Is the Green Lady Headless?

From NST

Spectres the new tourist spectacle

26 Jun 2006
June Ramli and Mimi Syed Yusof

KUALA LUMPUR: Spooks and spirits, haunted castles, legends of pontianak and jin. Who hasn’t experienced that chill down the spine over an evening of ghost stories?

The Tourism Ministry is looking to the other world to attract more visitors. It is planning to use Malaysia’s treasure trove of haunted buildings, ghostly tales and folk legends as a draw for Visit Malaysia Year next year.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Kamarudin Siaraf said paranormal tourism was "in" overseas but had yet to be explored here.

He cited Kellie’s Castle in Perak as an example. Promoted these days as Malaysia’s version of the Taj Mahal, it was a fairy-tale mansion built by an eccentric Scotsman as a symbol of his love for his wife, and never completed.

"We never tell people the place is haunted by the spirits of Kellie’s family for fear we may scare tourists away.

"However, we have realised that people really are interested in ghosts and enjoy such tours. So the onus is on the tour operators to come up with an enthralling package."

Kamarudin said there were many places with interesting stories to tell. The ministry was aware that some of these historic places, many built by the British and used by the Japanese during the occupation of Malaya during World War Two, may be haunted.

A ghostly tour could easily take in the whole country, and all its other places of interest. Istana Menanti in Negri Sembilan, built around 1905, is believed to be haunted by the spirits of palace aides.

Students of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar often see the headless "Green Lady" when they go to the toilet at night. So often, in fact, that former students have written about the apparition of a Japanese woman brutally murdered in the building during the Japanese occupation.

Pulau Besar in Malacca is said to be haunted by the spirits of traders and missionaries from the Middle East buried there in the 1800s.

Kuala Lumpur has many spooky places, but one that stands out is Pudu Prison, where many notorious criminals, including Botak Chin, were hanged. There are stories of the apparition of an Indian man walking the prison corridors and disappearing in front of a particular cell.

Kamarudin advised tour operators to research the country’s history and folklore. Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the "paranormal heritage" could be promoted the way the British promote their castles — livening up tours with tales of ghosts that inhabit them.