Hornbill Corner By Sim Kwang Yang
In the lived experience of Sarawakians, the mysterious and inexplicable world of the occult lives very close to the hearts of the local residents.
Everybody in Sarawak can tell you a ghost story or two, about a close encounter of the spiritual kind.
We may live as if these stories do not exist, but in the mental landscape of Sarawakians, the rich store of folklore surrounding our daily lives has even greater reality than the physical world around us.
To give you a glimpse of the strange spiritual realities surrounding our humdrum daily routine, I quote you the presence of the Manang or the Dukun in our midst.
These individuals are hidden in every corner of Sarawak, and they perform the role of healers and interpreters of dreams, especially among the Dayak community.
I remember one such Manang near Kuching city. Naturally, his was an impoverished way of life. He still fishes and hunts for his upkeep.
One day, I found my friend Ah Seng, the Tauke from 7th Mile Bazaar, in a bad way.
He could not sleep at night, for he claimed to hear voices talking to him around the clock. He could not eat and he had lost quite a great deal of body weight.
Finally, Ah Seng followed some advice given by a neighbour. His neighbour suggested Ah Seng might have been possessed by unclean spirits. Ah Seng went to consult the Manang near Kuching whom I mentioned earlier.
The Manang was not perturbed by the delirium in Ah Seng’s disturbed state of mind. He started Ah Seng’s treatment after sunset.
First, he asked Ah Seng to take a bath, to clean his being. Then, he asked him to lie down in a large, clean room, which was kept as quiet as possible.
Next, the Manang took a glass of cold water from the tap. Reciting incantations loudly, he poured the water over Ah Seng’s body.
The glass of cold water would not have any effect on you or me. But it appeared as though the water had scorched Ah Seng’s skin, for he withdrew with a shock, trembling violently.
Thus began the prolonged treatment of Ah Seng, lasting for three nights and three days.
The Manang treated Ah Seng only at night time, and Ah Seng was left to sleep during the hours of daylight. There was much chanting of putatively magical formulae, together with other gestures of cleansing, all over Ah Seng’s body.
At the end of the third evening, Ah Seng was sent home. He started to eat light meals. But for some strange reason, Ah Seng fell back into his sickened state after a few days. In reply to the Manang’s enquiries, Ah Seng revealed that he had eaten some pork after his treatment. This was pronounced a no-no, and the treatment had to be begun, all over again.
I met Ah Seng some months after his treatment. He had recovered completely from the ordeal of what he called his possession, and he could eat and rest well. He had made much progress, within a short time.
Ah Seng paid the Manang a few ringgit and a piece of black clothing material, in return for his services. According to the taboos inherent in the game, the Manang must not be paid big sums of money by their patients and so, these traditional healers are condemned to live a life of poverty.
I watched the whole process of exorcism, as I had watched numerous other cases of similar rituals of cleansing, among members of many ethnic groups.
The only conclusion I can glean from this, and many other similar events, is that the white magic of Sarawakian people seems to work perfectly well.
I can offer no logical or rational explanation for why this is so. But this seems to work among believers. Over the years, I have witnessed many instances of demonic possession, which leave me as puzzled as ever.
I am a man educated in the cold science of the modern era. By right, I should not believe in the Manang, or any other agent of the supernatural world.
But I have seen and heard too many strange things that have happened in Sarawak to be dismissive.
Therefore, though I have my own belief system, I remind myself that I must also respect other people’s belief systems. Ours is a world of “live and let live” – that arrangement would be harmonious too, when it involves the supernatural world.
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