Here is the followup from Borneo Post.

SERIAN: Hysteria gripped SMK Serian yesterday forcing school authorities to suspend classes until further notice.

The unusual phenomenon had been hitting students for the last three weeks, sending the afflicted into a state of fits, screaming and violent shaking while those close to them cried in fear. A baffled Ramli Zauniddin, the school principal, said: “The school is doing whatever the people believe should be done, including getting ‘religious practitioners’ on standby at the school today (yesterday).” Two of the ‘specialists’ were said to have come from Simunjan and Siburan.

Inside sources in fact told The Borneo Post that the school engaged the services of four paranormal practitioners to try to calm down the students, but that when up to 20 students (Ramli put the number at 10) started screaming and looking “very much possessed” the school had to suspend classes. “School will be going on as usual. Students should continue to come to school if parents allow them to,” Ramli said. But even as Ramli said he had got permission from the Education Department to relax school attendance until further notice, classrooms were empty as early as 2pm yesterday.

A peep at the boarding houses revealed spooky silence while in one of the classes where the students were said to have become hysterical, the tables and chairs were in disarray. Apparently, every student was affected in one way or another especially after yesterday’s incident where for the first time a boy was among those “struck”.

The Borneo Post talked to him and he claimed that he was possessed while he was restraining a fellow student. The Form Five student recalled that his mind went blank and he was not in control of his body.
“I felt very light and I heard strange voices playing in my head,” he said. According to him, the victims were girls from the morning session.

Another student who did not become hysterical, talked about being scratched by his unfortunate classmates, claimed that the cases of hysteria started ever since a group of students came back from a picnic trip at Gunung Gading in Lundu, that the school organised.

He said the ‘spirit’ might have followed the students home and created trouble in the school by possessing them one by one. When asked if the incident was connected with the Gunung Gading trip, Ramli said he dared not confirm that. A fourth former also claimed that five students at the hostel were attacked by the ‘unknown’ on Wednesday night and that for the rest of the night the students were restless and not sleeping well.

Of yesterday’s incident, he said he was seated next to a student who suddenly appeared to be in a trance during lesson around 9am. “The student’s actions caught the teacher’s attention. “Our teacher started to wave her hands in front of the student but she showed no response. “Sensing that something was wrong with her, the teacher asked her name and the student answered in a hoarse voice: “Who are you?” and then began to stare coldly at everyone in the class before she started to cry. “Then the crying was followed with screaming and she started to go berserk, kicking and slamming tables around her,” he said.

He also recalled that he witnessed a fellow student, also with a similar voice, speaking of having wings and wanting to fly. He said she then sat on the edge of the corridor as though she was ready to jump off. A couple of students quickly pulled her to safety.

Students interviewed talked about ‘spirits angered by a student who picked flower to bring home and drinking from a pond without asking permission of the forest inhabitants’. “Whatever the reasons, the situation is under control and I don’t think it is infectious,” Ramli said, however, looking very conscious of the eerie silence shrouding the school.

As this reporter walked out of the school gate, a security guard was seen spreading what looked like white pebbles around the school’s perimeter. Asked what it was, he replied: “Garam batu (salt).”

Ask for an explanation, the gentleman was tight-lipped, but what was clear was that something was not quite right in the air. Until the school makes a decision on the class suspension, the guard will be on his own. He certainly needs all the salt for all they are worth.

Here is the news on the hysteria case that happened in 2008 in Serian from The Borneo Post.

SERIAN: It was a quiet and calm day at SMK Serian yesterday, as many students opted to steer clear of their school for fear of becoming victims of hysterical attacks after 12 students reportedly broke into screaming and shaking fits believed to have been induced by a paranormal presence on Thursday.

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred, to the surprise of locals, who had endured the bizarre activities of the unusual phenomenon for the past three weeks. The presence afflicted an average of two students per day until Thursday when the situation peaked drastically with a significant increase in the number of attacks.

It was believed that the attacks began after a group of students came back from picnic trip in Gunung Gading, Lundu. The trip was an excursion organised by the school. Locals report that the haunting at the school could have been attributed to acts unwittingly committed by the students during the picnic. One of the youths apparently picked flowers from the area and brought it home while another reportedly took a bath in a pond where he also did his ‘dirty business’.

According to a local folklore, Gunung Gading is inhabited by sacred spirits, 99 ‘dayang’ or maiden spirits. The disruptive presence of the students was suspected by many to have angered and offended the ‘guardians’ of the area.

