Recounting the Pontianak (Part 2)

We continue our collection of stories of Pontianak encounters.

This guy named Ismail was returning home from his cousin's house as it was during the Hari Raya. I think it was 2 years ago. His cousin's house was in Yishun and he was heading to Pasir Ris that where he lived. While riding along Punggol, he was feeling strange all of a sudden. He continued to ride until there was a Malaysian plated motorcycle. When they were side by side, this old Malaysian guy turned to him and then speed faster. Ismail didn't care and just kept on riding until he was again riding side by side with a old man. He was riding a Vespa motorcyle. The old man turn to look at Ismail and again the old man speed faster. Ismail thought that he wanted to race.

After a few minutes, he looked at his side mirror as he felt as if there was someone riding behind him. He look at the mirror and saw a white dress. He again looked at the mirror and saw a woman with long black hair and then it strikes him that there was evil riding behind him. Ismail says “I did not disturb you and you please...do not disturb me”. He was in total fear!

When he reach a junction at Pasir Ris, he was getting ready to stop at a red light. This 'thing' pulled near and began to laughed. Ismail didn't care weather it was a red or green light, he just sped off until he reached home. Without even taking the key and parking at the correct spot, he rushed to his house. Reaching his house, he tells his elder brother what happened. His brother said he was lying.

They both get on their motorcycles together...Ismail rode behind his elder brother. When they see the motorcycle, the Pontianak was sitting and smiling at them. Ismail scolded his elder brother for not believing him. His brother quickly shouted prayers and the 'thing' was gone. Ismail rushed back home leaving his brother alone.

When the brother reached his way home, he scolded Ismail for leaving him alone, "what if the thing attacked me." Beware riding your motorcycle alone at night.....

-----

One Friday night, all of my friends and I are chatting at a nearby coffee shop. It was a boring night, one of my friends suggested we go clubbing at Boat Quay but we ignored his suggestion. I suggested to have some fun with the spirits as it was the HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL.

We planned the things that we needed, e.g joss sticks, candles, apples and a comb. We proceeded to the destination planned. Upon reaching, we set up all the things we bought. The candles were used to make a pentagram and we put the joss stick around us. Together there were 6 of us including one girl. We were suppose to sit at every end of the pentagram and one person in the middle. The girl sat in the middle and she was supposed to comb her hair while chanting some spell.

It`s almost midnight and we started to chant the spell my friend taught us. After a few minutes nothing happen. I started to feel that its a waste of our time. I got up and kicked all the candles and joss sticks, and walk away. Suddenly it happened. The girl who was combing her hair started to scream. She ran towards me and started to bite me. At first I thought she playing around but she wasn’t. My friends tried to pull her away from me but to no avail. Then she released me and started to say words that we could not understand. My friend who is a religious type, started to chant some prayers and the possessed girl started to scream again. The screams then began to fade and she fainted. All of us then witnessed a white object flying above the bushes behind us. We became alarmed, picked up the fainted girl and ran away to the nearest HDB block. From there we went back to our home.

I told my mother about the incident...she was so mad that the slap me on the face. She said that I had disturbed the resting place of a PONTIANAK. I swear to myself not play with spirits again. As for the girl she knew nothing about what had happened to her.

This really happened at Serangoon Park Connector.

-----

Driving down the highway, Ahmad tried to adjust his focus and eyes on the road as fatigue and lethargy took control of his body. The long working hours at his new job had taken its toll and left him practically exhausted. After several failed attempts to keep himself awake, Ahmad finally gave in and decided to stop at the side of the road to get some shuteye before continuing his journey.

As he turned to make a stop, his eyes caught sight of a strange looking ‘object’ in the middle of the road that seemed to resemble a log but simply shrugged it off as nothing out of the ordinary. However, as Ahmad peered closer at the weird object, he could make up some facial features but it was too dark to tell whether his imagination was beginning to run wild. Despite the warning which echoed in his mind to ‘run away’, he simply refused to steer clear of whatever was on that road.

