~ DISCUSSION OF THE MONTH ~

GHOSTS and SPIRITS:

inane superstition or undeniable fact?

Do ghosts and spirits exist? Human imagination has the credit for the making of all ghosts and spirits. Sometimes we hallucinate so many things until we ourselves cannot differentiate between reality and imagination. Since my English teacher really wants to know about ghosts in Malaysia, here I would like to write all about the Malay beliefs regarding ghosts. Ghosts like pontianak or vampire, toyol and hungry ghosts are some of the common spirits that we always hear about. Thus I would like to share with you about the not-so-common spirits that I know.

    The first ghost that I want to talk about is Hantu Bunyi-bunyi. They are a kind of ghosts that can be heard but cannot be seen. Malays believe that we should not call upon our friend by his or her name whenever we are in jungle, fearing that the Bunyi-bunyi ghosts will memorize the name and haunt that person. In Malay folklore, they could marry humans and even bear invisible children. Marriage with such a ghost can grant the human spouse magical power. There are also rumours stating that if a human gets married to a ghost, that particular person will definitely lose contact with the real world. Many people believe this, but nobody knows how true it is.

    The next ghost that comes into my mind is Hantu Gerasi.

It is a gigantic ghost accompanied by its spectral hounds, believed to have a voracious appetite, especially for human beings. I know about this ghost from my friend that lives in Sabah, she told me that usually the Ibans are the ones who believe in the Gerasi ghost. Whenever an Iban village experiences an epidemic of sorts, a special hut will be erected and food will be offered to appease it. Usually the food prepared for the ghost consists of animals such as chickens and ducks.

    The last ghost that attracts me is Hantu Langut. This hunter ghost with a dog’s head on a human body originates from Pahang. The origin of this ghost comes from a story of a father and his son who went hunting. A leech bit the father’s foot. He sliced the leech into two but was amazed when he saw the leech grow back. The father thought if his own head were cut off, it could be reattached with the leech blood. His son then slashed his father’s head but unfortunately it did not regenerate like what had happened to the leech. Panic-stricken, the son cut off the dog’s head, fixing it on his father’s body, and smearing it with leech blood. His father then died in the forest. His soul could not rest peacefully so it transformed into Hantu Langut.

    In conclusion, I can say that there are actually many things in the world that we cannot understand. Whether they exist as a feeling, or as depicted in stories, I do not know. It is what you believe. As for me, I will agree with the statement saying that spirits do exist but ghosts do not. Ghosts are the souls of humans on Earth after death. Souls will either go to Heaven or Hell, not staying with us. I will rely on the Quran, where it is said that there are actually many God’s creatures that we cannot see with our naked eyes.

Sheril Emy Idayu Binti Abdul Latiff (June 09)

No, ghosts do not exist. Firstly, of course, there is no tangible evidence for their existence, or logical analogy. Personally, I would rather think that ghosts are more creations of our nonsense imagination. If there are ghosts, why does it seem as if it is only those who are afraid of them will have a golden opportunity to bump into them? Why are ghosts extraordinarily fussy? Or are ghosts the valiant man? If they are fussy it means that they can think, but why are they frivolous enough to disturb people? Or are ghosts simply mischievous? The more we ponder on it, the more questions we get. 

I think that ghosts are just illusions because when a human is in a state where he is under pressure, he will start imagining things. Those who are drowning in love fantasy, for an instance, will often spot his or her lover anytime, anywhere. This is also the same principle that happens to people who say that they see ghosts. It is just an illusion. That is why those who are afraid of ghosts will meet them!

Afandi Bin Suhaimi (June 09)

Malaysians will swear that ghosts and spirits are for real. Why, next to politics and sports, I believe ghosts are the third most important party topic. Don’t we all have at least one good ghost story to tell?

Yes, we are all educated. Yes, we are grounded in scientific theory and experimentation. Yes, we grudgingly admit that if you can’t see it, feel it, touch it, smell it…it doesn’t exist. But yet many people report having seen a ghost, felt the presence of a ghost, touched by a ghost. The only problem is, they can’t or were not in a position to record the event. Even the few recorded events are open to much scrutiny and skepticism.

I say they exist. Personally, I haven’t seen one or felt the presence of one. But I have many relatives and friends who have seen them. Their description is just too vivid for me to ignore. A medicine man (bomoh) once told me that we are living in a shared world – humans and spirits. So it is understandable when we bump into them, or they into us. It’s just that some people have heightened senses and can see/feel these spirits. It’s a gift and curse rolled into one!