The school’s principal, Ramli Zainuddin confirmed that they were no hysteria attacks yesterday, when met by The Borneo Post. However, the students had the option to not attend classes until further notice. On the majority, students who were attending the morning sessions chose not to return to the school, influenced by the frightening stories their previously-possessed peers relayed to them about the phenomenon. Some afternoon session students, in the meanwhile, were seen wandering about school premises.

Mohd Saupie Balitang, a security guard who has been serving the school for nearly 10 years, said that the incident on Thursday was not the first of its kind. Saupie recalled that back in 2006, when the school decided to cut down a big tree just behind the surau, two twin sisters displayed the same behaviour as the previously afflicted students. The felled tree, according to Saupie, might have been home to supernatural ‘beings’ who became enraged.

When asked if he encountered anything ‘strange’ while he was on night duty, the 38-year old security guard replied ‘no’. “But every time I do checks on Block B, I do smell some kind of scent similar to ‘bau gaharu’ or fragrant smoke (incense) which, according to older folk, is a sign that a supernatural being is nearby. “At times I felt that my hairs stand on end for no apparent reason and it gives me the creeps,” Saupie said.

Saupie added that Block B is not the only haunted building in the school. He claimed that the old building where the school’s principal used to live also exhibited similar characteristics. He said that his friends once used the toilet there and when he was done doing his ‘business’, he found that the door was stuck – as though someone was restraining it from opening. “When he did get it open after a while, he checked and saw that there was no one around,” said Saupie, who later added that he saw a religious leader cleaning up the house while he was on duty yesterday.

Meanwhile, a Form 5student, Mohd Hafiz Majaddin, 17, who happens to be the school’s head prefect, claims that a close friend of his who came down with a case of hysteria on Thursday told him how the ‘being’ looked like before screaming like a mad man.

“My female friend was hanging out with some other friends at an area near some palm trees, on the school premises.“A male friend was pulling her hair out of teasing her but he was puzzled when she did not respond in the least. “Usually girls react if someone pulled her hair but my friend (victim) instead just stared blankly in front of her at one of the palm trees.

“She then started to close her ears with her hands and began crying and screaming which freaked my other friends out. “When she was stable – which was hours later after what happened – I asked her what she saw. Things started to creep me out when she told me that she suddenly saw a beautiful woman wearing a scarf, who started to walk towards her. She appeared from out of nowhere.

“But as she drew closer, her beautiful face turned uglier into something so frightening which freaked my friend out,” said Hafiz, who said he would not joke about anything like that. When The Borneo Post tried to contact the victim, she begged not to be interviewed as she was still in trauma and did not wish to recall what she had experienced on Thursday.

Hafiz then said that he heard from another student who claimed that in a related incident another female student had become possessed, acting strangely throughout her morning class. When a teacher asked her name, she coldly replied: “Yanti”. A Form Four student, identified as Mohd Afizi, surmised that the victims who were ‘struck’ on Thursday might be the work of one of the spirits from Gunung Gading. “My cousin was one of the victims. She is currently at home being treated by a traditional practitioner at my kampong,” Afizi said, adding that she had yet to fully recover from the trauma.

Another student claimed that he noticed something very strange during the incident. He claimed that the victim would stare at the school’s football field before coming down with a case of hysteria. It was unclear when the school will resume classes but its administration is doing everything it can to resolve the matter.

*Serian is a town, and the capital of the Serian District (2,039.9 square kilometers) in Samarahan Division, Sarawak, east Malaysia. It is located about 40 miles (65 km) from Kuching.

This is what I heard from guards and some of my frens who always stay up late on campus.. There's something at the LT foyer too. I heard there are 2 pontianak staying on campus. One male and one female.. Guards always see them at LT foyer at night. That's their territory. According to the guards, the female one is gentle but the male one is a bit harsh. It will easily get angry when u trespass his territory.. Two of my frens can actually see those things.. And they always mentioned that those "invisible visitors" are everywhere on campus. They like to gather at the lakeside and the island in the middle of the lake.

Source Miricommunity.net

Curtin campus is really haunted!! I talked to several guard and staffs. Many of them have experienced it.

AL100 especially the library at ground floor. Guards saw one lady in white is sitting in front of the counter. They just started to open the library. Makcik cleaners always heard and seen things when they do cleaning like suddenly the chair moving, shadows and noises like people doing discussion. These things happen very early in the morning when the library staffs have not reported to duty yet. Level 2, guards have mentioned that sometimes you can hear people whispering your name even though there is no people around except you.

