My encounter with a pontianak

August 17, 2010 by guest

I have always been very interested in the paranormal. When my friends organised late-night outings to 'find' the supernatural, I never hesitate to join in. Its this little curiosity in me which burns at the word 'ghosts' and 'spirits', so I was hoping to see one with my very own eyes, although I have to admit, most of the times all I wanted was to get out of there.

It was about 2 weeks before my wedding date when my friends organised the trip to a supposedly haunted park here in Singapore. They have experienced alot of the unexplainable there, so I was all the more eager to go, despite several warnings from the elders, citing I can't stay out till late cos soon-to-be weds are considered 'darah manis' or 'sweet blooded' (direct translation) and are vulnerable & attractive to spirits.

Needless to say, I still went ahead with the plan, together with my fiance.

We went to kranji reservoir, where the Japanese invaded Singapore and pirates reigned the area (this i read after I got back from the outing). It was definitely spooky, with very bad lighting, and very few people around. The surrounding perimeter are mangrove swamps and huge trees.

As we walked further in, arming ourselves with prayers only we can hear, we noticed a single candle burning on the other side of where we were on, the area with thick mangroves and trees. At that moment, I felt a sudden rush of fear. A candle burning in the middle of the night, in front of trees. Scary.

We took a stroll there, right in front of the mangrove swamp, hoping to hear or see something. I was cold at that point. And then the leaves in front of me moved. They didn't rustle. They just moved, like someone pushed the branches or something. Suddenly my fiance told me to back off and stand with his friend further from the trees. And so I did, I daren't ask more. I only sensed something was terribly wrong from the look on his face.

His clever friend suddenly blurted out,"Alamak, where are they taking pictures? Wrong place". I was blur, and then he said,"They should take a picture up there. Look up, can you see it?"

And for the first time ever in my life, I saw her. Standing, or floating, high above the trees. I cannot really tell whether she was looking at us, because her face wasn't clear. All I know was I saw her white dress and her black hair, which isn't really THAT long as portrayed by other people. Her hair was of chest length, is all I can recall.

I remember at that time feeling very vulnerable. I hurried to my fiance, but didn't dare tell him anything. As we were parting from that place, my fiance suddenly said,"Don't look up". I didn't. I was prepared for that anyway, cos I saw it already.

While we were on the way home in the car, I told my fiance what I saw. His reply shocked me,"You remember I told you not to look up? Her cloth was hanging inches away from your head". Others' theory of that is that the pontianak was probably trying to possess me. But I don't want to think too much of it. What I saw was enough to torment my nights for days. It was really quite an experience for me, but I shan't say its going to be my last.

Just maybe next time, I won't be so lucky.

And just a word of caution: I later learnt from my chinese friends that normally people who saw the supernatural will burn a single candle at the place where they saw 'it' as an offering of some sort. So, try to avoid places with such burning going on.
Also, what I didn't state above is the pontianak's way of making her presence heard. The noise she made was weird, like a duck or a bird. And no, I did not smell frangipani or anything like that. Although, I won't push the possibility away.

Have fun ghost-hunting!

By: Effy.