For those who can see them, the issue is whether they can handle it or not. If they can, fine. If they can’t, it’s detrimental to their well-being, but profitable to healers, for there are ten times as many fraudulent healers compared to honest ones. How do we know? They don’t charge much for their service, and they resort to all sorts of antics in the name of healing! Believe me, I have seen my share of their antics. But they are good at reading faces – I was once scolded for not believing what I saw! Can you blame me, this guy was swinging from a, well, swing at 2am, holding a sword and letting out blood-curdling sounds. You can rest assured I did not recommend his services to others!

Anyway, believe it or not, ghosts perform very well at the box office. Asians showed true horror to conquer Western gory slasher horror movies. Ju-on, The Ring, Shutter…bring it on!

My personal favourite, though, is a Western horror movie. Horror par excellence. The Exorcist (1973). Read the book, watch the movie, go ahead and do both. You will be spooked alright! Hats off to William Peter Blatty for the book, William Friedkin for the movie and Linda Blair for the acting.

Mr Muhammad Azhar Bin Abdullah (IB Co-ordinator, Business & TOK)

Do ghosts exist? Let me define what a ghost actually is. Ghosts are usually defined as the apparition of a deceased person. Yes, I do believe that ghosts exist even though they cannot be seen through our naked eyes. Normally, people get nervous and scared when hearing ghost stories. I sometimes convince myself not to believe in the existence of ghosts because it is all nonsense and cannot be scientifically proven.

But somehow, this thought is always going around my mind: how could you capture a ghost’s picture whenever you feel nervous? It is fun to argue whether ghosts exist or not because as we all can see nowadays, people start to record the situations in which they can see real ghosts. Isn’t that funny? For example, ‘Ghost Hunters’, which can be watched on 711, Astro’s channel. Various incidents that they have recorded which were considered as evidence turned out to be fake. Most of the ‘ghost pictures’ turned out to be camera tricks. There is no proof for their existence. Another reason resulting in someone seeing a ghost could probably be because their mind has not rested for a long time or it could be that the person is feeling stressed out.

Many times haunted places have been tested by experts for the presence of ghosts but no proof has been reported yet. I think the stories of ghosts, horror serials and horror movies have affected people who watch them because they feel they are in the same situation as the characters are. Somehow, people who are reading and watching them are the ones getting affected. They believe that ghosts exist in real life and can bring bad consequences to them. They tend to be scared wherever they are. That is why bad thinking appears and causes them to see imaginary things. They are the ones who always support the fact that ghosts exist. I should not elaborate on this case longer because everybody has their own perception as to whether ghosts really exist or not. In the end, only God knows.

Fatin Shazea (June 09)

Do ghosts or spirits exist? This question sometimes makes me realise that we as humans are very weak. We always promulgate that we are the superior living thing. We could turn rocks into buildings. We could change a desert into a beautiful garden. Even the moon the man has reached. When a simple question like this is asked, we become clueless. We seem unable to answer this kind of question. No matter how much time we spend thinking for an answer, we still will not figure it out. The only thing that we get is more confusion as the mysteries deepen.

There has been a lot of research done in order to reveal the truth about ghosts or spirits. Haplessly, none of them can prove something to us. In the meantime lots of money, equipment and energy have been devoted to explaining this question. For the researchers, this failure will only motivate them to work harder and reach their projected aims. Hopefully, in the future their sacrifices will bear the fruits which can benefit mankind.

In my younger days, I had a friend named Abu. He liked to tell me ghost stories. I think he was quite an expert in this ’ghost thing’. He gave me some handy advice on how to stay away from ghosts. He told me not to go out when the moon is full.  He said that this is the time when ghosts would come out from their hiding places. He asked me not to look into a mirror during dawn. He said that during dawn the mirror could reflect the image of the ghost. He also did not encourage me to whistle at night as ghosts like the whistling sound.

His advice is still vivid in my mind. Sometimes I would like to believe, and other times I think that his advice is just superstition. Different people were born with different views. There are 360 degrees in this word which one can choose to view from. Eventually it is up to oneself to determine the answer to the question “Do ghosts or spirits exist?”

Muhammad Firdaus bin Roslan (June 09)

This month’s topic is entirely my idea, so I thought I should give my two cents’ worth. Ghosts and spirits… nope, I believe in neither. But this doesn’t mean I’ve completely barred myself from the possibility of their existence. I think of myself as an inflexible empiricist. Show me the proof and I will believe (and no, hearsay is not proof; I must see it with my own eyes). I have of course heard numerous ghost stories over the years. I am interested in them, but can’t yet see them for more than mere over-imaginative concoctions of a mind that wants to believe. But having said all this, I still hope ghosts do exist and that I may get to see or talk to them some day. This is not irreverence. I feel that if I did get to do that, my philosophy about life and the afterlife would change dramatically – and this would only be a good thing!

Edward Ong (English A1)