If you have spent any significant time in a northern town called Kroh, Perak (near the Malaysian-Thailand boarder), you would not question the existence of ghost. First of all, there’s a Lake near the old Government Rest House that was definitely haunted. The locals say that it’s a home for a ghost, and it is blamed for several drowning. According to the story, this ghost will take a form of a beautiful woman, and attract men to the lake. Next morning some of these men will found drowned in the lake. There were a few lucky ones that woke up the next morning on shore, and can’t recall how they got there.
Here’s a story that actually happen to my dad on the Kroh-Bentong Road. Back in the 1960’s this isolated road used to have 99 bends that used to be the cause of many accidents. At night this is a very dark and desolate road.
One night, my father was driving on this lonely road when he saw an elderly Malay gentlemen (Pak Haji) walking. Tired of driving for several hours by himself, my dad stopped, and asked Pak Haji if he wanted a lift. He said yes, stating that his kampung was just a few miles down the road. Out of respect, my dad invited to him to take the back seat. According to my dad, he and Pak Haji were engaged in pleasant conversation they were driving down this road. After about 15 minutes, my dad noticed that Pak Haji was getting quiet. Since he was driving, he tried to get a glimpse of Pak Haji in his rear view mirror, but couldn’t see anything. So he turns his head to take a quick peek as to what was going on in the back seat. All of a sudden, he gets a very hard slap across his face. In shock of Pak Haji’s actions, my dad slams on the breaks, and the car comes to a stop. Ready to confront him, my dad looks in the back seat, there’s nobody there; Pak Haji had vanished into thin air.
When he finally reached home, my mom described my father as pale, shivering, and drenched in sweat. But he had a distinctive red mark on his face. Until today, my father can’t understand why the ghost of Pak Haji slapped him. I think that some questions are better left unanswered.
