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.
It happened when I was 16 years old, back in 2004/05 at this boarding school called Sekolah Menengah Teknik Ampangan in Seremban.
It was traumatising as it was also my first time being possessed by spirits. I personally believe in the paranormal, but I never thought I would have to see it with my own eyes.
How It Happened
So, in boarding school, we always had to follow a strict timetable. We would finish school at 6:45pm, then perform our Maghrib and Isha prayer at the school’s surau (so we would be at the surau until 8pm to 8:30pm). After the Isha prayers, we had to attend prep class which is basically a tuition that happens at 9pm until 10:30pm.
The possession would have happened between those timings at the surau.
For context, those of us who were on our period and can’t pray, we’re not supposed to sit in the vicinity of those who are considered ‘clean’ as they can pray. Instead, they would have to sit in a designated room away from the prayer area while they waited for the others to finish with their prayers.
One of my friends was having her menses so she was in that room and she was just chilling on the floor, waiting for us. Then, she started screaming like nobody’s business, just yelling at the top of her lungs and everybody was just thinking, “what the hell…”
Several other students tried to calm her down. She went quiet after that but as she stared into the eyes of another student, THAT student started screaming as well and that would start a chain of screaming students.
I was still praying when I heard the screams coming from that area. I went over to that room – still in my telekung – and by the time I was there, I’ve realised that I couldn’t save sh*t at that point.
I tried to calm one of the girls down. It was clear to me that this person was being possessed because it felt like she wasn’t herself. I looked into her eyes which were twitching but her gaze was just fixed and her irises were pitch black.
When I looked at the other girls in the room, they were still yelling and their eyes were doing the same thing.
Their eyes were twitching but the (black) eyeball didn’t move at all – and their eyes was just pitch black.
When I followed they’re gaze, I noticed they would focus on one spot of the room’s door.
As I glanced at the door, I realised a monkey was just hanging there.
“The monkey itself was not a normal monkey, as it had really long hair that covered its entire being.”
It was a scary-looking monkey… I couldn’t make out the face, from the top of the head to the feet as well AND it was hanging upside down; it was blocking the exit door (really didn’t give these students a break damn).
I would consider myself as having a weak spirit, or a “lemah semangat” as the Malays might say.
“I tried to calm myself down and convince myself that it was just an illusion but for some reason, I’d blackout a few seconds after that.”
People were telling me after that night that I was screaming and a mass hysteria happened at that particular room that I was in.
I couldn’t remember anything that happened nor did I know what I was screaming but it had apparently affected the other students as well.
When I woke up, I was in Hospital Seremban. All our parents, and even the school’s principal had to come pick us up from the hostel to bring us to the hospital. They gave us air zam zam just to try and calm us down.
Ever since then, I’ve started being able to see ‘things’ and I still see them today too. The only difference now is that I’m no longer as scared as I used to be about it. I don’t tegur or provoke these spirits when I do see them because some don’t actually want you to see them.
Being ‘Exorcised’
I actually went to see my late uncle three days later, who is famous for being this spiritual person so he could help me feel calmer about seeing these spirits and it worked.
He hosted a ‘healing session’ after I told him the backstory although he somehow already knew what had happened to me.
He told my parents that the “monkey” that I saw is actually called siamang and they looked cute by the way!
But when I saw it hanging on the door, it was just so scary to me since the face was covered by its long, long hair.
So the healing process would take place in the span of a week.
“It would include having me sleep with a nail that’s been wrapped in a yellow cloth under my pillow and biting on it when I wake up the next morning.”
Before biting the clothed nail however, I would also have to read a few surahs from the Quran and doing all of this for a week actually helped me feel calmer about my new spirit-seeing ability.
Apparently that school has its own spooky history.
So, there have always been a lot of cases of hysteria in that area and people connected this to the fact that the area right behind our school had this field that was also where the Japanese slaughtered people back in the days.
“Students in this school have experienced hearing Japanese soldiers marching at the back of the school and Japanese soldiers talking during their 3-4AM shower sessions.”
I can still see spirits and entities today – and I am not as scared as before.
I used to think of these spiritual stories as a scare tactic that was meant to keep the students in check. After experiencing all of these first hand, I don’t think it’s a scare tactic – it really does happen.
Today, I still avoid watching horror movies or putting myself in situations that could provoke the spirits. Occasionally, I still see things but I’m not as scared and I think it’s because I am quite used to it and ignore it.
I read a specific surah that really helps me to feel calmer when I do see these things so it does not really affect nor bother me.
“Having a strong faith and connection with my religion to make me feel safer in these times is truly a blessing for me. If anything, I am more grateful that I do not feel as scared anymore.”
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