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Acknowledgments
They say behind every successful man there is a patient and tired woman. Although I cannot profess that I am a successful man, I can definitely claim that this book and a lot of things in my life would not have been possible without my wife’s constant support. She and my studious daughter would check my stories and would be the first ones to provide me with valuable feedback.I am most grateful and continue to be indebted to my team...
Three times, Hello!
I never thought the third Real Ghost Stories of Borneo book would be this hard to write. It has been the slowest book I have ever written. I am so glad that you are reading this book as I can tell you I had a myriad of distractions and challenges that were stopping me from completing this book.Time was a big factor, as I worked most days and evenings at the clinic. I began to pity myself as I reflected...
Abidin & The Pacer
Abidin was a 40-year-old businessman. He owned a small restaurant and had set up a managerial system, which effectively gave him more free time as he did not have to micromanage. However, his free time was quickly taken over by his extended families’ needs to resolve their issues. Abidin had a very large extended family. He had so many uncles and aunts and he was thankful for that as it helped his business thrive. He realised it was time for...
The Beach Resort
Fina, her fiancé Hakim and his mother, Mrs. Lela, wanted to have a quick weekend escapade. It was really meant to be for Fina and Hakim, but Mrs. Lela did not want any hanky-panky between the two, especially when they were due to get married in several months’ time. Of course, Mrs. Lela was up-to-date with modern times. She knew her son and her future daughter-in-law were ‘pre-wedlock sulliers’.Hakim also had another intention. His father died 2 years ago, and...
Trapped
Jenny had dug her heels in that year. She knew the first year of her medical degree course at the local university was only a taste of the things to come. The first academic year was designed to get students settled in, to weed out the fake ‘wannabe’s whilst nurturing those who have the genuine passion to become medical doctors. The second year was going to be harder; they would have to study and learn faster and harder. No ‘spoon-feeding...
The Construction Site
Before I became a Muslim convert or the correct term would be, Muslim revert, my name was Chong and I used to work for a construction company. We were mainly involved in building and civil works projects. Those in my industry would say we learnt best on-site. Truer words were never spoken.In 2005, we were awarded a government project to construct a multi-storey building with its surrounding facilities. Make no mistake; we fought tooth-and-nail to win this contract tender. It...
The Neighbourhood
Amal had shared and written a few stories with me. She had previously shared with me a story titled “A Father’s Daughter - which can be found in the second book: Real Ghost Stories of Borneo 2.***My siblings and I were pretty much used to seeing spirits here and there. I could feel their presence even if they did not reveal themselves. However, I had never let them bother me. I was never spooked by any ‘presence’.After I had gotten...
Adam & The Waterfall
How did I meet Adam? I had finished work and realised I had a business question to ask Johnny, a good friend of mine. He asked me to join him for dinner at his Kota Batu house. He mentioned his brother was cooking, and he was an excellent cook. His brother Adam was a Chinese Muslim convert. When I first met Adam, Adam was keen to share about his life experience. Immediately, I knew that my mentor’s mentor and his...
The Blue Lakes
Junaidi and his wife had just started moving to the new national housing scheme area at Lugu Village. The national housing scheme was basically an affordable housing project set up by the government to allow its citizens to purchase cheap and yet decent built houses interest-free. They considered it to be one of their great personal milestones: house ownership.To drive to their house, they would have to drive pass by a man-made lake at the bottom of a hill. The...
Mahmud & The Police Housing
My uncle Mahmud is a well-respected recently retired police officer. Every time I mentioned to a police officer that he’s my uncle, I seemed to gain access to a whole different attitude. It was clear that he was a good police officer; he was smart enough not to get involved in the politics of work and, more importantly; he carried his good character values with him during duty, off-duty and now during retirement. I have always bumped into him walking...
The Feline Incident
Manisah, a nurse graduate, had shared an incident that happened to her father a long time ago.Sometime in the year 2002, Manisah, who was eleven years old at that time, was staying in a wooden stilted house on the mangrove muddy banks of the river at Sungai Matan Village. Her parents, along with her, shared the house with her two aunts, who themselves had their own families.It was an old yet sturdy, large stilted house; there was more than enough...
The Tattoo
I have mentioned Zul’s ghostly encounters a few times already, as these stories were narrated by my mentor Bob, and later on, by Zul himself. However, the actual first story was something I had first decided not to write about, as I was unsure of what to make of it. As I got to know more ghost encounters from other people, I realised that at least one other person had a similar encounter as Zul’s.Zul lives in a large house...