Curiosity got the better of him and he took out a torch light out of the glove compartment to investigate what it really was. As Ahmad approached the ‘object’, it laid so disturbingly still as if waiting to strike. He suddenly stood frozen in his tracks as the ‘mysterious object’ lifted its head slowly in his direction and let out an ear-piercing cry. Fear overtook the very core of Ahmad’s mind and he knew instantly what the ’strange’ object was. He struggled to summon his inner strength to face the terror staring him right in the eye. “This was something that you could only see in horror films,” Ahmad said.

He watched the terror unfold as the paranormal entity, commonly known as ‘pontianaks’ to the locals, crawled to the side of the road and began creeping towards a lamp post. Within split seconds, it swiftly moved towards him and all he could do was recite prayers to ward off the spirit. The ‘pontianak’ stared at him intently before disappearing into thin air. The memory of such a disturbing image, till this day, seems difficult to erase and has changed his philosophy on the existence of paranormal entities.

“I think it’s a good idea to share my experience with fellow readers on this issue. Whether they choose to believe it or not, is of course up to them. However, this is not something you simply make up. It took me quite a while to try and forget this horrifying incident but I decided to instead use it as a lesson in life,” he said before concluding his story.

-----

Legends of old have it that an individual who possesses a fragile spirit will most likely encounter supernatural entities and although no evidence of such a claim exists, some have unfortunately experienced it firsthand for reasons they cannot phantom. This story revolves around an American expatriate who was kind enough to share his ordeal before leaving the country for good.

David loved Brunei and considered it as his second home. He even planned to settle down with his then fiancé living in Kuala Belait and thus, frequently traveled back and forth to visit his better half. Working in a highly demanding field, which required every ounce of his expertise, commuting from the capital to the Belait District daily was painstaking and inconvenient but he longed to put a balance between his work and fiancé. Days and sometimes, even months at a time, the pressuring demands of his career began to take its toll on their relationship.

One fateful night, they got into a heated argument and his fiancé threatened to commit suicide. After several attempts to call her hand phone, which went unanswered, he grabbed his car keys and drove hastily to Kuala Belait. “Please answer the phone, please,” David pleaded. He then began blaming himself should anything unforeseen happen to his fiancé and could not imagine life without her.

He then approached the one-lane road and focused on the dark, eerie highway, where no street lamps were erected. Suddenly, the radio reception started to deteriorate and David simply thought it was due to the location. A few minutes later, the car engine began to quiver and decelerate from 120 to 80km/h. “What in heaven’s name could possibly go wrong now?” he exclaimed as it was a brand new car. “Do not break down here please, of all places!” David said while glancing around at the pitch-black darkness without a single soul in sight.

He pulled himself together and tried to dismiss all negative thoughts coming to mind. As he attempted to lean on the arm rest, David caught sight of what seemed to be a ’shadow’, in the corner of his eye. Without thinking, he turned to confirm his worst fear and indeed, there was a weird ‘figure’ sitting beside him in the front passenger seat. The entity’s long black strands of hair covered its face as ’she’ repeatedly let out a blood-curling laugh. Shivers ran down his spine and a thousand thoughts raced through the businessman’s mind. Given the fact that he is a free-thinker, no religion or prayers could save him then as he knew none. David thought of calling someone, practically anyone but his phone was in the middle of the dashboard. Terrified that the ‘entity’ would grab his hands, he continued driving, hoping, praying that a street lamp would appear with some visible ’signs’ of life.

A few minutes on, David’s instincts sent a warning jolt through his body. He could sense that the ’spirit’ was staring at him and his heart raced with sheer trepidation. Straight ahead, visible strokes of light could be seen and he stepped on the gas pedals hoping to reach the area before something happened to him. That seemed to only make things worse.

With the streetlights, he could clearly see his ‘uninvited passenger’. The events that followed would remain embossed in his memories forever. The ’spirit’ extended its arms to grab his shoulders. He immediately stepped on the brakes and ran out of the car. David refused to turn around for fear that ‘it’ was nearby but decided to fight his fear after remembering his fiance.

