The Formidable Bajang

Once upon a time, some of Perak folks believed that bajang, peleset and polong are of the same group. Bajang is believed to be able to cause convulsions and high fever to small children. As with a peleset, a bajang is commonly associated with a female owner. It is believed that a bajang is obtained through the process of worshipping a newly buried infant.

In other version of story, people say that a bajang can transform itself to a cricket and own by man. The authenticity of this source cannot be confirmed because other sources depict that a bajang may take a form of weasel and own by female. Bajang’s main diet is said to be milk and eggs and served during full moon of every month.

A bajang is normally inherited. It is said that if a bajang is given to another person while the owner is still alive; then the owner will become a walking dead. This person will give out foul odor such as that of a decaying flesh.  

If the owner of a bajang died before it is inherited; then this bajang will roaming around and disturb people nearby. There is no obvious way in tackling a bajang. In olden ways, people who believed to own a bajang may be killed or being expelled out from a village compound.

I was told that a bajang is normally kept inside a bamboo container. The setawar leaves are used as the cover to prevent the bajang from escaping. Basically a bajang is used to protect its owner from wild animals, to protect a fruit farm or a padi field from harmful insects, to carry out heavy tasks such as forest clearing and last but not least, to protect its owner from enemies.

A bajang is also said to cause a mother to produce less milk. In this case, a mixture of wet rice and white onion is applied onto the face of the mother to ward off the attack of a bajang.

There are other versions of story told that a bajang can transform into the form of a jungle cat or a musk civet in day time. At night, a bajang will transform into a flask like object.