Pegi Muzium Tengok Hantu Tak Ada Faedah
Yesterday afternoon I became a good neighbour and picked up my next door neighbour’s daughter from tuition. He was tied up in a meeting and his wife was on a course. He managed to send his daughter to the kindergarten in the morning, picked her up for lunch, then sent the girl off for tuition. Couldn’t run out of the meeting to pick her up, so asked me if I could do it. Since I wasn’t doing anything important (like work, sleep or watching DVD), I said OK lah. While waiting for her to finish up, I went Interweb on my 3g phone and checked my favourite online comic. Sifting through the usual jokes, I came across some very interesting news.
Apparently, the Negri Sembilan Museum is holding a 3-month “Hantu & Jin …?” exhibition and the Culture and Arts Minister Rais Yatim says it should be stopped, since it brings no benefit whatsoever to the community. The Perlis Mufti also said that it should be stopped lest the people live “in fantasy” — since we obviously aren’t already. The political pundek pundit, James Wong Wing On then wrote an opinion piece in the comic, among other things asking:
Why doesn’t the publicly-funded state museum organise exhibitions on more useful themes such as the history of the tin-mining or rubber industries; British colonisation and resistance; the Japanese invasion and occupation; or development of indigenous weaponry?
Why not exhibitions showing the change of the transportation system of Malaya/Malaysia from the use of elephants to Light Rail Transit?
What about exhibitions showing the transformation of information and communication technologies in press rooms, police stations and army camps?
Aren’t these themes more concrete, real and educational than ‘ghosts and djin’, especially to the younger generation?
He then went on to write:
If these questions are asked and answered rationally, surely many would come to the conclusion that there is a malaise in the intellectual system of the concerned museum and curator, as well as the visitors.
Personally, to answer his questions is easy — “Because the things you mentioned are boring, mah!” Now, don’t get me wrong, because I don’t believe in any of that shit, and I can get militant about nutcases who believe all this supernatural stuff. However, for entertainment, I think ok la. Sometimes you go to a museum to get educated, sometimes you go to get entertained. Some people get entertained by getting scared out of their wits. Besides, the museum curator said that there are three experts “… who will answer any doubts or questions the public may have regarding the subject matter.” Not sure what they’re experts of, but hey, they’re experts ok. They’re probably not bloggers so they’re not likely liars, either. I, for one, would like to find the time to go to the museum to look at the exhibits and to ask one of the experts his opinions on several things, such as, “Dr. Mad Jantan of the IIU, don’t you think your name would be a good one for a Bond villain?” and “Dr. Mad Jantan of the IIU, don’t you get sick of people making fun of your name?”
Besides, supernatural stuff have been popular for yonks and continue to be. Take the Japanese, Korean and Thai horror film scene, for example. Even locally, we’ve had Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam 1 and 2, with Susuk, Cermin and Jangan Pandang Belakang coming soon. On the telly, we have that thing on TV3 (can’t remember what it’s called) and Ghost Hunters. People in Malaysia believe in bomohs, pawangs, santau, hantu raya, pontianak, toyol and a host of other things. We share them with the Indonesians. In the West Indies they have voodoo witch doctors and zombies (which also made those things popular in New Orleans, apparently). And the whole world believes in Feng Shui (pronounced fung suey for some reason).
That’s how it goes la. What’s really needed are some good sceptics. People who would spend the time to investigate and thoroughly debunk these things. People like Michael Shermer and James Randi, but local ones. Maybe a nice Ustaz who can also explain scientifically why certain phenomenon are what they seem. So, rather than replacing the “Hantu & Jin … ?” exhibition with LRT stuff, maybe they could do a scientific debunking section as well. That way we can get scared out of our wits and learn a thing or two about reality. Maybe that’s what those three experts are there for. Hmm … must go see la like this.
Endnote:
It has long been a dream of mine to one day travel around the country, checking out the bomohs and their santaus, plus checking out all the hantu raya, pontianak and toyol sightings. Of course, before I go, I would need to get prepared. Must have a GPS locator, 4WD, elecromagnetic interferometer, 3 handphones (for the 3 celcos), laptop, camera, etc. If I suddenly disappear or something like that, one of you bargers better come and pull me out.