Of black magic, bullet-proof militants

Tales of 'ilmu hitam' or black magic, which are synonymous with Borneo and the Southern Philippines, protecting the invaders are making its rounds in Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: In a land filled with legends of headhunters and dense steamy forests, a dangerous tale is circulating that the armed group of Filipinos who invaded a remote village in Lahad Datu are somehow supernaturally protected.

The tale goes that they are impervious to bullets and can dance past the shots fired in their general direction, at will. There’s even a black magic women in there somewhere.

Is it hysteria, hallucination, post-traumatic stress disorder or a way to explain and hide incompetence which is clearly on display in Sabah?

Tales of “ilmu hitam” or black magic are synonymous with Borneo and the Southern Philippines.

Some may think it as foolish and dangerous talk but scores of people around the state, many of them outwardly quite rational, have been blabbering fairly seriously about the “bulletproof” militants.

Apparently the tale of the magical powers of the militants started to circulate when they escaped from the “tight” cordon thrown around the village seemingly with ease, baffling the pursuing soldiers, police and their commanders.

One person, in a telephone conversation, said the bullets that hit some of the militants were brushed away “like mosquitos”. “It did cause pain but they were otherwise not seriously injured,” the person said.

Another person, who claimed inside knowledge, said that those involved in the search for the militants “saw with their own eyes” how a couple of militants were shot but were unscathed when arrested.

But not all the militants are so protected, the story goes. Those who did get killed, as reported by the security forces now in pursuit of the remnants of the armed group aligned to the self-acclaimed sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Karim III, under whose name they invaded Sabah, were either insufficiently bullet-proofed or devoid of magic.

The reported mutilation of the bodies of six police officers who were killed in an ambush at a village in Semporna, has not helped.

Dangerous belief

But it’s this kind of dangerous nonsense that makes one wonder if the lessons Malaysians were taught in school ever sank in.

Then again, perhaps the education system and the teachers are to blame that belief remains entrenched in the use of spells or other special techniques to assure total control of the forces of nature.

Such talk only adds weight to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s belief that Malaysians still need to be guided and are not ready for the real world where bullets are manufactured to maim and kill, and when fired in your direction, leave you in a bloody mess.

The belief in fairies and magic is dangerous because it makes people vulnerable to unscrupulous leaders who have no problem toying with their fears and ruling over them.

But there’s a flip side to this. If the militants have indeed stumbled on the secret of dodging the bullet, the world’s top arms manufacturers should pay attention and start making a beeline to the Southern Philippines.

If the militants market their death-defying secret well, their worries of remaining poverty-stricken are over, given the number of conflicts around the world and the millions in harm’s way.