. By possessing these students they are making their presence felt and extensive media coverage on this bizarre phenomenon help them make a statement to the world. Their world is threatened and they’re not happy about it.
The creature living closest to human beings are called Djinn, not the genie that pops out of the bottle every time you rub it and grant you wishes, but creatures said to live on earth in a world invisible to our naked eyes. They are gifted with supernatural powers and some said posesses technologies far more advanced than ours. The western world calls them fairies, malays call them “orang bunian” and the truth is, they are able to grant wishes but for a price. Those relying on their services to do their biddings loses thier faith in God and thus condemned to eternity in hell if they failed to repent their sins. They are said to dwell in cemeteries, lakes, pools and their biggest settlement is in the middle of the ocean. The reason why these creatures favour cemeteries is that they feed on human bones. They occasionally possess human beings to get a feel of what it’s like to be human, most of the times to experience love.
How to solve this problem?
Getting the help of traditional healers (bomoh) will only make matters worse. Why so? These bomoh uses the service of djinn to do the bidding, and dealings made between one djinn with the other usually do not end well. An easy way of spotting a bad bomoh from a good one is the use of insence durinf their prayers and ridiculous request like blood of a white chicken as these items serves as food for the djinns. Djinns feed on smoke, bones and carcass. Be very careful when a bomoh starts mixing weird incantations with quranic verses or worse speak in languages foreign to you. These are definitely bad bomohs.
The right person to do the job is a religious figure who is not only piuos but well versed and well trained in the fields of exorcism and repelling from evil spirits. The Darus-Syifa’ team previously helmed by Prof. Haron Din is one good example. The use of Quranic verses to fight and ward off malicious spirits is the only way to prevent further episodes of hysterias in the school. The students must be reminded to have strong faith in God and diligently read the Quran and thaught ways of defending themselves from evil forces.
To be continued………………………………….






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