Ghost Baffles Police In K.L. House.
From our staff correspondent, Kuala Lumpur, May 10.
Five Englishwomen, working in Government offices in Kuala Lumpur, and living together in an old Chinese house in the suburbs, have now had nine exhilarating days with a poltergeist, a ghost who throws things or causes things to move. Onions and potatoes have suddenly risen from containers, kitchen knives have gone sailing through the air, wooden clogs have slithered along the floor, a bunch of bananas nestling in the corner of a cupboard suddenly waltzed out and finished up on the dining table, stoppers have fallen off bottles.
The police were called in. Officers who fight it out with gangsters kept watch and witnessed what they described, with typical British police understatement, as “unusual things.” One officer who had placed a red tile on the kitchen table suddenly heard it fall in the corridor outside. The Chief Police Officer, Mr H.G. Beverley, watched a brinjal come sailing towards him. Another officer saw a knife jump up from the table and fly across the room, then drop to the floor.
These “bewildering” occurrences began last Thursday week, when little Kenneth, son of one of the women, was blamed by the amahs for moving their slippers all over the place. Kenneth vehemently denied indulging in this “futile trick.” Then the physical phenomena were actually witnessed. Let one of the women tell the story:
“Three of us were in on the Saturday afternoon when the clatter of falling things made us decide on an investigation. While the other two went into the garden to find out who or what animal was responsible. I stood in the kitchen. The three of us could see one another. Suddenly a spoon on the kitchen table flipped up into the air, – sailed past my nose, – dropped on to the floor outside the kitche, – and slid through an opening to the drain outside. Ever since, there’s been some kind of a show on every day.”
A Theory. These phenomena occurred in the mornings, then altered to afternoons, any time between 3.30 and 5.30. Two scientifically-minded women in the house decided that the poltergeist like all other poltergeists must have an “agent,” which according to psychical research authorities, is essential for the production of the physical phenomena. These two women believe this “agent” is a pretty 16-year-old Malay servant who joined the household recently. Peculiarly enough, the phenomena appears to occur in her presence. They consider that if young Meenah leaves the house for a few days, – things will return to normal. So now there are two problems in this house – the poltergeist and Meenah.
The Straits Budget, 15th May 1947.
All Quiet On Ghost Front.
Sunday Times Correspondent. Kuala Lumpur, Saturday.
Kuala Lumpur’s poltergeist has stopped its antics. There have been no manifestations in the house in Treacher Road [now Jalan Sultan Ismail area] for nearly a fortnight. Investigations have not been possible, for, as soon as there was any suggestion that it should be “looked into” or exorcised, the poltergeist went out of action.
Authorities have said that no case within the last hundred years has been completely investigated owing to the fact that investigators have been too numerous. This must be the reason for Kuala Lumpur’s poltergeist going into retirement – there have been hundreds of visitors to the house ever since the spirit began its manifestations.
The Straits Times, 25th May 1947.
Auntie Ghost was a Practical Joker. (By Francis Cooray). True Story.
Some European working women living in a somewhat isolated suburb of Kuala Lumpur have had the spotlight turned on them by the presence of a Poltergeist in their house. The phenomenon is uncommon enough to cause a certain amount of sensation but it is by no means unique, and my own personal experience with a poltergeist at fairly close quarters is one of my most indelible boyhood impressions. From what is happening in Kuala Lumpur today the poltergeist has not by any means changed his technique.
My experience goes back to many years, also to a fairly large isolated house situated in a cinnamon plantation some 50 odd miles of Colombo. The first indication that something was wrong was the disappearance of the house dog, which had been a faithful watcher for many a year. He left the collar and the chain with which he was tied intact and disappeared into the blue. Then came the pelting of small stones and the owner of the house, with whom I was spending my school holidays, was a complete sceptic. He gathered together all the labourers in the estate and armed with guns and lighted torches they scoured the whole of some 15 acres without any result. At the beginning the manifestation was only at night.
There was an unmarried girl in the house and she was the particular target of the poltergeist’s attentions. There was a rusty iron hoop, the sort of thing surmounting pestles used for pounding rice, on the top of an old almeirah in the kitchen. The girl was in the habit of going to the well every morning. One morning she came screaming home, and on the top of her head was this old iron hoop, which of course is only about 2 inches in diameter. This happened everytime she went out. The hoop was watched by dozens of people. It was no good. The moment the girl went out the hoop disappeared and there it was on the top of the girl’s head.
Then the girl’s father summoned the assistance of some fishermen expert in the art of tying knots. They brought very strongly made coir ropes and with them tied the hoop to a door post. They kept watch and the girl went out. No Houdini could have got out of his shackles so easily or so quickly as that hoop did, and there again it was on the head of the poor girl, who had by now become the object of visitations from the curious from great distances.
After a time, the poltergeist, apparently got tired of the hoop and then restored to a series of most amazing performances which no one who has not seen could possibly believe. Huge stones, weighing pounds, fell through the roof and dropped in the midst of a group of people without breaking a single tile or hurting a single person. Ear and head ornaments of women disappeared from their ears and hair, and only the use of swear words would bring them back. Clothes were stripped off the back of people leaving them almost naked. If one sat on a chair near a table his leg would be pulled hard underneath the table. The disappearance of various articles from one room and their reappearance in another, was an everyday occurrence.
Gradually the poltergeist became nasty. He interfered with the food, made it uneatable by throwing rubbish into it. Sometimes rice and curries disappeared from the kitchen and were found in the garden.
The wise men of the village could not give any sane explanationfor this business, and after a considerable amount of discussion they hit on the idea that since the girl I mentioned was the special pet of the poltergeist she was haunted by a dear departed aunt who must, therefore, be placated. All the most expert soothsayers, magicians, exercisers of evil spirits were engaged and did their stuff for years, but the poltergeist persisted, but not so aggressively as at the start. The girl was removed to another house miles away from her home and the poltergeist followed her. The fact that the original house was free from disturbance during her temporary absence elsewhere confirmed the belief that she was the object of the poltergeist’s attention. Then she was brought back to the house.
One afternoon, when there was nothing much doing, I was sitting in the kitchen with a few others and discussing the happenings of the day. I was sitting in the kitchen with a few others and discussing the happenings of the day. I was sitting on a box facing the hearth, and over the hearth in most village houses there is a suspended cupboard of sorts which accommodates all sorts of things which need to be kept dry. All of a sudden something hit me on the chest. It was a coconut shell which contained some ground green peas. That was the signal for a particularly vicious outbreak. There was nothing that could have been done that was not done to placate, cajole, frighten or exorcise the poltergeist. The girl was mentally and physically affected, although she was not troubled after she was married.
It would be interesting to see how and when the Kuala Lumpur poltergeist will sing his swan song. Apparently he has only just begun his pranks. He may develop new stunts. When the incidents I have related took place photography was not so well developed as it is today. It may be a good thing for an expert to take some photographs when the poltergeist is really active.
Malaya Tribune, 28th May 1947.