Monsters, ghost and spirits of Singapore

My door bell rang at close to 11pm last night and when I opened the doors, I found myself facing an empty street. There was no one there. Then I told my sister and some friends and they said, maybe its nenek koropok. I've heard of that name before and asked who's that? Well apparently she's famous among the younger generation as an old lady who goes about selling rotten crackers called koropok and if u don't buy it from her, she curses u. Nenek is malay for grandma/old lady.

Back when I was living in the kampung (malay for village), the famous scare was also an old lady called Hu Gu Po. She's described to have only 2 front teeth and would lure small children with treats and then after that eat them up. I remember once when I was thrown out of the house for being naughty, I was threatened that I shall be fed to Hu Gu Po. And Hu Gu Po dislikes red color. That's why our old home in the kampung was always decked in red cloth to keep her away.

Then there is the famous Pontianak. A female malay vampire who preys on young virgin men. She appears in a beautiful form first to lure you then when she gets u into a corner, reveals her true form with face all torn up and teeth sharpened for the kill. Pontianaks like to hang around cotton trees and usually to give a high pitch laughter that sounds like a screech in the middle of the night. Back in our old kampung, my grand mother told me she used to hear the screams of the pontianak. In their beautiful forms, they sing and once when i was in army training on an island, we heard a lady singing in malay in the wee hours of the morning. It was a forest out there and no known habitants other than us. Everyone was warned to stay close and not wander about. Stories of the pontianak is still very much alive especially on the island of Tekong.

The Banana ghost is a female spirit who lives in the banana tree. With a red string, u can actually trap her and she'll appear before u granting u a wish. However u must remember to release the string the moment the wish is granted or else she will possess u. My grandma knew of a neighbour who got possessed by the banana spirit.

The coin spirit is very much like the Ouija board in western countries. Many of us used to play it in our primary school days. However you must always ensure that it is sent back to the home spot before releasing your hand. Or else u set the spirit free and who knows what havoc it will cause.

Then there is the oily man. I forgot what's his name in malay. A man/ghost who's totally black in color so that he's camouflaged and he steal things and sometimes rape young women, yet no one has been able to catch him because he is so slippery and always slips away in any situation.

The Natos are basically nature spirits and one has to be careful of the green face onez especially. They are the fierce ones and will not let u go easily if u anger them. People who piss by trees or on the roadsides must always remember to ask for permission first, lest you're pissing on a spirit's home.

Then of course, there's the general ghosts. All the others that dun fall into the previous categories, bascially fall into this category. Stories of them are the most abundant. Too much to say here.

Back to the door bell ringing, apparently what I heard is that it is two little boys who go about around midnight selling ice creams door to door. Its not the first time they have come to our house. Human or ghost? Nobody knows... There's a whole other world out there....