Bargaining with the Old Man

This happened more than 60 years ago, during the Japanese occupation of World War II. The Japanese had just occupied Kuching.

A young married couple who were first generation immigrants from China decided to leave Kuching and hide in the distant rural areas to avoid the danger. They travelled far, and came across a long-abandoned village. The fields had been left for many, many years and the village was in ruins. However, they decided to settle there and hide from the Japanese.

The couple started clearing the land and made themselves at home. One day, as the wife was clearing a part of the overgrown field, something sharp cut her leg. It was only a minor injury, and she continued clearing the land until evening.
That night, her leg was in terrible pain. It was swollen and she was unable to sleep. As days passed, the pain grew worse. And, the husband started having dreams.

The dreams were surreal. He felt like they weren't really dreams, as they came to him just as he was half-asleep and half-awake. The dreams were always the same.
A naked old man would appear to him and try to talk to him. But each time the husband avoided the old man and woke up.
The condition of his wife's leg was getting worse.

One evening, the husband decided to "speak" to the old man. The old man told the husband that he was alone, cold and hungry. He asked for some food and clothes. The husband told the old man that his wife's leg was in a lot of pain.
He told the old man about the war, and said that he promised he would go to town and buy some clothes as soon as he could (because wartime was dangerous, and he could not go straight away). In return, he wanted his wife's leg to recover. The old man agreed.

The wife's leg recovered very quickly after that. The husband kept his promise, he bought and burnt some offerings for the old man.

Later, the husband discovered that the sharp object that had cut his wife's leg was part of a human bone...

Kampung Sabu in Sri Aman

There is a small village in Sri Aman, Kampung Sabu. It is quite far off the highway, and most express buses don't have any routes there (only one bus services that area). It is an old Iban village.

Behind the Iban village, in the jungle nearby, there is an ancient Iban cemetery. It is so old that nobody in the village knows anything of the people that lie beneath the dirt.

The cemetery is not like modern cemeteries, it has no tombstones. The ancient Ibans had just built pondok (huts) and buried their dead inside. And now, the old Iban cemetery was nothing more than ancient broken-down pondok falling into ruin, and covered by bushes and vines. Many were no longer visible, obscured by the tangles of undergrowth.

According the villagers, sometimes they hear strange sounds at night. Sbe was sleeping in her room when she heard the loud sound of chattering teeth coming from her roof. It was said to be a pontianak, or a lady spirit that some believe to be a sort of vampire. Other villagers have heard the sound of footsteps on their rooftops, and high-pitched laughter.

The Ibans there however, coexist with the spirits of the jungle and believe that the pontianak are harmless unless provoked.