In ME building, especially the last staircase toward the lake. Something is staying over there. A friend of mine seen these thing while he is at the server room at the staircase. According to guards, ME building is their pathway or jalan from lake to other place.

In GP building, many lecturers have seen white lady on the tree while staying late. Some the Engineering Toilet is very noisy, someone is banging the door event though there is nobody. Emptied cubicle sounds like people inside talking, moving chair and so on.

My experience is at the staircase behind the HR department that leading to chiller. I am always doing maintenance on that side alone or with colleagues. The staircase is noisy like many people is using it and walking up and down. The best is to continue your tasks and ignore it.

Contributed by chilskater

My uncle ever encounter this type of thing, here’s his story.

Once he went haunting in the jungle and the time was around 3 in the morning. While haunting, he heard something that he thought was a wild boar so he shot it. But suddenly a different sound appeared .It was the sound of a chicken clucking…

Well, at first he thought it was just a Wild Bird. So he didn't care. Suddenly the clucking sound gets louder and louder. Suddenly the "thing" laughed..!!!! It went high up into the skies. That "thing" was chasing him..!!!!! Suddenly the weather becomes bad and foggy. So he just ran until it can't get him... and he managed to escape.

The next day he fell sick. A very mysterious sickness even the doctor doesn’t know what causes it. He was sick for 2 weeks but luckily he turn out fine and was able to went on with his normal life.

(In our village,there are two types of ghost that is the most notorious: 1.Pontianak 2.Kokler *kokler is a vampire like the Pontianak except before it makes a big laughter, it will make a sound of chicken clucking and this ghost doesn't attacks pregnant women but instead it attacks males and it will take their genitals)

Contributed by Malcolm

Here is my other experience with the super natural...

Last year, me and my friends after lim teh...got no where to go. So one of my friend suggested that we go to Taman Awam Miri...It was about 11pm when we reached there. We laughed and fooled around… But when we reached the children’s pool...it was all dead silent. There was no one and no sound at all....we all felt that something is not right, we’re just not comfortable....

So we decided to head back. When we were on the suspension bridge, we all heard the sound of splashing water from below...from the childrens’s pool, but there was no one there….We all remain silent, when reached the ground, we all ran toward our car and hurrily leave the place...We suspect of there is unknown entities near the children pool...

We never dare to go Taman Awam at night again....

Contributed by Athrun

One night, i couldn’t sleep so I decided to go out to have some fresh air...The time was about 1am and I sat on my proton saga boot. My car was parked inside the car porch at home...I sat there and enjoy the fresh air after the rain that night...

Suddenly a few dogs from around the neighbourhood comes near to my house and start playing around. I watched them play, nothing happens until one of the dog suddenly bark at the field just in front of my house. Then this followed by all 3 dogs. They start barking madly and howling at the grass field...But it was nothing there! I assumed that they may saw something I cant see... My 'bulu roma' all rised up! Not because of the cold wind, but because of a horrorified feeling in my heart. I immediately got into the house and locked the door....

The dogs stop barking awhile later, I peek out through my window and there is still nothing there....it was really a creepy feeling.... Did the dogs saw something that I can’t see??

Constributed by Athrun

My relative used to live at the wooden houses near the SRK North primary School back in 1950 or 1960 ... Back then they always hear stories from the school guard who lived in the school. He was an old man. He used to tell my grandaunt that he always see Japanese Soldiers around the school..

There was one night while he was sleeping, he heard people talking in Japanese very loudly and noisily. When he woke up... he saw Japanese army poking his Mosquito netting using their knifes with an angry look.. He was so scared that he kneel down immediately and beg them not to hurt him.. Since then he only hears noises around at night and does not see them anymore..

Another incident happen few years back when my cousin was still studying in her primary school.. She had a classmate whose family is quite poor and live in the school as the father is the school guard. She told my cousin that every night she has to sleep early because it was too creepy in school... As night turns in they begin to hear a lot of weird noises and even sound of people crying and weeping in the school. With all these noises they can’t really sleep well therefore every time after dinner, they will sleep as early as possible and would hide under their blanket as they were too scared to find out about all these unearthly noises.

Contributed by Athrun

Remember the vampire incident of Tudan, Miri? The story goes like this....

