I spent 11 years of
my education in St John's Institution along Jalan
Bukit Nanas. The school is just beside a huge (and
only) forest reserve right in the heart of Kuala
Lumpur. This is the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve virgin
rainforest on a small hill.
This was how
everything started. I was with the Eagle Scouts since
I was 13 until 17. I have heard many stories about
the forest but never believed them. Or rather I never
wanted to believe them. After all the Scouts had a
great reputation of scaring everyone just for fun.
There was this
particular story about a General's wife during World
War II. During the war, my school doubled as a
hospital and a small missionary school. The story was
about a British army General and his local Chinese
wife. They were a very loving and caring couple who
always helped the mission. However, when the Japanese
came, the General was said to have been brought to
the forest and beheaded in front of an old Jati tree.
He was said to have been taken away by soldiers when
he went for his mandi (bath).
When his wife
realised he was missing and taken away, she panicked
and begged the Japanese soldiers to spare her
husband's life. She was, however, told that her
husband only went up the jungle to fix a telegraph
line. Days and then months passed and she still never
see her beloved husband. Slowly and gradually she was
getting sicker with all the worries and anxiety. One
full moon night, she ran out of her quarters dressed
up in her white wedding gown and put on her best
make-up to look for the General. She was never seen
again after that night. Some said the tigers got her,
some said she committed suicide. Accordingly, she was
said to be haunting the hill now.
I never really
believed that she actually haunts the hill until a
fateful July 17. We Scouts were playing a game called
'night-guts'. Basically we were to walk alone in the
jungle at night only with a pre-tied rafia (plastic
string) line guiding us. It was to test our guts,
hence the name. Anyway, I was walking alone on such a
game and was nearing the end of the path where a
senior was supposed to meet us. Then, I saw a white
figure about 100 metres ahead of me. Now, to be
honest, the first thing that came into my mind was a
ghost, not a human being. But I made myself believe
that it was my senior. I called out and told 'him'
not to play the fool. Then the figure just walked
away from me and disappeared for a couple of seconds.
As I was getting curious and trying to take a closer
look, I saw the same figure appearing on top of a
tall tree. She was singing a Chinese song with such
forlorn tone. She was full of make-up and was combing
her hair as she sang. She looked at me, stopped
singing, smiled and then started laughing. I froze. I
wanted to run back but I lost the rafia lead. So I
just ran ahead calling my senior's name and kept
calling and calling. I finally bumped into another
senior and told him to run. He ran with me not
knowing exactly what happened. I related the incident
to everyone later and scared everyone stiff.
Later, I heard from
people that motorcyclists along the road often see
the same figure, with blood-red lipstick and thick
make-up. She would be seen singing on top of a tree
while combing her hair. More often than not, their
motorcycles would stall for no reason as they
approach the tree. Then the figure would climb down
the tree slowly and walked towards the motorcyclist,
who would be frantically trying to get the motorcycle
started again. Then, as she came nearer, the
motorcycle would start up and she would give a chase
while laughing all the time. This sure scared the wit
out of them.