Nikki & The Staff-house
I had met Nikki whilst working at an on-site clinic for one of the construction consortium companies who was undertaking the largest construction project in the country. Nikki, a Filipino nurse, had been working for the company for the past 5 years. Although she missed home, she was always surrounded by other Filipinos. In fact, she shared the same accommodation as the other Filipinos in the company.Nikki decided to tell me about her strange experience at this staff-house in Pintu...
Angel & The Staff-house
Angel was one of Nikki’s roommates. Like Nikki, she was also from the Philippines and worked for the same construction company. Angel had issues living away from home, in a foreign country but that all got better once she met Jerome. Jerome was working for a different construction company that was also working on the same mega national construction project in this country. When they first met, she was 24 whilst he was 27. She never imagined how fast their...
Maria & The Staff-house
After Angel had moved out, Maria became one of Nikki’s roommates. Maria is also a Filipino, but unlike Nikki, she is distinctly from Mindanao, which is commonly known as the Southern Philippines. Maria was what others would call a more conservative Filipino.The first day Maria moved in, Nikki could see how uneasy she was with the room. Maria was not comfortable. Maria wondered if this was because of homesickness. This was the first year of working abroad and she had...
The Pretty
Farah was a nursing student whom had shared a story about the time she had a clinical work attachment at the hospital in the Capital. She had read Real Ghost stories of Borneo 1 and was shocked to read one of the stories as she had a connected event.She was already in her 2nd year of nursing college. Student nurses must undertake clinical attachments to gain work experience in the hospitals as well as clinics. There was pride and joy...
The Recording
Two people introduced me to Tina’s recording. It was a short 10 second audio clip. I was not sure what to make of it. This is her story.In Kota Kinabalu city, Tina, an unemployed school dropout, initially didn’t mind the stagnant life. Like other girls, she tried to find work, but she never got any interviews or offers for the jobs she wanted. On the other hand, the other jobs that were available were too lowly paid.That was the dilemma,...
Mimi & The Park
I met ‘Mimi’, a middle-aged mother (she would dread that term) at my clinic. She reminded me we were school-mates. Even though I was trying to ascertain her teenage daughter’s ailment, Mimi and I ended up chatting about quite a few things under the sun. Despite my constant apologies, her daughter was not too pleased with the both of us, as it was supposed to be her time with the doctor and not her mother’s!Mimi ran a small family restaurant...
Sleeping Beside A Window
Original story from Nur Khayrin Sofiya Noorismawarddy, from PAP Hajah Masna high school (Year 8)I could barely keep my eyes open as the car poorly negotiated the narrow bumpy road to my grandmother’s house. There were no streetlights and the car’s headlights could barely illuminate the road on this particularly dark night. My mother was fast asleep and snoring gracefully in the passenger seat in front, whilst my father was tensely silent. His eyes were wide open and completely focused...
The Ravine
I had met Fadil at the Mentiri private clinic I worked at. It was good to see him again as he and I had many paintball tournaments together in the United Kingdom. He is currently working on one of the massive tanker ships that carry ‘Liquefied Natural Gas’ or LNG back and forth to Japan. He shared a story with me, which I was initially not keen to write.It was the year 2012. Fadil, at 27 years old, was up...
The Adventure Learning
Manisah had just finished her final year exams in nursing college. After this, she would become a full-fledged nurse. The semester had not yet finished. Manisah and her classmates had expected to turn up to the college and somehow skip whatever in-school extracurricular activities and ‘chill-ax’. However, the first day after her exams had finished, they were told to attend an ‘adventure learning’ course in the Temburong district.She was shocked to learn that they were expected to stay there for...
The Nocturnal
It is strange that when I share about poltergeist sightings and experiences at Jalan Kebangsaan Lama or the Kebangsaan Lama Road area, I often get several people who have their own experiences to share. This is Yusof’s story. In 1981, my parents had bought their first house at ‘Jalan Kebangsaan Lama’ or Kebangsaan Lama Road. My parents were overjoyed and zealously proud, as it was deemed as an important milestone achievement for citizens, who are second generation Chinese, to own property....
The Night Watchman
Aswadi had been a security guard for many years. He was 30 years old and had been working at various facilities in the Tutong district. His transfer to the Sungai Basong Recreational Park was quite sudden. It was his first time working at a recreational park. He was told to fill an unexpected vacancy as the previous elderly security guard had passed away. Aswadi did not mind, as it meant the commute to work was nearer and he assumed the...
Toto’s Confrontation
Syifa; a 9-year-old girl, has been living in England for the past few years, whilst her mother, an orthopedic surgeon, was completing her specialist training in the United Kingdom. This is her story.***It was strange to come back home again. Even though we visited our home country for the holidays, there was nothing like coming home and knowing we were here to stay. Our house in Jerudong had been vacant most of the time. Its only visitors were my grandmother...