There is a family whom had a funeral at their home....everyone is sad, since the relative has passed away. That night, they put the corpse in the house to be prepared for burial the next day.... out of no where, a black cat jumped over the dead body. There is one relative that saw it, but didn’t think too much about it... well it is in the year 2006 after all and who would believed such things?

The next day, the corpse is gone....vanished without a trace....the house door was closed. Who would try to steal a corpse? It’s not possible that the animal nearby pulled the corpse away....because all doors were closed...window are impossible to get in or out...too small... Besides, there is no blood trace on the floor....the family member starting to get worried about the corpse might turn into a vampire, since a black cat had jumped over the corpse...

Few days after searching the nearby area, not trace of the dead body was found. One night, the family said the dead relative became a pontianak, and comes back home to visit the family members. They were so scared till they moved out of the house...the news is widely spread. People nearby is living in fear...even the local authorities like the army has joined in for the missing corpse search! The news is so widely spread, until the news paper has even reported such case...the government tried to cover up the problem by telling the people that it’s just a prank joke to scared people. But still there was no corpse found..! I still remember the news clearly, since Tudan and Permyjaya area are so closed together...creepy. Does anyone still remember the news? I wonder where the corpse gone to?

Contributed by Arthrun

If I had not experienced it for the first time myself few years back, I probably still don’t believed in supernatural...

2 years ago, when I first got my P license....I go 'lim teh' with my friends and we chat about ghost stories. I never seen one before, so I was very stubborn back then...After I got home, I still think all those ghost stories are fake and crap. My friend told me earlier that there is a lady ghost near to the Lutong fish market, with only her upper half of the body....

I was very brave back then because I just got my car driving license, so I went for driving practice in the middle of the night. And of all place, I decided to go to Lutong to have a look, to see if the story is true or not...The first time, I passed by the fish market, nothing was there....I think in to myself, "this world where got ghost, only stupid will believed in that crap....". After I finished one round I turned back and passed by the fish market again.

Suddenly there was a bump… When I stepped on the break....I looked back to check if there is any car around....Then I saw a lady with long hair in white, sitting in the back of my car! I was so shock I stepped on the accelerate paddle very hard and drove as fast I could to reach home. In a Perodua kancil 660, i drove uabout 100+ km/h to reach home and dare not to look back. Till now, I can still remember the lady in white.... And from that time on, I really believed the existence of ghost...and never dared to drive by Lutong at night. It’s too scary....

Contributed by Athrun

Here is one from my experience....I got into a car accident and got my hand broken. I stayed in Miri General Hospital for treatment. It was normal in the day time, only a bit boring.. But after visiting hours, the hospital is getting quite and it started to get very cold at night...Around midnight, I couldn't sleep as I can’t sleep on a different bed...So I stayed up all night in hospital. The light was dim, which makes it really creepy and there was a feeling of someone looking at me.

Suddenly, I heard the patient beside me crying. The patient is a young bumi girl...I was wondering why she cry and called her...she didn’t answered me, and just hid under pillow and still crying...The wind is blowing into the window, the weather getting really cold and finally....it rains cats and dogs. It was a stormy night. I was also very afraid but there’s nothing that I can do.

The creepiest part is hearing nurse walking around in the hallway... “Why still busy late at night?” I got up from bed at 5am and go for the toilet. There I saw the nurse reading a magazine on the desk. I asked her why she was so busy last night, and she told me she was sitting there all night long and there was nobody else on shift. My family came to visit me in the morning, and I demand that to leave the hospital and not to stay for another night! I still don’t know why the girl cries....maybe she saw something that I can’t see? I will never get close to Miri general hospital ever again unnecessarily...it gives me goose bumps just to think of it...such a creepy experience....

Contributed by Athrun

The following story happened in Sibu in the early 90’s. It is said one better keep quite during funerals in order to avoid offending or in this case attracting the unseen…

A group of friends was walking home in the afternoon after a school extra curriculum. On the way home they pass by a Chinese funeral procession. There were people playing traditional Chinese music for the funeral and a lorry carrying the coffin with relatives accompanying beside it. In front of the lorry was the picture of a girl in her teen that had just passed away.

When the lorry passed by, one of the guy in the group named Ah Seng pointed out to the picture and said, “that girl look so pretty, if she was alive I would marry her…”. The others just ignored him and continued walking home.

