Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
The supernatural exists and it’s all around us, all the time. Many believe that the veil between our world and that of the spirit realm is somehow “thinner” during Hungry Ghost Month. While some scoff and others agree, here are the supernatural and downright creepy encounters of Malaysia’s own EMTs.
No pulse, no heartbeat, but he walked….
It was a terrible road accident that happened outside a government school in Subang Jaya, the motorcyclist didn’t have a helmet and when he ploughed into the side of a car, he flew over the car and hit the road. Hard.
When my ambulance arrived, we gave the driver of the car a quick check – he was in shock but otherwise ok. Then we went to check on the motorcyclist.
One look at him and I…hoped he was gone: Major skull fractures, concussion, broken cheekbones, broken nose, and missing teeth. Compound fracture to the arm and the deformed shape of his chest meant broken ribs as well. Not to mention the terrible road rash that had flayed his skin and clothes.
We checked all the same and confirmed he was dead at the scene.
A police unit from the nearby station arrived, bathing the scene in their headlights, then it happened. We were about to put him on the stretcher when he suddenly jerked. And was on his feet, swaying, almost drunkenly in the headlights.
What struck me was how he had stood up. He didn’t use his arms to stand. His legs had bent at the knees, placing his feet flat on the ground. Then he rose up as if his feet were anchored to the ground, and he was being dragged up by his hips.
He smiled through his mouthful of broken bloody teeth and half walked, half staggered towards his motorbike, trying to say something through his broken, bloody jaw. The blood was no longer gushing, or even oozing from the many wounds.
Just as suddenly as he had risen, he just collapsed, like an unstrung wayang kulit. Our initial inspection confirmed he was deceased. We checked again and confirmed that he was clinically dead, without pulse, breathing, or heartbeat.
We got his body to the morgue, but I made triply sure to restrain the remains to the stretcher. I was so glad the police agreed to escort us to the morgue… just in case.
The journalist that never sleeps
In a small town in Perak, Abdul Malik, known as “habuk”, was well known around the town because he was the star journalist of the local paper. He got his nickname due to a three-pack-a-day chain-smoking habit. Lung cancer claimed him in his early 50s.
He knew his end was fast approaching, and I was driving the ambulance when he died while on the way to the local hospital. Suffice to say that having covered every major event in the town for almost 20 years, practically the whole town was in attendance for his funeral.
This town – like all small towns – had only three ambulances. Life moved on but “Habuk” did not. Different EMTs, police officers, and unfortunately patients all reported seeing Habuk, complete with a cigarette in his mouth, notepad, and pen in hand when my ambulance responded to the call.
Over a few weeks, more than fifty people saw him, and more than a few people were convinced that he was haunting the town. A bit of thinking and common sense prevailed: He had died in a specific ambulance, and whenever he was seen, that ambulance was nearby.
Someone at the hospital made a few quiet phone calls and a Bomoh was summoned to perform prayers, a blessing, and to help Habuk’s spirit find peace. After the Bomoh’s services, Habuk was never seen again. But I swear, I would sometimes smell the Benson and Hedges cigarettes he used to smoke in my ambulance, right until I retired.
Beyond death do us part
My ambulance was responding to a call for assistance at an address in SS14. It was a small terrace house, maybe 10 minutes away from Subang Jaya Medical Centre. When we arrived, a quiet, polite old lady greeted us at the door with a look of confusion on her face.
She was confused because she had lived alone since her husband died a few years prior. We checked on her and left because everything was fine. We arrived back at the ambulance bay and got sent back out almost immediately, to the same address.
We got there, and the old lady was not there to greet us. We knocked on the door and heard her calling for help. I took a look through the glass door and saw her unconscious on the floor. Strangely, the door was not locked as we entered.
We rushed in to help and got her loaded into the ambulance. It was clear to me that she’d slipped and fallen, spraining her ankle, and probably bruised her hip and lower back. She woke up halfway to the hospital and looked at us in confusion: She claimed that she had not called us and that we had arrived within minutes of her fall.
We got her admitted safely and were about to leave when the driver asked me why we didn’t bring the old guy that had been in the living room with us. I looked at him and asked “What? She lived alone!”
My partner looked at me, and shook his head, “Tak-lah! I saw her husband when we were leaving! He smiled and waved at me! He even shouted thank you to us!”
Confused, I called the police and asked them to check the house, just in case. They found no sign of anyone else living there, but they found pictures of her in the living room, showing her with some man. Turns out it was her husband, deceased for several years.
Curiosity convinced me and my driver to visit the lady and when he described the man he saw in the window, the old lady smiled, gently, and I could see the tears in her eyes, “That’s my lou gong (老公, husband). My husband is still watching out for me,”
Some things do go bump in the night
Something out there does go bump in the night. Whether you want to call them ghosts, ghouls, spirits, or something else, it is there. Here’s hoping that you never meet one with ill intentions towards you during this hungry ghost, or any other month!
Know anyone with an interesting story to share? Drop us an email at hello@inreallife.my and we may feature the story!
For more stories like this, read:
My Tua Ee Po Was The Center Of Every Hungry Ghost Festival, And Now She’s Gone
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