Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Pawang (strong medicine man)


This video is only used as illustration. Our kampong pawang then might have done the same ceremonial exercises (well, almost when looked at by naked eyes) but they shielded their faces with white robes so that one did not see their faces or their eyes.

(the video seems to have gone missing. It may have been deleted by the original contributor)

Lipat Kajang had had a few pawang (strong medicine man). Ever heard of Pawang Seman? Ever heard of Pawang Sulaiman? Ever heard of Pawang Awang.

Pawang Seman (late) used to live at Darat Sir. And there was nothing he liked more than 'memikat ayam denak' (trapping of wild fowls). He used to carry a beautifully groomed domesticated male 'ayam denak' (wild fowl) wherever he went.

Pawang Awang (late) used to live just across the big fast flowing Sungei Pahang (Pahang River) from my grandfather's house. A very likable man, he was also a Pendekar (an expert at 'bersilat' - the Malay form of self defence). I was told that he saved Lipat Kajang from the invasion by the Communists with his 'ilmu memaggar' (magical fencing) of the kampong. (If anyone has better information we should all like to hear about it).

Pawang Sulaiman (late) used to live at Cerok Seratus (one of our local precints). A couple of guys who are in contact with this blog knew him very well. He was an unassuming man, a person with a lot of 'ilmu' (knowledge in his chosen field) and he had helped many people from the kampong and from outside the kampong in their personal life or in anything related to the 'power' that he had.

Other pawangs, like Pawang Hassan (?) who used to live at Paya Keling/Paya Lintang and Pawang Endek who used to live at Tanjong Inai, I do not know much about them.


Lipat Kajang people (or decendents) are encouraged to participate& contribute (Orang Lipat Kajang, atau keturunan, di jemput memberi sumbangan idea)

10 comments:

  1. Pawang Awang, called by me as Aki Awang. Yes lived across the river. That's why rumah dier atas batu. Batu saja sekeliling rumah dier. loved the ciku, mangosteen, durian and rambutan.

    Ohhh yes the pokok sentul. its on the way down towards the river. Yeh u have to climb the banks to reach his house.

    I think anak dier is Abdul Razak (deceased) who is married to my mother's sister. Gelaran dier Ayah Ngah and Mak Ngah Darat. Popularly known as Abang Tan Razak or Tan Razak.

    His other son is in Jengka (don't recall which one, so many Jengka in Pahang). His name......arrrgh kon lupa pulok. Yessss....recalled back....Chu Hitam. Anak dier Mutalib a good friend.

    Setahu saya ada tiga buah rumah disitu.

    Rumah Pak Ngah Razak, Rumah Aki Awang and Rumah Tok Jaafar/Wan Zainab (Wan Bongkok). Semua dah arwah. Al fatihah.

    Ohhhh rumah dier di hilir rumah Pak Ngah Hamid.

    Kalau berani gi le mamancing kat tepi tebing sungai or around the area...lubuk mendi tu lagi la.

    Aki Awang, many stories I have heard from my grandfather,father, uncles etc and will put on the blog for consumption soon........have to recalled and recollect.

    ReplyDelete
  2. if you have any good story worth us listening just put them down in the blog. We want to hear. But not about the "two coconut" mind you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't worry. Nothing of the sort. Ha ha ha ha.

    Coming soon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. arwah Yang Sapiah (emak dr dad) banyak bercerita tentang ayah dia, Pawang Awang tapi kon dah tak ingat semuanya, sayang sekali, tanya dr dad lah kalau dia masih ingat tentang Aki Awang dia?

    while on this subject, do we all remember arwah Aki Chik Karim (Ceruk Seratus) - he was also a "strong medicine man" (not pawang lah but tok bomoh) memang dia banyak mengubat orang yang ada masalah (penyakit) kronik-kronik (you know lah)
    i can say almost 3 or 4 times every month Aki Chik Karim mesti ber "jin" (jin = "genie" in English) (being "possessed and goes into a trance, whereby the "spirit" (orang halus) from "the other world" will come down thru this tranced person) and he will carry out the unbelievable (but true), very "supernatural" sort of treatment, including sometimes beating himself up (whole body) with a few thick strands of canes bundled up together, or some leaves of certain medicinal jungle plants/trees
    it was always amusing to watch, at the same time intriguing, fascinating and a bit frightening, especially when you hear that "spirit" which had entered the "possessed body" mumbling slowly in very soft grizzly voice talking to the "intermediary" (you can hardly make out what "datuk" (that's how we addressed the "spirit") was saying)
    but i seldom missed these "performances" by Aki Chik Karim (after all FOC, got free supper also except that you have to stay up very late into the wee hours): somehow "the patient" will get "cured" off his/her problem ;
    Aki Chik Karim was great as a "strong medicine man" in Kg Lipat Kajang, no doubt

    ReplyDelete
  5. in the old days 'berjin' was the in thing. Pawang Seman di Darat Sir was one of the best 'berjin' person that I ever saw when I was a small boy. Good acting, just like Ayah Chik Karim. Probably from the same teacher.
    That daun is daun teja.
    Other preparations .... berteh, pulut kuning, kemian, ....... kadang2 mayang pinang, ....... ada juga yang telur belum masak .......
    Now berjin in Lipat Kajang is the thing of the past.

    ReplyDelete
  6. and 'berjin' is a part of our history, so just record it down. lets hear more stories.
    in fact my family (except for my father) are full of 'jin', so i heard ....... in fact i saw some of them in action when i was a small boy.
    and of course Din and Saad saw the action even when they were young men, so they told me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Heard a lot of this "berjin" method.

    I can imangine it's like A.R Tompel in one of Tan Sri P. Ramlee movies "Laksmana DoReMi" (correct me if i'm wrong).

    Seriously I wish there is still someone practicing it and i'd like to watch the process.

    (:

    ReplyDelete
  8. P Ramlee and Tompel did a good job, but you should see the real thing. Its more exciting. 'Berjin' will not be there anymore, its a long gone thing, nobody does it anymore. Probably you may find some imitation somewhere in some remote kampong in Perak or in Johore.
    Some Ulama may even call it 'shyrik' for all I know.
    Why don't you ask your Aboh or your Mok about it, they can tell you a lot of stories about 'berjin'.

    ReplyDelete
  9. i know about a man somewhere here in KV in his 50's who till today still regularly conduct "ber jin" hari khamis malam jumaat, the whole thing is about the same, if not exactly the same, as those practised in Kg Lipat Kajang, and i have seen his sessions,
    and many people come to him to get "cured" etc

    ReplyDelete
  10. one Pawang that we forget is Pak Ngah Mat Yamin, a decedent (son?) (ayah Aziz, Bedul dan Hamdan) of Aki Awang. He was a powerful Pawang.

    ReplyDelete