After that day, Ah Seng had not gone to school for a few days. Curious on what happened to him, the friends called his home. Ah Seng’s mother answered the phone and she told them that Ah Seng had been very sick for few days for unknown reason. He went to see doctors and Chinese health practitioner but none can say what causes the sickness.

Ah Seng was getting sicker by the day. Not knowing what else to do, their family seek the help of a Chinese medium or bomoh. It is revealed that Ah Seng is being followed by a girl spirit. The spirit told the bomoh that Ah Seng said she was pretty and would marry her. The spirit followed her home and planned to bring him to the other world to be together…. that is why Ah Seng is so sick and going to die.

His family is shocked to hear this and requested the bomoh to help Ah Seng. The bomoh then asked the spirit not to disturb Ah Seng. The spirit was reluctant until it was threatened by the bomoh…soon together with offering for the dead, the girl spirit left. Soon Ah Seng regains his health but he was never the same person again. He became very quite and seems lost at time, like a person without its soul.

It was the morning of Qingming or tomb sweeping day for the Chinese. Ann was not working on that Saturday morning and she decided to call her friend May for breakfast. When she calls her handphone number, someone pick up the phone but did not speak. All was silent at the other end of the line. She hung up. She checked the number to make sure it’s the right one and calls again. The line was picked up but still nobody was talking.

She thought that maybe there is problem with the line that day. She was about to hang up when she heard a faint voice. When she listens carefully, she heard the sound of a child, crying. She said “hello? Hello?” for a few times.. but all she heard was the child crying. She then hung up and redials her friend’s number.

This time May answered the phone. Ann asked her where is she and who was the child that was crying on her phone. May had no idea what she was talking about and told her that she is the cemetery for Qingming at there is no children there and her phone was with her all the time.

When they met for breakfast later, May told Ann that she was visiting the grave of her relatives, a young child who passed away due to illness….

The Qingming Festival (also know as Tomb Sweeping Day) is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar.

For the Chinese, it is a day to remember and honor one's ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, (joss) paper accessories, and/or libation to the ancestors.

The rites are very important to most Chinese and especially farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming, or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They think that willow branches help ward off the evil ghosts that wander on Qingming.

Also on Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, dance, and Qingming is a time where young couples start courting. Another popular thing to do is fly kites (in shapes of animals, or characters from Chinese opera).

Qing Ming in Malaysia is an elaborate family function or a clan feast (usually organized by the respective clan association) to commemorate and honor their late relations at grave site and their distant ancestry of China at home altar, clan temple or a makeshift altar in a Buddhist or Taoist temple.

Qing Ming festival in Malaysia and Singapore normally started early in the morning, with the ancestral veneration at home altar- paying respect to the distant ancestors from China. This would be followed by visiting the graves of their close relations in the country. Some would take the extent of filial piety to visit the graves of their ancestors in mainland China.

After the ancestor worship at the grave site, the whole family or the whole clan would be feasting the food and drinks they brought for the worship at the site or nearby gardens in the memorial park, signifying family reunion with the ancestors.

Qingming itself was created by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. It is said that because the wealthy held too many expensive, elaborate ancestor-worshipping ceremonies, in a needed effort to lower this expense, Emperor Xuanzong declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestor's graves only on Qingming.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

A close friend of mine stays at a housing estate just after Hilltop Garden, also nearby to the Riam cemetery. His house is a big double storey semi-detached house and every school holiday, me and my friends would hang out at his place to play video games. He has a sister that loves to collect poster. Her room is filled with all sorts of celebrity posters. One particular poster is a lady singer, which I forgot the name, that has a gothic look that always makes me feel uncomfortable just looking at it. The eyes seem to be looking straight back at you.

One late night, her sister screamed.. and this awoken her whole family. When they checked, she was crying.. and terrified.. as if something is in the room bothering her. There is nobody there except her. She was so scared that her family could not make out what she is talking about.

When she calmed down, she told her family that she felt something in her room. When she looked up, the eyes of the gothic lady on the poster glowed and starring at her. She was about to scream but suddenly felt something pushed her to the bed. She was unable to move or make any sound. While this is happening, she heard few coarse voices of man talking to her. It was the voice of ghosts. She was too terrified to hear what they said. This goes on for a few minutes before she was able to move and screamed.

A Chinese medium or bomoh was sought to check on the room. He said that there are spirits in the room and it is in the posters. He advises that all the posters to be removed as it attract lingering spirits. The posters were then removed and offering was made to make the spirits leave. She never slept in the room alone again.