‘Padang
Tembak’ is located in central Penang near Air Itam. It is an area of HDB flats
which was built after WWII. There are a total of 9 HDB flats, each flat is 17
stories high and each floor consists of 24 units. So there is a total of 408
units in a flat. As the name ‘Padang Tembak’ implies, this was the killing
field of Japan Imperial Army; and these flats are built just beside a
graveyard. Having said so, this is an area of high density too.
Though a
small area, Padang Tembak has many ghost stories to share. For example: the old
man in ancient costume, bride in the lift, sounds of Indian chanting and
ringing from a homicide unit, the haunted lake on the Datuk’s Lake (many people
were found drowned there), The hung ghost of Chen Meilian at foothill etc.
I will
start telling those ghost stories as I jog my mind. So in no particular orders:
A
contractor friend of mine said, he once returned from work late at night and he
was waiting for lift at the basement. When the lift finally arrived and the
door opened, suddenly he saw a long hair lady in white suddenly rushed into the
lift. He has never seen this lady before, further he couldn’t see the lady’s
face as it was covered by her hair. My pal dared not step in because he was
wondering… was she a human or was she something else?
Another
story of lift goes like this: a person returned home at midnight, when the lift
door opened, a bride looking lady sitting in a wheel chair… the person was so
scared that he rather used the staircase instead. Was she a mad woman or was
she something else?
Yet another
story said that someone seen an old in ancient costume crying at night beside
lift at lower basement.
An old lady
who has been living in Padang Tembak said when the HDB was built, there were
many strange happenings. For example: bus conductors from Lim Seng Sheng
Company mainly would receive many hell notes (阴司钱) and toilets were often found lock from
outside etc. It was also said that during the construction of HDB flats, the
workers dug out many human remains believed to be victims of Imperial Army.
Another
friend of mine who is a resident of HDB said that she had an awful experience
with the lift too. About 20 years ago, she visited a friend who was staying
just two blocks away at night. After my friend went into the lift, the lift
suddenly halted and power supply was cut off. It was pitch dark in the lift
compartment. My friend was certainly afraid, so she kept pressing emergency
bell and banged on the door. Suddenly my friend heard a clear voice said: “Don’t
worry, I am already here for 10 years!”
My friend
almost fainted as she was alone in the lift. Luckily, the lift resumed
operation a few minutes later. She said that her feet were so shaky that she
had to craw to her friend’s place!
In the 70’s,
Malaysia was experiencing recession, the new HDB flats were the only high rise
buildings around. So they naturally became the infamous spots for ‘suicide by
jumping’ (跳楼).
According
to Mr. Gong, suicide jumping cases were very frequent then, in addition to the
locality of the HDB flats near graveyard and the effects of rumors; in
residents in the 70’s fear ghosts more than the robbers.
Those suicide
cases begun to reduce in the 80’s and such cases are rare now due to the availability
of taller buildings in Penang.
Ms Lee said
that she heard the possibility of meeting ghosts is high in first and second
blocks because there are people ‘keeping small ghosts’ (养小鬼) and in some units, plates and objects move by
themselves. Such incidents too had scared away many tenants.
Even though
Padang Tembak is reputed to be haunted, most residents had already gone custom
as ghost stories remain as ghost stories; no one really gets hurt by those
ghosts. So some of the residents even drink tea and exercise at the cemetery nearby.
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