Orang Minyak – Supernatural sick person or real rascal?

The black hand crawling through the bedroom window. This is how Elaine Khor remembers her encounter with the Orang Minyak or Oily Man.

Elaine was assigned to training at a hostel in Malacca and shared a room with her colleagues. During the first three weeks of their stay, they discovered that money and underwear had been stolen from their room, even though it was locked.

“We worked the same shift so it was unlikely it was one of us. It was so strange to have your things stolen without any sign of a break-in,” this 34-year-old professional told Yahoo! Malaysia in an interview.

What’s even more bizarre, she said, are the frequent visits from a “black hand” – a black hand that is not attached to any human body.

“I was sleeping but woke up in the middle of the night feeling very uncomfortable. Then I saw this black hand, just one hand, crawling through an open window like it was looking for something,” she explained.

She started screaming and it went away. Her roommate witnessed a similar hand entering her room the following night. Other strange things happened at the hostel, from increased sightings of “black hands” to a bed thrown to the floor in an empty guest room.

“We were tired of this charade. After seeing the black hand again and again, we decided to fight it.”

One night, Elaine and her colleagues collected some wood from a nearby construction site and decided to set out to find the “source” of this hand.

The group of girls and boys then left the dorm and started roaming around. Suddenly one of her roommates saw a black figure walking past them.

“It went by so quickly! The boys chased after it but lost sight of the figure, it just disappeared! Apparently the figure looked oily,” she added.

Supernatural or supercriminal?

Malaysians know the Orang Minyak as a supernatural creature. But in some cases the Orang Minyak takes human form.

According to legend, the Orang Minyak was a supernatural serial rapist who made a deal with the devil to gain supernatural powers by raping several virgins – some say 21, others say 40 – within seven days.

This version of the supernatural being was used as a plot for the production of the 1958 film Sumpah Orang Minyak or The Curse of the Oily Man, which starred the late P. Ramlee.

Another version of the Orang Minyak, created in the 1960s, was described as a naked man covered in oil.

The greasy man appeared this way to make it difficult for people to catch or hold him. Its black camouflage also makes it easier for it to disappear at night.

In human form, criminals assume this Orang Minyak disguise to hunt victims in women’s dormitories or villages.

In September, residents of Taman Pinggiran Batu Caves Gombak arrested a man who identified himself as Orang Minyak. Police arrested the man, believed to be a black magic practitioner.

Slimy and seedy

Evelyn Khoo remembers the Orang Minyak story as a shape-shifting spirit. She remembers many reports of thefts in the village near her grandparents’ home in Butterworth, Penang.

“It all broke out one night when a neighbor said he saw a shiny black figure running away,” she said.

Soon after, the villagers went on night patrols equipped with machetes and sticks.

“I was 14 at the time and they told us that the Orang Minyak could turn into a black dog or a mosquito to deceive pursuers,” explained Evelyn.

Her grandfather’s dog was not spared. Some villagers almost killed it because they thought it was the Orang Minyak in a different form.

“We were told more stories; that the Orang Minyak can transform into a mosquito and back into a human, and use that as an opportunity to sneak into our rooms and harass us! It was scary!”

Many believed that to deter the Orang Minyak, women had to wear sweaty clothing to give the supernatural being the impression that men were in close proximity.

Another common remedy is to bite the Orang Minyak’s left thumb and cover it with a batik cloth.

But think about it. Do you want to get close to a slimy, greasy, oily supernatural spirit?