Author Archives: Daniel Rahmann

Ghost Story – Singapore

“I feel that there are a lot more ghosts and scary stuff in Asia, then there is in the states. It’s because most of the buildings here in LA are newer, and don’t have so much history. Whereas in South East Asia, just walking around the streets at night I really can really fear it. You just sense that fear a lot more, whereas here I simply just don’t get the chills. Like in my boarding school in Singapore. I woke up once in the middle of the night and our room for some reason it looked like a lab, like a science lab. And then this fat guy walked in, he was a soldier. And he was walking around our room. When I saw him I thought SHIT don’t come to me. Next thing I knew I felt very cold and I saw that he was standing at my bed. I pretended to sleep and was lying on my stomach. He kept leaning over trying to see my face and called “Alex!” and wave. I just ignored him. Suddenly I could feel his hands pressing down on my shoulders, it was SO COLD. I was trying to call out to my friend “Sam! Sam!” but I couldn’t scream loud I felt paralysed, it was a strange feeling. Suddenly I was able to break free and I said “SAM!” and I woke her up. She said she heard me the first time I called her but said she thought I was dreaming. That proves exactly that I was not asleep. To make matters worse, all along I knew that my school was and old Hospital during World War 2”.

As far as my informant is concerned, this story is 100% true. Having grown up in Singapore myself, I know that the idea of ghosts, especially wandering Spirits is a belief that is not questioned at all. This informant is an example of a Singaporean that despite being very exposed to contemporary western culture, where most of the people are sceptical, this story to her greatly affects her belief system on what she believes regarding human life, the afterlife, and whatever comes in between. I would further like to include in this analysis the following quotes from my informant:

“When I’m in LA I don’t sense the wandering spirits, but in places like London where all the buildings are old, I already sense that chill. It gives me a feeling of fear and I am automatically reminded that there are spirits here”

“There is definitely a war going on between angels and demons going on here on earth. Only those who have a third eye can see it”.

I would also like to add that in Singapore, although many people have adopted Christianity, they still do not denounce the idea of wandering spirits but instead incorporate this into their Christian beliefs, that is they would say that sin is all around us and that they often come in the form of spirits. This story and stories like these are not told on any particular occasion, but instead count as normal life experience, not necessarily everyday, as paranormal encounters are not frequent. Another quote I would like to add from my informant:

“My friend sees them all the time and is completely used to it. Sometimes we are sitting in the living room and she looks and my grandfather clock and says she sees an old man in there dressed in an old-fashioned suit. We told my mother, she thinks its just the clock maker”.

Although I grew up in Singapore, it is only my mother that is Singaporean whilst my father is actually German and thus I integrated a lot with the western community when I was growing up. However when I entered the Singapore military, the basic military training camp was said to be extremely haunted. There were countless stories of spirits walking around the soldiers’ bunks at night. What I found interesting was that our superiors never denied any of the stories. For an example, many instances where someone brought in a snack that was barbecued pork, a popular dish in Singapore, a ghost would always appear at night to the person who possessed it. Our superiors simply said “Do not bring pork in, just don’t do it”. I explain to you this story because I found it very peculiar that military superiors, who need to ensure that you get your 7 hours sleep between full days of rigorous training, would want to put thoughts like that in your head. What I did not understand was that denying something like that is an abstract idea to them. Therefore they simply insisted that you follow certain abstract practices or rules to ensure that you get your 7 hours sleep and pass through your basic military training time as soon as possible.

To refer back to my informant’s story, I have heard many similar stories to this, and particularly in Singapore they often involve themes of the Second World War, the Japanese Occupation, and the torturing of the prisoners of war.

Legend – Indonesia

“There is a story about a wandering spirit, who lives in the small villages on the Indonesian countryside. She has extremely large boobs and walks around the villages at night. Any children she sees playing outside after sunset are kidnapped and hidden between her enormous breasts. I do not know what she does with them but the children are never returned”.

To the informant, this legend is considered widespread in her country of origin, Indonesia. She was told this legend by her Indonesian maids, to discourage her from playing around outside. Although the story clearly serves the purpose of ensuring children’s discipline, the informant of my informant considered this to be true and thus also told the story with the purpose of protecting the child. Upon listening to this story, I was reminded of La Llorona, the Spanish legend of a wandering female spirit who also kidnaps children. Although my informant unfortunately was unable to supply me with the motive behind this character and her actions, I am sure that there is a story involved.