“After I saw it was gone, I went back into my car and drove off like never before,” David said. After reconciling with his fiance, he retold his frightful story and later discovered that the entity was in fact, a Pontianak. “This has altered my complete outlook in life and I now refuse to travel anywhere alone if it’s 3 in the morning,” he said while giggling but behind the laughter, the impact of that encounter could be visibly seen through his eyes.

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Spiders lead to Mazda recall

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Mazda is recalling about 52,000 Mazda6 sedans in the U.S., because yellow sac spiders like to build their nests in part of the fuel system.

"A certain type of spider may weave a web in the evaporative canister vent line and this may cause a restriction of the line," Mazda said in a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The evaporative canister vent line runs from a charcoal-filled canister that cleans air coming out of the gas tank. Blockage of the line can prevent air from getting into the gas tank as the gasoline is used, resulting in negative air pressure inside the tank. That can lead to a crack in the gas tank and the possibility of a fire.

There have been 20 reported cases of spider infestation in the Mazda6 -- all have been in cars with 4-cylinder engines, none with V6's. No actual fires are known to have been caused by the spiders, according to Mazda's letter.

[Click here to read full article]

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'Satanic' samsu makes youths vomit blood

IPOH - MANY youths in Ipoh are vomiting blood and having diarrhoea after consuming a popular new brand of hard liquor.

According to a report in Harian Metro, these drinks called "Tonik Gila" and "Samsu Setan" are becoming increasingly popular due to the low cost and high alcohol content.

They are being sold at grocery and traditional Chinese medicine stores at RM3.30(S$1.40) for a 150ml bottle, with alcohol content between 27% and 43%.

According to Ipoh Specialist Hospital Gastroenterology consultant Dr Wong Chong Heng, the high alcohol content was causing frequent drinkers to suffer from liver damage which leads to them vomiting blood and having diarrhoea.

He added that youths addicted to this drink were also at risk of brain inflammation, coma and sudden death.

[Click here to read full article]

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The Bystander Effect

What is the Bystander Effect?

The term bystander effect refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present, the less likely people are to help a person in distress. When an emergency situation occurs, observers are more likely to take action if there are few or no other witnesses.

In a series of classic study, researchers Bibb Latane and John Darley (1) found that the amount of time it takes the participant to take action and seek help varies depending on how many other observers are in the room. In one experiment, subjects were placed in one of three treatment conditions: alone in a room, with two other participants or with two confederates who pretended to be normal participants.

As the participants sat filling out questionnaires, smoke began to fill the room. When participants were alone, 75% reported the smoke to the experimenters. In contrast, just 38% of participants in a room with two other people reported the smoke. In the final group, the two confederates in the experiment noted the smoke and then ignored it, which resulted in only 10% of the participants reporting the smoke.

Example of the Bystander Effect

The most frequently cited example of the bystander effect in introductory psychology textbooks is the brutal murder of a young woman named Catherine "Kitty" Genovese. On Friday, March 13, 1964, 28-year-old Genovese was returning home from work. As she approached her apartment entrance, she was attacked and stabbed by a man later identified as Winston Moseley.

Despite Genovese’s repeated cries for help, none of the dozen or so people in the nearby apartment building who heard her cries called police to report the incident. The attack first began at 3:20 AM, but it was not until 3:50 AM that someone first contacted police.

Initially reported in a 1964 New York Times article, the story sensationalized the case and reported a number of factual inaccuracies. While frequently cited in psychology textbooks, an article in the September 2007 issue of American Psychologist concluded that the story is largely misrepresented mostly due to the inaccuracies repeatedly published in newspaper articles and psychology textbooks.

[Click here to read full article]

[The Kitty Genovese Case: A Fascinating Intersection of True Crime, Psychology, and Media Misinformation]

[A rape witnessed, a rape ignored]

[Don't Just Stand There - Do Something]

[I kept saying, "Help me, help me." But no one did.']

