Spooky truth about Malay reading habits

The New Straits Times
28 July 2005

HARDCOPY: Spooky truth about Malay reading habits
Syed Nadzri syedn@nst.com.my

MALAYS are religious but tend to resign themselves to fate and can be very superstitious — this was among the many stark descriptions of orang Melayu cited by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his adjournment speech at the Umno general assembly last week.

The Prime Minister, who was quoting British colonial governor Frank Swettenham, then added a sobering message of self-scrutiny to the delegates, saying this still holds true till today.

"They believe in Islam," he said, "but they also believe in ghosts and other nonsensical things, helped by some Malay newspapers which play up stories about five-legged cats and three-legged chickens which they believe bring good luck.

"They believe in ghosts and seek the help of spirits to achieve something. This even happened in the Umno elections. I have been told some Umno members went up north looking for something. Don’t do that, it’s not nice."

The observations by Swettenham, who was British resident and governor-general in Malaya at the turn of the 20th century, can be found in his book The Real Malay.

Though he was said to be quite popular among the Malays in his time, some of the descriptions were rather harsh, condescending and may not be applicable any more.

Like this one: "The Malay girl-child is not usually as attractive in appearance as the boy". Or: "Malays take an interest in the affairs of their neighbours and are consequently gossips".

These two examples did not feature in Abdullah’s speech, but the one that the Umno president emphasised — Malays being superstitious and fond of believing in the paranormal — is something the community had better take note of.

This is not about denigrating one’s own race but when it comes to reading habits, it is quite disconcerting to note that the cerita hantu or cerita toyol (creepy gothic stories) are among the most popular among Malay readers.

That is why some tabloids and magazines are cashing in on this craze by sensationalising with headlines such items as Kubur berasap (Smoke on the grave) or Mayat bertukar menjadi babi (Dead turns into pig).

They are certainly worse than the News of the World-type of stories about UFO sightings, Elvis alive and women giving birth to crocodiles.

Among the best-selling Malay storybooks not too long ago was the Bercakap Dengan Jin series (conversations with the spirits) by an author called Tamar Jalis.

His books were all about grisly tales and they were told in a not-so-tasteful language.