The Faith Healer

Once again the Ulema Council, guardians of the countries religious well being have issued an edict, this time on a nine year old boy who many believe has special powers.

The child is a kid called Ponari who is already a lucky little fucker as it appears he was struck by lightning and survived. Immediately after his electrical incident he claims to have found a “yellow stone” which is supposedly the root of his powers! The child reportedly got the stone which he threw away three times but it returned to him each time.

All that aside, despite being able to heal people, he has inadvertently killed four people after  “stampedes” outside his house over the past few weeks.

The amount of attention he has been receiving forced the police to take him to East Java provincial hospital suffering from exhaustion and, presumably to heal himself.

Here is the scoop! His dad carries him on his back, he dips the stone into water brought by the petitioners and they drink it – and they apparently get well!

This belief system is not considered unusual as many Indonesians still firmly hold superstitions and magic to be as effective as modern medicine in combating illness.

Many said that he was being exploited by his parents, but, when they tried to stop the circus they were prevented from doing so by the practice's self-appointed "committee", made up of their neighbours. The father was beaten up and as of last week was recovering in hospital.

The committee is the interesting part here with over 5,000 people a day flocking to get cured and  the neighbourhood has gone the way of all things in Java when something like this hit’s town. The usual food stalls, parking lots, room’s for the “patients” and families have contributed to a roller coaster business development in the area with takings have reportedly reached Rp 1 billion (US$84,745).

For daily parking fees, car owners are charged Rp 50,000 each, and motorcyclists Rp 10,000. The price of food and beverages in the area has also increased sharply.

The East Java branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has urged the provincial administration to stop the practice of 9-year-old child "healer", stating that his healing was “un-islamic” adding that "If people believe Ponari's stone can cure diseases, then that's dangerous and could damage the principle belief of Islam," 

Despite their best efforts, the yellow stone is still being brandished and the committee are still raking in a billion rupes a day…..you tell me, who will win, the Ulema Council, the sick or the money men? 

It’s a kind of Magic!

Once again, superstition, gullibility and magic enter the realms of the surreal made possible with the news this week that the Invisible Man is alive and in Police Custody here in Lombok, the island adjacent to Bali.

According to Antara News, the gentleman in question, a thief identified as Salman, who was believed to have magic powers, was arrested after doing a runner after stealing a mobile phone and some cash from a house at Tanjung Karang village.

The Police statement was the best part, these idiots believe in supernatural powers and this nineteen year old is one of the most cunning operatives around.

"Salman is a specialist cellular phone thief who is known by the local people to have a magic power because he is invisible each time he carried out his stealing activity," the Police spokesman Pak Ima Gullibledick said.

He added that Salman had been hunted by the police for a long time. When he was captured on Thursday night, he was with his friend Casperl but the latter managed to disappear when he saw the police.

"We are developing the case to uncover an alleged ring of thefts believed to have magic power in the city," Gullibledick said.

Based on the information, the thefts with magic power in Mataram and in Lombok island in general had made the local people restless because the perpetrators could not be seen by the people around, he added.

Police have also issued a warrant for Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins and the missing Casper who they believe have similar powers and may have assisted in this crime spree.

I’m telling you, if it weren’t in the news I’d never have believed it… better go, I’m disappearing off for a pint!   

Big Foot in De Hooi

During a beer at De Hooi on Saturday night I met the same guy who had been discussing Marsh Arabs with me a few months back. Despite the fact that I think he is a bit off a dick, I was intrigued when he launched off on a new topic- “Big Foot Sighting’s in Sumatra”

Nearly choking on the Bintang I responded with a quick “get the fuck out off here” and sniggered quietly in my corner. One of the company, otherwise know as “ the voice of moderation and reason “ (because she is not) was backing Pak Marsh Arab up with statistics and sightings which I imagine were Google searched from her imagination and eventually I got my iPod out, slapped the headphones on and watched an episode off “Torchwood” which probably had more realism than the ravings of that pair of lunatics.

Yesterday, as the Bintang haze lifted and the Spam Toasties which had been the breakfast fare had hit the spot, I decided to check up on these “claims” and was moderately surprised that there was in fact a rash of information on the subject on the net!

The first and most obvious was the link below, which is quite interesting but, as the links continued I discovered more UFO and Conspiracy type sites with little snippets of information, even a BBC News report from 2006 in nearby Malaysia, not any hard evidence, but enough to dig deeper.

Bigfoot in Duri

Where the money started to roll in was with a link, suggesting that there was an Indonesian Creature known as “Orang Pedek” which has been hunted by scientist s for years and ironically, may actually have more than an aurora of evidence about it.

Seems, there is a possible link from the Hobbits of Flores (Homo Floresiensis) to these creatures, not that they are anywhere near the height of the Yeti or Sasquatch, more like one meter high with the ability to walk bipedally in a proper human fashion rather than an ape like gait! This led me onto this website, which I actually quite enjoyed.

Project Orang Pendek

Project Orang Pendek is worth a view as there is a lot of other information contained within (check the embedded links), I recommend a visit.

Far as I am concerned, the results are not yet in for this one, but, I may listen a little bit more to "Pak Marsh Arab" and "The Voice of Moderation and Reason" because, although they do spout a load of shit, checking up on it afterwards can be fun!