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Recounting the Pontianak (Part 1)

This is a collection of stories regarding Pontianak encounters around Singapore.

Towards the end of my national (Singapore) service, my service support group was sent in to the new SyangKong Camp to prepare stores for the in-coming battalion for their reservice.

I was in charge of 20-odd of them. They were on unfamiliar grounds as most of them did not have full basic military training because of their medical condition.

SyangKong Camp is in the middle of reclaimed Tekong. It sits on a sandy/rocky terrain, flank by rubber plantations. The camp was made up of series of single level barracks spread across the field surrounding a center square. Its big enough to house one full infantry battalion. So our first impression when we reach there was, it was a big and empty camp.

Those 20 odd storeman got down doing their stuff, equipping each barrack with the necessities. Foldable beds, pillows, blankets...the list goes on.

Soon after, once everything is in place, they all got back to their barrack. It was a long barrack with windows on the longer sides and entry at both end. There was a double door and a steel gate on the outside.

It was around 8pm and it was already dark. They were all resting. Listening to their MP3s, squinting their eyes on their PSPs. Some rowdies were playing outside. Taking photos on top of a stationary bulldozer, basically just enjoying the time in the middle of the jungle with no officer to scream at them and with only a sergeant who couldn’t care even if they kill each other.

I was too tired to entertain them. After giving them the last instruction for the day, I dozed off on my bed. Strangely, I dreamed of the exact same barrack that I was in. In my dream I was lying on the exact same bed looking on as my men run around the bunk from end to end in total chaos. They were all terrified. The door was opened but the gate was closed. Soon amidst the chaos, I saw a woman in a white cloak with a long hair. The face was horrible but I can never remember how to describe it.

She was a Pontianak...a classic blood sucking bitch who is apparently dead and alive again to struck shear fear in every Malay's life. (I personally think she’s over-rated, but she got her credentials.)

So that explains why the guys are running around in chaos. ‘She’ was flying above our barrack, circling the roof top, jumping from each end to the other trying to gain entry into the barrack. Only the gate was in her way.

So that was the dream I had. It sounds stupid, didn’t it? But it was scary as it was in the middle of Tekong, and having your brain corrupted by the constant stories of Pontianak since you were young. I woke up in a sweat. It was barely an hour since I dozed off.

The barrack was still lighted. The guys who were on their PSP and MP3 had already dozed off. Those from outside had came in. There was an unusual silence amongst them. The doors were shut. I could sense something was wrong. I turned to my man beside me and told him my dream. He kept quiet and went on to sleep. That night, I tried to put myself to sleep. I managed to after awhile. Unexpectedly, it was a sound sleep.

Next day, the man whom I told the story, told me that while I was sleeping earlier last night, they sighted a Pontianak on top of the bulldozer.

As the battalion came in the next day and continue their training for the week, there were a few other happenings and sightings which was more disturbing.

-----

This story may sound a bit silly, a bit lame even, but I swear it is true!

My friends and I had decided to watch a movie at the Mall. The movie was “Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam”. Its quite a new movie, maybe you’ve heard of it?

Anyway, the Mall (yes, that’s the name of the shopping complex. Imaginative huh?) is built right in the middle of the a busy commercial district, the town center you might call it. It;s brand new, completed just this year, and as far as I know, no supernatural going-ons have happened in the area.

Anyway, as I was saying, we were watching the “Pontianak” movie, the late night showing. I happened to be at the end furthest from the aisle. The few seats from mine to the wall were all empty.

In the middle of watching the movie, my neck felt stiff. You know how that feels right after staring up at the movie for quite a while? So I stretched out, turning my neck from side-to-side to get rid of the stiffness.

To my shock, the empty seat beside me was no longer empty! There was a lady in a white dress with long black hair sitting there, seemingly absorbed in the movie! I turned back to the movie, frozen in terror.

