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Spirits

The spirit in the house of Mr and Mrs Lim Medan has returned. It is the spirit of a deceased Javanese woman who worked as a coolie at the plantation ‘Johor Estate’ and lost her life on the estate due to unnatural causes. When the ‘Kakek’ (grandfather) of the plantation Tandem Hilir, as a medium, had spoken to the spirit two years ago, and had asked her kindly to relocate, she initially did so and moved to a large tree behind the house. But she did not like it there, it was dirty, she told the Kakek and went back to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Lim. Last year, Mrs Lim suffered from the spirit, at night she felt a hand on her head and eyes and it was like someone was talking in her ear, she constantly heard somebody whispering ‘korkorkorkor’. She could not sleep for many nights and had asked the spirit to please leave her alone multiple times. At one point she hung a rosary in front of the window that proved to be quite helpful and for a couple of nights it was quiet and Mrs. Lim manage to catch some sleep. Then the spirit came back, and Mrs. Lim summoned another medium. This medium made a deal with the spirit, the bedroom was for the couple Lim, the living room for the spirit. After this Mrs Lim could sleep again.

Another spirit lives on Jalan Asia (Asia Street) at number 79, the house of Mr. and Mrs. Kusuma. In the 1960s it was used by the police for interrogations, and allegedly executions took place in this building. In September 1965, the so-called communist coup happened, after that Suharto took power. In the following months many people were arrested throughout Indonesia, and tens of thousands communists or suspected communists were killed. Jalan Asia No. 79 therefore has a sinister past, with the result that it is haunted. ‘It is a male ghost’, Mrs. Kusuma told us, and he is also a sexual predator. There are many types of spirits, and this one at night cannot keep her hands off and stay away from Mrs. Kusuma. Furthermore, they had witnessed several times that shoes were moving without anyone in the room and various other unexplained cases happened. Mr. Kusuma also confirmed the existence of a spirit. One day he heard noise in the bathroom. There was some loud splashing of water, while he really was home alone. There was also a positive aspect to the haunted house, the spirit namely brought ‘rezeki’ (goodluck in business) and the business of Mr. Kusuma was flourishing. This was also confirmed by the ‘biksu’ (priest) in the Buddhist temple where Mrs. Kusuma regularly went to. For Kusuma and his wife the house was clearly unsafe. But they were not afraid, and lived there for over ten years. Thereby the ‘rezeki’ was also worth something. When Mrs. Kusuma told the ‘biksu’ that she wanted to move, he said: “You can move, but you get little ‘rezeki”. Sometime later Mr. Kusuma sold his house at number 79 Jalan Asia, and moved into a new house in the residential Grya Riatur Indah. The ‘rezeki’ stayed away and Mr. Kusuma, who had a company for road marking, got no more orders from the local government. That was not surprising because just a period of economic malaise started after the move. But it also came because of the house according to Mrs. Kusuma.

In Medan and surroundings there are many haunted houses such as the Shell / BPM Hotel Bukit Kubu in Brastagi built in 1939. In room 8 on the second floor executions by the Japanese took place during the wartime. The spirit of the murdered person continued to live in room 8. I myself have slept in room 6 twice, however, I did not experienced anything. Maybe I should give room 8 a try next time.

Dirk A. Buiskool PhD