Orang Bunian – our neighbours in the supernatural world
A mother-to-be was in labour. Her midwife was urging her to
"push" hard, hoping the newborn would be delivered smoothly.
But, there was no baby. Only the mother's placenta appeared. No
child was born. What happened? Where did the baby go?
"In a case like this, the baby is most probably taken by the
Bunian community," Malay animism expert associate professor Datuk
Zainal Abidin Borhan explained in an interview with Yahoo!
Malaysia.
No medical or scientific reason can explain this incident. But,
if you believe in the supernatural world, you're might speculate
this: The midwife attending to the delivery could have had
spiritual powers and might have struck a deal with the Orang Bunian
to offer the newborn in return for material gains or fulfilment of
other requests.
Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia psychiatry department
doctor, Ruzanna Zamzam said she has encountered such a case
before.
The patient was a 43-year-old woman, named as S.U., who claimed
to be four months pregnant. S.U had undergone all the necessary
ultrasound scans and successfully recorded images of a female
foetus in her womb. Her heavy figure made it difficult to judge her
pregnancy, but, a few days before her due date, she claimed to have
experienced a spiritual event. She was visited by the lady who was
preparing her delivery. Subsequently, a man told her that she had
lost her baby.
S.U then sought a medical check up, and this time the ultrasound
revealed a non-pregnant uterus.
Similar social structure, different world
altogether
The Orang Bunian supposedly
resemble human beings
The Orang Bunian
supposedly resemble human beings and don't live too differently
from us.
Zainal, who is from University Malaya's Malay Studies Academy,
explained that the Orang Bunian community live in another dimension
of reality. But, like in this world, they too have families and
their own social structure.
There are no clear demarcations between our reality and the
Orang Bunian's reality and you can't see their world with the naked
eye. To enter their world, you must have the special ability to do
so.
"Mediums or bomohs can "befriend" them. They are not spirits
that you can manipulate or instruct like the Toyol or Jinn.
"There is a way of speaking to them. You can speak nicely to
them by asking them to fulfil your requests, but if that does not
work, at times you can also threaten them or make an offering or
barter to come to an agreement."
Many believers of the Malay and Indonesian folklore say that the
Orang Bunian is linked to the Minangkabau culture, originating from
West Sumatra in Indonesia. The Orang Bunian is known to live in the
forest or at foothills and sometimes near cemeteries and empty
buildings.
Some equate this community to elves while others believe they
are built on a royal social structure, with kings, queens and
princesses' in tow. These spirits are known to appear during
sunset.
The Orang Bunian are often used as a reason to explain cases of
missing children or when people go astray in forests.
Movie director and actor Afdlin Shauki has admitted he has
encountered one Orang Bunian-like incident.
While filming Misteri Jalan Lama at the Belum rainforest, he had
ordered two busloads of costumes. Only one arrived at the location
of the shoot. The other bus went missing, and the costumes were
found scattered all over the forest. It didn't deter the crew from
completing the shoot.
Pulau
Aur is believed to be a former home to the Orang Bunian
was formerly home to
the Orang Bunian. Villagers believed that the Orang Bunian had
hidden many goods from a shipwrecked Chinese junk in a secret cave
within the Batu Berhala.
Those who wanted help from the Orang Bunian would have to
perform specific rituals and offerings. Once the Orang Bunian was
satisfied these rituals, a "door" to the cave would open and you
could help yourself with the cargo. But these goods were only on
loan.
However, many did not honour this obligation and fled with the
lucrative items, causing the Orang Bunian to leave Batu Berhala
after being disappointed with the human behaviour and disrespect
for promises.
Crossing to the other side
Because there is no clear "border" between our world and theirs,
the two often clash. There have been stories or known cases of
people claiming to get married to a member of the Bunian
community.
Sulaimah Abdul Kadir, a writer with Singapore based paranormal
research organisation, Supernatural, had interviewed alternative
medicine practitioner Madam Shann who claimed to have married a
prince from the Orang Bunian community.
The incident took place in 2004 after Madam Shann had dreams
about meeting a handsome prince from the Orang Bunian community at
Gunung Ledang. She claimed she had married a prince by the name of
Amiruddin Shah bin Hassan Shah, the only child of King Hassan,
residing in Gunung Ledang.
Madam Shann had made the trip to Gunung Ledang with a group of
friends and according to them, she disappeared for about four
hours.
She also claimed that she had given birth to seven children
through a "human relationship" she had with Amiruddin, who can
appear as human only if he chooses to.
Some believe that the Orang Bunians live with us or among us,
and sometimes in a parallel world.
Sceptics may ignore their existence, but no one really can
explain these case studies and experiences. The believers would
urge then to just be respectful of the Orang Bunian and mind our
own business.