I couldn’t stand it anymore and was about to go crying to my friend (who was sitting right beside me but didn’t seem to have seen something strange). I glanced back at the extra person, but she was gone! I went crying to my friend anyway. She didn’t believe me, but didn’t mind switching seats with me. Needless to say, I wasn’t very much interested in watching the movie after that. I mean, who needs a movie when you’ve seen the real thing?

-----

This happened when I was on the way back home from work. At that point of time, I was working at Boat Quay as a chat operator. So usually we knock off at 3am. My in-law was staying at Tiong Bahru. Sometimes my hubby would fetch me from work and we would walk all the way to my in-law's place. As our normal routine just like when we were still dating, we like to travel by foot (considering its not that tiring to walk to the destination) and talk about lots of things.

Narrow things down, we reach this 4 block area where it's just 4 story high or 5. Can’t clearly remember. Rumors said that the HDB wants to pull it down but now I see that its being made as a rental place.

So before we reach Tiong Bahru Plaza, we will pass by this place. A few metres before we reach this block, (this happen before the HDB carried out the renovation to upgrade this vacant 4 story block. So it's really run down and been years nobody actually live there) I popped a question to my hubby, "Isn’t it scary to look at this building? It's been vacant like years and I’m sure there’s like 'those things' in there..a lot!". Wile talking, my hubby eyes was fixed to the 3rd story of this building. I tap him gently and ask him what is he looking at.

He turned to me and ask me to look straight. "Sorry sayang", he suddenly said. "Why are you apologizing to me"? I ask. He then answered "Thanks to me, now that thing is already at the bushes across the road. Just don’t look now. Just now, that pontianak was at the 3rd story looking at us. Thanks to me looking at her back, she knows that I spotted her and now she is walking the same line as us just that she’s across the road".

I turn my head slowly and fix my eyes right at the bushes. True enough, there is no wind and nothing across the road (it"s just metres away...so near) the bushes are rustling and moving. It seems like someone or something is walking behind or in the bushes parallel with us, following us from the other side. I calm myself down and just walk straight.

I was praying hard that we would reach home quickly but thanks to the shoes that I'm wearing, I have to go slow (it's a new shoe, so yeah). All of the sudden, my hubby grabs my bag and hand, he pulled me and we both ran. I was clueless at that time but in my mind I did have this thought, "is that thing behind me? Chasing us and wanting to kill us?"

We finally reach a bus stop and sat down. Hubby said it's safe. I really needed to sit down after that dash. Being impatient, I ask my hubby to explain why the sudden dash. Hubby insisted that we reach home and talk about it. Back at my in-law's he explains.

"I saw that thing from the 3rd story while you were talking. At first it didn’t see me looking at it. Then the Pontianak spotted me looking at her. So it was like too late for me to pretend that I never saw her at all. I thought that the Pontianak would just stand and look but she suddenly came down and followed us from the other side. The reason I pulled you was she was about to show herself because I saw the Pontianak emerging from the bushes. I saw her white dress and black hair already so I rather we ran than having you see her that close up".

Since then, whenever I pass the building then and now, I never want to look at it. It just reminds me of the incident. Even now, since the renovation, trying to walk past the building at night, I walk at the back of the building. Who knows what you may see or even meet.

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Spooky Singapore West Region → Heavy Vehicle Carpark ( Jalan Bahar / Jurong West st 75)

by Oregon Chang

Spooky Sg series is back again with more things. Asiaparanormal is still covering the west region at the moment and we have this moved on towards the HEAVY VEHICLE CARPARKS that ain't that clean after all based on stories and feedbacks that we had received from the public.

We will first begin with The Jalan Bahar Heavy Vehicle Park! The actual name of this place is in fact as it's name had stated as: Jalan Bahar Heavy Vehicle Park! However, typically and commonly this place is instead known to most people by another name which is Jurong West St 75!





So what would be the spooky thing behind this Heavy Vehicle Carpark?
Well, there is a local story of that place known to quite a number of whom that resides in that nearby area.

