EYES on the mirror, she combed her long hair. For a fleeting moment, Charen Kaur saw the reflection of her husband. And froze.
Two months later, while brushing her teeth, she glimpsed the shadowy figure of Gurinder Singh, but she brushed it aside as her mind playing tricks.
After all, Gurinder had died in a car crash in Kampar, Perak, eight months earlier. And Charen was in the car when her husband died.
Two months ago, she started seeing Gurinder?s spirit more often.
"One day, he stood behind me and pulled my hair. He refused to let go. It lasted five minutes."
She became depressed and her mother took her to a priest who told her Gurinder?s mother had kept back some of her son?s ashes after the cremation.
The priest told her Gurinder?s spirit was restless as the ritual had not been properly done. She confronted her mother-in-law, collected the remaining ashes and sprinkled them in flowing water.
That night, Gurinder came in her dream. "He thanked me for throwing the ashes and apologised for the trouble he had caused me," she said. That was the last time she saw his spirit.
She is but one of the many people who swear they have seen ghosts or spirits. More Malaysians, it appears, are willing to talk about ghosts.
More today claim to see ghosts and other apparitions. Many more are fascinated with ghost stories.
That?s not all. Investigators of the paranormal say people pay as much as RM5,000 to learn about ghosts. Others pay money to get rid of spirits.
That?s not all too. Tickets for horror movies sell faster than tickets for other movies. And more horror book titles are sold than other genres.
If proof is needed of the increased interest in spirits and ghosts, one only has to look at the recent Mystery Exhibition at the Sultan Alam Shah Museum in Shah Alam. The number of visitors spiked from 5,000 in July to 310,000 in September. The exhibition featured genies, coffins and ghosts collected in bottles by religious teacher Safuan Abu Bakar.
Investigators of the paranormal and scientists say it?s difficult to find sceptics among Malaysians. This, they say, is due to their cultural and spiritual beliefs.
Syed Abdullah Alattas said he received an average of 30 calls per month from people requiring his services. Syed Abdullah is founder and chief investigator of Seekers Malaysia, an organisation that investigates paranormal activity. His organisation came into the limelight earlier this year when it discovered a "footprint" of Bigfoot.
In the past two years, Syed Abdullah has been invited to give lectures about the supernatural 17 times.
He said Malaysians were so fascinated with the supernatural that they were willing to pay RM5,000 for a 30-minute lecture.
The "ghost-buster" organisation has to turn away clients as it cannot keep up with the demand for its services. Asked if he had ever seen a ghost, Syed Abdullah said: "I?ve never seen one in front of me. Ghosts are not exactly the prettiest of creatures, you know."
A source at the Malaysian Science Academy said: "Most Malaysian scientists would say there is no evidence to prove the existence of ghosts. But they would say that there are some things which cannot be explained."
Horror book titles sell better than other fiction genre, according to Popular Book Company?s assistant merchandising manager Leon Ngai.
"If a romance title can sell 500 copies, a horror title can sell twice as many. Anything about ghosts sells," said Leon, adding that the most sought after title at its bookstores this year was the The Boy Who Talks to Ghosts written by Benny and Alice Wong. The story, Leon said, was similar to that of The Sixth Sense movie.
It has sold close to 2,000 copies since March.
There are at least 400 horror titles (titles with ghost elements) at the store, which is 30 per cent more than five years ago. "Most of these horror titles have local content. Readers associate closely with the characters and story line," he said.
Borders Malaysia noted an increase in preference for horror titles following an increase in horror movies.
The booksellers and those who investigate the paranormal expect a steady rise in business. Why? Because people are always curious. And some of them see ghosts, or think they see ghosts.
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