Ghosts of the past

Here in Borneo, Sarawak specifically the ghosts are different.. some are headless and some have the power to make you do things you dont want to do... others roam homes and have territorial rights over pieces of land.. some are stuffed in clay jars the height of an average man..some have heads without bodies and bodies without heads.. whatever they are like they have more of a presence here than in Singapore...This is the land of " charms" and magic.. where a love potions can make a married man stay with you, where spells cast can make the occupants of a house sleep in deep slumber as the " orang minyak" slip quietly into your home and rob you blind.. shudder the ghosts here are pro-active as they slip int and out of human form !



My friend Jennifer had lived all her life in the US of A and she married a man who eventually relocated her to Kuching Sarawak. Many of us were amazed by her move.. was it love? Was it a call of God? What on earth would she come here for ( remember this was nearly 25 years ago, Sarawak had no malls and the airport was next to an abattoir !) She said ," My husband told me that Sarawak was a tropic isle, similar to Hawaii ." And with that she packed her bags.. looked forward to long tropical beaches , blue sparkling waters and natives that had orchids round their necks.. But upon arrival she found a strip of land with coconuts at the end of an airport run way, an airport that smelt of pigs when the wind drifted the wrong way and a household of in laws who only spoke Hakkah. She was a long way from home.



My encounter with Kuching was less traumatic. For one, I'd visited the Botanical Gardens often enough. The Bukit Timah Forest reserves were also near my home in Singapore.. I could deal with the trees and surrounding jungle. I was quite excited actually. I remember asking Jeff " Hey for our honeymoon let's go to Borneo.. I hear it's nearby." My husband looked at me incredulously and said " You're already there.. Sarawak in ON the island of Borneo darling."



But where ever I went the old Ghosts followed me.. for me it was things unfinished in Singapore. Highschool encounters I could'nt forget, good friends turned bad, soured relations with an embittered mother, bittersweet memories that rose each time I thought I missed home. They followed me , engaging me at the oddest of times.. something I'd cook, a smell in the markets that reminded me of mum, a voice on the radio that sounded like Gillian, a dog on the street that looked like a pet I had a long time ago.. from no where these ghosts of my past.. lured me .