It has been said that one should never ever be walking in that area during late hours as there is an extremely high chance of accidents of mishaps that would happen.

So, what is this mishap or accident that they are refering to?

Well, concerning Jurong West St 75, Asiaparanormal also previously had an article posted about it before. To Refresh your memory , this would be the link to Jurong West Street 75



Basically, reports, rumors and stories has always been said of people especially and particularly specifically females in most of the cases of being posessed by spirits.

If you were to be walking very near that area or even worst still, walking inside the place, there is an extremely high chance that you will hear an absolutely familiar voice calling you from behind.

This voice is of someone that you confirm know of! You are definitely able to recognize this voice the moment you hear it. It can for an example be your friend, lover, family members or relatives, etc......

This voice would then be calling you the usual way that particular person would call as, exactly the same, nothing different.

There are even cases of people talking with someone on their mobile and after they had ended the call, the voice of that exact same person whom you had just spoke to over in the phone and in which you had ended the conversation with, would suddenly be calling you from behind.

Well, whichever the story of how the encounter is like, do be very careful when you are near this area in the night, sometimes it can be even in the late evening too!

If you are not sharp enough and really respond to this voice , well you are really finished ! You are finished the moment you respond to this very family voice that is calling you from behind.

The thing that would be happening would be that once you turn your head behind , look back and respond to this voice, immediately before you even realized it, you are already being processed by some unknown evil spirit.

In the end, family members, close and love ones of this victim in all of the known stories would engaged some exorcism services from some master to have this very evil spirit exorcist!

Based on what we the team of Asiaparanormal had able to find out, there is something really very evil going on in that place , they are waiting for the chance to posessed some innocent humans. These spirits are out to posessed humans and they do not want to be denied of this chance.

These spirits upon posessing the victim refuse to leave the body and the all exorcism masters based on the known stories had an extremely hard time to had the spirit expelled out from the victim. Based on what is being told these spirits are not at all ordinary! Instead these spirits are pretty powerful!

But the lucky thing is that at least there has not been any known stories in which the exorcism master has failed to exorcist these powerful evil spirits. Or perhaps it could also be that the failed ones were not known?

According to the locals who had stayed there long enough or who really know the place well, there is a reason for why there is a temple build near by that area.



It is because the spirits of this place is simply too evil and powerful, hence measures is needed to have this matter dealt with! That place first of all cannot be vacant ! If it is vacant the spirits will be even more powerful than ever. There must be something to have that place being occupied! There got to be some activities! That place cannot be isolated and deserted and left to be alone by itself.

Therefore, the place was first converted into car park for Heavy vehicles. Next, Spirits are “Yin” energy and element and that Humans are of the “Yang” energy and element. Hence that place need to be populated with houses. The stronger the “Yang” the weaker the “Yin” will be!







Thirdly, something religiously has to be build as near to that area as possible so as to suppressed the evil and powerful spirits of that area. Hence, if you are really so unlucky to encounter anything in that area, at all possible cost , as fast as your legs can carry you, with everything that you have got, you should really run towards the temple and take cover or seek refuge over there.

To further enforce and enhance the suppressing elements of that area, a government building is also build in that area. This so called government building purposely being built for the sake of futher enforcements and enhancement is the Singtel building!

It is not the case that governmental structures or buildings or residence will not be haunted at all! But however that is some kind of invisible force to contain evil spirits of the surrounding areas. As after all they are royal! They are the ruler or the so called masters of the nation. There is a certain limit to how much the evil spirit can be with the royal aura around.

Examples can be like a Government Police Station, Judicial Court etc.... all of these are some example of Royal Auras.



Theses above 4 listed out points are based on some very ancient Chinese religious concept concerning spiritism and at the same time Chinese Fengshui Theory as well too!

Although this mysteriously very powerful and evil spirit is still not 100% fully diminished , but at least with all those elements around they had already been weaken and cannot be further powerful than how much they already are currently.

