The peak of the craze of Malay magic was in the mid of 80's following the murder of a politician, Mazlan by Mona Fandey, a bomoh or a local shaman in 1993. After that, magical things especially among Muslim Malays were suppressed and discouraged until extinction today. Perhaps there are still practitioners around hiding somewhere but no one dares to talk about magic openly in Malaysia anymore. At least the once feared magic becomes the sole proprietor or silver screens.
I too were once mesmerized by the powerful world of Malay magic as there were many silat (Malay martial arts) exponents exhibiting extraordinary invulnerability skills such as jumping from a 5 floor building, bathing with boiling oil and hanging on a tree branch without obvious injuries. A top silat master is said to be able to be buried alive 6 feet under the ground for 3 days! Some of these tricks were later debunked by some practitioners with a fee *SIGH*!
In the school I was in, One of my Malay friends, Jeffrey told me that the best bomoh was in Kuala Kangsar, the royal town of the State of Perak. He asked me to go to Sayong and seek a bomoh who stayed beside a tall tree.
With this hint, I happily went to Sayong which is a small town beside the Perak River. After some efforts in searching and asking, I finally found the said old lady. She was about 70 years old then.
The old bomoh was sweeping floor in front of her house and when I approached her, she suddenly said: "Peace be upon you! My grandchild, what took you so long? I have been waiting for you."
Though shocked, I carefully approached her and responded to the greeting: "May peace be upon you too, grandma!"
The old bomoh invited me to go into her house and served me tea. Then I conveyed my intention of learning the art of bomoh. The old bomoh hesitated for a moment and said: "My grandchild, you cannot stay here for too long. People dislike me teaching magic to others. But I can teach you the method..."
I was a little disappointed and the bomoh seemed to have read my mind, she smiled and continued: "Don't worry. I will give you one of my keris, a 'ketam' wood staff and a prayer bead. You can go to a cave in Padang Rengas, look for a big boulder and meditate in front of it. Then someone will guide you..."
I thanked the old bomoh and followed her instructions. True enough, I did see many people wearing white came to me. Later, Jeffery told me that the ones I saw in the cave are what Malays call 'orang bunian' or literary 'hidden people'.
A few years later, another friend of mine asked me to go to a forsaken cemetery to meditate. It is believed that the grave was that of a very powerful bomoh.
We went to the grave at dusk and meditated in front of it. I was taught to imagine that I was peddling a sampan in the middle of an ocean repeatedly until an image appeared in front of me.
True enough, I saw an island in the middle of the ocean and an old man greeted me on the shore. He taught me some magic rituals that I have written down. Unfortunately I lost my notebook when I moved house some time ago.
Yet a few more years later when I was working in a factory in Ipoh. Another friend of mine wanted to learn 'santau' which is a form of poisoning with the help of 'hantu raya' (giant spirit which is about 12 feet tall).
According to my revenge seeking pal, the best santau practitioners are hidden in downstream of Perak River, which is near Teluk Intan, a town located in Hilir Perak District. So, we proceeded with another witch hunt.
We did find a santau practitioner and learnt up the tricks. I don't know if my friend has used it on his ex-girlfriend and his rival in love as I got an job offer and moved to Penang soon. I have not tested my santau however. Perhaps I will never need to use it.
Wondering if my quest of Malay magic is over? Perhaps. I just dreamed of the old bomoh who gave me her keris last night. She asked me to visit her soon. Maybe this is another beginning of yet another magic adventure.
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