Myth – Singapore

“The myth about the monkey and the crocodile is my favourite, I learned it from my grandmother. There was a monkey that lived in a tree above a river and ate a delicious fruit. Then a crocodile came and the monkey threw down some fruits for him to try because they were so delicious. The crocodile agreed and asked the monkey for some more. The monkey threw down a few more fruits which the crocodile brought back for his family to try. However they complained and demanded that he bring the monkey to eat instead, they wanted his heart. The crocodile, feeling very guilty, agreed. He persuaded the monkey the next day to come down from the tree and jump on his back. As the crocodile brought the monkey on his back, he was overwhelmed with guilt and told the monkey what his family had planned. The monkey then said “Oh you want my heart! You should have said so I left it in the tree!” The crocodile brought the monkey back to the tree where he went back up and never came down again.”

My informant found this tale meaningful in that it teaches a moral, and discourages deceitful behaviour.  She told me this story when I was very young, and the fact that the characters are animals makes it very interesting to children. The wit and humour in the plot would clarify that this is often told for entertainment purposes, even though the plot is clearly teaching the concept of honesty and deceit. Growing up, I found this story very fascinating, and the fact that the villainous character in this case is the predator, made it easier for me to relate to the story in that as a child you obviously would prefer for the monkey to be saved than to be eaten by the crocodile. I had heard this story several times from different people and knew that it was a piece of common Indian folklore even though I had learned this story in Singapore. In discovering the publication, what surprised me was the consistency of the verbally recounted story with the plot of the published story. I also found it interesting that the publication notes the story originated in Tamil, which is the language that my informant, my aunty, speaks as a Singaporean Indian.

Annotation:

Ramanujan, A.K. Folktales from India. 1991. The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library. Page 53.

Myth – Indonesia

“There’s this myth that there was this woman who lived in a little village, to cut a long story short she ended up falling in love with A DOG YES A DOG. but this was no ordinary dog was kinda like half wolf type thing and would turn into a dog at dusk! so ne ways he had super powers and a status like a king (when he was a human) and was put on a curse. so ran off to this remote village and met this woman in the little village. FELL MADLY In love and had a half boy half man baby with a tail and all….i remember he had a bow and arrow with him all the time.

Although my informant might not necessarily believe this, in her country of origin, Indonesia, myths like these are extremely abundant and are definitely myths as they are believed to be true. My informant in this case stated that she would never say it was not true, as like many other South East Asians, even those who have grown up in western cultures and environments. My personal analysis would suggest that this is some form of lower mythology, and particularly with lower mythology, aspects of this story may vary from person to person. Another important observation I would like to make, is that my informant, does not like to tell this story which leads me to conclude that this is probably not told for the purpose of entertainment. I am sure, like many other mythologies, there is reasoning behind this story and perhaps a conclusion so as to serve the purpose of teaching a moral. However, within Indonesia and the rest of South East Asia, the actions of wandering spirits, ghosts and mythical creatures are questioned as little as their existence themselves. What I would like to point out with a lot of South East Asian mythology is that they have lived on through generations simply because these are assumed to be true.

Folk Custom – University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

„Whenever we put on a play at my school, we keep a copy of Macbeth on the stage. My Drama teacher insists it on it and now its common practice. Honestly I don’t know whether it has done wonders but at least it hasn’t brought about any problems yet”

This piece of occupational folklore is usually different in that the use of Macbeth within a Theatre apparently curses the performance. To the informant, and actor, this practice is carried out to bring luck to the production and the performance. Often a copy of the play will be used as prop or placed inside the drawer of whatever piece of furniture is placed on the stage. What I found interesting about this tradition at Warwick University is that they do exactly the opposite. I found this very interesting that it matches a lot of sayings that are supposed to wish luck, such as “break a leg”. My interpretation of this idea is that in encouraging something bad, you eliminate the curse in mentioning it so as to cause the opposite to happen. As far as thespian superstitions are concerned, this is a relatively controversial practice: usually bringing up Macbeth within a Theatre brings bad luck, and there are many practices discussed to counteract the curse, i.e. running around the theatre three times etc. I found this particularly important because it sheds light on the evolution of folklore and how things will adopt different meanings over time.