So, dear readers whether you believe it or not, please kindly do be very careful when you walk past that area and be even more careful with what you are saying when you are walking past that area cos you will never know what can happen which can be due something wrong that you had said.

REMEMBER!!!! There is something mysterious, very evil and powerful going on in that area. So BEWEARE!!!

Although almost no one knows the story behind to that mysteriously very evil and powerful spirits and why that exist in that area , but precautions can be at certain times be better that cure.

Although we are not encouraging superstitions or anything related, and it has never been Asiaparanormal's intentions to encourage or discourage anysort as we are just sourcing articles and leaving we would want to leave the conclusion for the readers to form on their own, but however just sometimes, it does not harm to believe than to instead disbelieve and further more challenge!

Hope that you enjoy reading this post and stay tuned for more of Spooky Singapore series from Asiaparanormal.

Have a nice Day!

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World's Hairiest Girl

The World's Hairiest Girls

Supatra Sasuphan - This girl has a rare condition where She has thick strands of hair growing over her face, ears, arms, legs and back and nothing can stop the hair growth, not even laser treatment. Supatra Sasuphan is a 11 years old girl from Thailand who suffers from Hypertrichosis, also known as Ambras Syndrome.

There are two distinct types of hypertrichosis: generalized hypertrichosis, which occurs over the entire body, and localized hypertrichosis, which is restricted to a certain area. This Hypertrichosis was also known as the werewolf syndrome. Ambras Syndrome, which is caused by a faulty chromosome, is a genetic condition which causes thick hair to grow all over the body and face.


[Click here to read full article]

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Man had blade in face for four years

Doctors in China examined a patient complaining of headaches and a bad taste in his mouth - and found a 4ins blade buried in his face.



They say it had been in Li Fu's face for four years without his knowledge, since he was stabbed in a robbery while working as a cab driver.

Doctor Xu Wen, vice-director of stomatology at Yu Xi City People's Hospital, said: "We were amazed to see such a long blade in his face.

"And it's even more amazing to think that the blade had been there for more than four years and the patient was still living without too many problems."

He is now recovering after surgeons removed the blade, which had penetrated his tongue root, muscles and brain, in a complicated four hour operation.

Li, 37, of Yuanjiang County, Yunnan Province, was stabbed in September, 2006, after he resisted a knifepoint robbery.

He was treated at a local hospital where doctors cleaned his wound and gave him disinfectant shots.

"The wound healed up gradually and I didn't have any other symptoms, so I didn't think of having further checkups," said Li.

Police later caught the criminal and found the broken knife handle - but they never found the blade until Li was x-rayed at a county hospital.

Doctors there referred him to Yu Xi City People's Hospital which agreed to waive some of the £5,000 fees for the complex operation.

[Click here to read full article]

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The incredible water bear

Strangely enough, water bears are at the same time among the most unknown and the most fascinating creatures on earth. They have successfully escaped man's exploitation of nature and still can be found almost everywhere on earth. Scientists have reported their existence in hot springs, on top of the Himalayas, under 5 m layers of solid ice and in ocean sediments.



Many species can be found in a milder environment like lakes, ponds and meadows, others prefer stone walls and roofs. But their most typical homes are moss cushions. I spent some time in nearby mushroom-smelling forests, scrutinizing mosses on rotten trunks in an avid search for water bears until I came to the simple conclusion that they can be found virtually everywhere - normally just one or two steps out of your front-door.

How is it possible that an animal can be found almost everywhere and at the same time is unknown to almost everybody? Just try and ask your neighbour whether he or she knows or believes in an animal which:

— lives nearby, including cities
— moves smoothly like a bear, has legs, claws, eyes, skin and muscles
— has the colour and surface texture of one of those sweet bear gums loved by children
— doesn't need to carry along a knife and fork as it has two in-built knives
— can revert to an "instant coffee"-dry state which resists storage in liquid nitrogen, contact with mineral acids, organic solvents, radioactive radiation and boiling water. After this kind of brute "scientific" scrutiny the miraculous creature is still able to return to normal life—it needs only a small droplet of water!

