Archive for the 'Facts' Category

Origins of a Chinese Ghost Story

Monday, December 25th, 2006

Chinese has a saying and that we’ve always been told that, if you believed in ghosts, there will be. But if you don’t, then there will not be any.

Being a Chinese and living in a Chinese culture, I’ve always wondered why do Chinese, in particular, fear and respect ghosts. In certain ways, we take into the extent of putting joss sticks and setting up altars to worship our ancestors. Are these just culture passed on from generations to generations without any questions ask?

I recently found an interesting article which explains why the elders always tells us that they are what we believe.

Continue reading Origins of a Chinese Ghost Story »

Malaysia Urban Legends – Types of Malay Ghosts

Monday, December 4th, 2006

There are many kinds of beliefs in this world about the types of ghosts. One of the more popular types of ghosts in our local culture are the Malay ghosts. Of course, there are also the Chinese ghosts, English ghosts and even Indian ghosts depending on your religion, race and beliefs. For example, a vampire is an English ghost version whereas Malays simply knows them as “pontianak” and Chinese as “Kiong Xi”.

Malays believe that ghosts are usually only active at night especially during the full moon where it is belief to be the most powerful time for the underworld. Of course, be it fact or just simply another Malaysian Urban Legend, we’ll never know. Below are a lists of the types of Malay Ghosts

  1. Pontianak – also known as the vampire where it is belief that they are usually ladies dressed in white seeking for revenge. The pontianak is said to be the spirit of a woman died of childbirth. Most of the time, they can look very beautiful but if you look closely, she would have razor sharp teeth. They usually comes out after the sun sets searching for men or pregnant women (apparently, it is said that she could not bear the thought of other women being able to enjoy motherhood) to suck blood. Sometimes, they even eat the flesh of babies ripped out from their mother’s womb.
  2. Toyol – these are actually ghostly kids that people adopt for the objective of stealing other people’s money. It is believed that this spirit is kept and preserved in a jar in a form of a foetus. Because the toyol is kept by people to do bidding, you have to feed it with blood everyday. Continue reading Malaysia Urban Legends – Types of Malay Ghosts »

Haunted Places in Singapore

Saturday, December 2nd, 2006

I’ve posted a list of Malaysia’s very own haunted places. Now its our neighbour – Singapore’s turn! If you have any additional places you know that would like to be included into the list, just add it to our comments column! Here it is now, list’s of Singapore’s most haunted places

  1. An Old School in Singapore (name of school is unknown to the author, names anyone?) -This building was constructed in the early 1900s. Many former pupils reported scary noises and passerbys reported strange lights in the building at night. Rumours include a locked toilet due to unremoveable blood stains on the floor. Others heard that “the white lady wept in the toilet every night.” The building was demolished recently.
  2. Bedok Block of Flats -When these block of flats at Bedok Reservoir was still standing, it was left empty for years. Rumors included that a whole family had committed suicide in their flat and that a person had been killed by a ghost in a lift/elevator. Passerbys would sometimes see lights flinkering in the supposedly now empty flats. Continue reading Haunted Places in Singapore »

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