Strangely enough, even the big encyclopaedias spend only a few lines and seldom an illustration on the subject of the water bears (the scientific name is Tardigrada, i.e. slow-walking animals). Alfred Kaestner's comprehensive biology textbook1 admits that a whole phylum has been reserved for those strange water bears, but at the same time suggests that the student might skip the chapter because of its minor importance. But from the very beginning microscopists were so fascinated by the water bears that they were not able to conceal their astonishment behind sober scientific terms. It is not easy to describe by words a microscopic creature which apparently stretches our understanding of the microscopic world and its natural limits:

J.A.E. Goeze, pastor in Quedlinburg, Germany was the first person who published a paper on water bears. In 1773 he notes in his book; "Strange is this animal ... because it resembles a bear in miniature"2.


[Click here to read full article]

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Vatican ponders extraterrestrials

Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Rome asks whether aliens would present a challenge to church teaching

Questions about extra-terrestrial life are "very interesting and deserve serious consideration" the Vatican said yesterday, as one of its officials presented a summary of its first conference on astrobiology.

Speaking at the conclusion of a study week, organised by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Vatican Observatory, Father Jose Funes explained why the Vatican had turned its attention to the subject.

"Although astrobiology is an emerging field and still a developing subject, the questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very interesting and deserve serious consideration. These questions offer many philosophical and theological implications".

Funes has previously said there is no clash between believing in Catholic doctrine and believing in the possibility of alien life.

In an interview published last year with L'Osservatore Romano he said: "I think there isn't [a contradiction]. Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures over the earth, so there could be other beings, even intelligent [beings], created by God."

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The mysterious "spiritual fires"

KOTA BHARU, Kelantan: A weird "spiritual fire" broke out in a residential house at Jalan Pantai Cahaya Bulan, Kampung Barembang, Kota Bharu recently.

More than ten ulamas failed to put out the "fire" by way of reciting the Koran verses, and incidents of spontaneous fires burning the clothes continue to take place for more than twenty times thereafter.

The female owner of the house, Zainab Sulaiman, 73, said even though the incidence of "spiritual fires" had somewhat slowed down after the ulamas offered the prayers, they still came for about four times.

The mysterious phenomenon appeared again during day time for more than twenty times, five of which occurring when Sin Chew Daily conducted the interview there.

Zainab Sulaiman complained that her family had run out of idea how to subdue the "fires" other than throwing away the burnt clothes.

"We are going to have no more clothes to wear. What should we do now?" she asked.

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Australian to chronicle family's ghostly encounter

KOTA BARU: An Australian writer intrigued by the paranormal happenings at the home of Zainab Sulaiman, which included unexplained mysterious fires, has flown down to investigate and chronicle it for an upcoming book on the matter.

Paul Cropper, 47, from Sydney arrived here on Friday to meet 75-year-old Zainab in Kampung Penambang Bunga after reading about her ordeal in The Star online.

“Zainab’s experience is similar to the work of a poltergeist or djinn as the locals call it.


“I have personally experienced such entities in Australia where things mysteriously fly. I want to compare Zainab’s experience with the paranormal activities in Australia,” Cropper said.

“I expect the book would be completed in six months and I will prominently highlight Zainab’s experience in my book,” said the manager with a major Australian Telecommunications company who has been writing on strange phenomena for over 20 years.

He has co-authored two books on Australian wildlife myths and legends.

More than five paranormal experts had exorcised Zainab’s house, from Chinese sifus to bomohs and she has not experienced any strange phenomena since then.

A delighted Zainab said she was happy with Paul’s visit.

“At least now people believe my story because before this many had thought that I was an insane old woman trying to get attention from the public or trying to cash in on my predicament,” she said to Paul.

She gave him a half-burnt floor mat to bring back to Australia as a momento.

Zainab, who lives in the wooden house with her daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, was plagued with mysterious fires since early December last year.

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