Recently Pudu Jail was demolished by the authorities to make way for new development, which many Malaysians found very frustrating as Pudu Jail could be conserved. I personally feel that the buildings should be maintained and we could use it as a shopping center
Few friends of mine told that using at commercially while retaining the old building was not feasible as there was a lot of ghost there. This is the mentality of Malaysians, always putting elements supernatural above everything else. If there's a ghost or ghosts there, make it a tourist attraction then, I've seen plenty of signs at England's historical site saying that the place is haunted by spirits and tourists seems not scared, in fact some decided to take pictures at the spot.
Here's some stories I took from The Star Online regarding Pudu Jail's supernatural incidents.
Sunday June 27, 2010
Close encounter with spirits and a headless woman
THE older the structure, the more likely it is to be haunted. Given the chequered history of Pudu Prison – which dates back to 1895 – you can be sure it has more than its fair share of ghostly tales.
Abu Bakar Juah says it was common to hear things at night – footsteps where no one was supposed to be, chains rattling, and even hearing someone or something taking a bath when everyone is locked in.
“We normally shout out loud that we are merely trying to make a living and tell whatever that’s out there to leave us alone,” he says.
Haji Aziz Haji Idris tells of an encounter while on duty at one of the guard towers when he was still a young officer.
“It was shortly after midnight and I was on night duty with another person when I saw an officer approaching. As we had been trained, I banged my rifle on the floor and shouted out ‘Everything all right, sir!”
Aziz says the figure said nothing but raised his hand, and then suddenly disappeared.
He also remembers one particular bunk in the warder’s dormitory which everyone tried to avoid.
“Anyone who slept there would be sure to feel an unseen force pressing down on his chest. They may try to shout or move but will be helpless to do anything,” he says, adding that some would rather sleep on the floor than use the bunk.
Abu Bakar also recalls a weird phenomenon – a ball of fire the size of a football that suddenly appeared and rolled out of sight.
“It happened every once in a while, and in cycles. Everyone would be talking about it for a while,” he says.
But the scariest tale is that of a recurring apparition of a woman. Aziz believes it was the ghost of a woman who was hanged there.
“She had tried to kill herself previously by slitting her throat. She survived but before she was fully recovered, the execution order came,” he says.
“She was brought to the execution chamber and hanged – but because of the injury, her head was literally torn off. It was a gruesome death and that is the ghost that many people have seen.”
He recalls an encounter with this apparition.
“I was on duty at Block D, where death row is located, and directly above the execution chamber is a huge anchor stone.
“Out of the corner of my eye I saw a figure sitting on this stone. Malays believe ghosts’ feet do not touch the ground, and when I bent over to look, the figure disappeared,” he says.
But a fellow officer’s encounter was even more shocking.
“Once, a police officer was interviewing prisoners and it was getting late. However, he said that he could interview one more, and I went down to bring another one.
“As he was filling in some forms he saw a figure sitting down. Thinking it was another prisoner he looked up, only to see a headless woman with blood flowing down her chest. The officer ran down the stairs as fast as he could,” he says.
Aziz believes Pudu Prison is a very “dirty” place and in some places is a giant graveyard.
“During World War II, the British buried Japanese soldiers there, and when the Japanese took over, they buried the British there.
“The ghosts here are real,” says Aziz. --- Yes Mr.Aziz, the ghosts are real, my office has ghost as well and its real but who cares about it.
Sunday June 27, 2010 from The Star Online
Executioner tells of eerie goings on
DESPITE his humble and polite demeanour, Kesavan A. Arumugam (pic) is a man who can strike fear in the heart of the most-hardened prisoner. The reason – he was an executioner who spent the first month of his working career on attachment in Pudu Prison.
Although he spent much of his career in the Kajang Prison, he was recalled to Pudu Prison whenever there were executions. He said he had performed about four executions in Pudu before the department started to carry out the sentence in Kajang.
He remembers Pudu Prison as it was there that he both witnessed and carried out his first execution.
He explains that there was a team involved, and his task was to handcuff the prisoner, place a hood over him, escort the condemned from their cell to the execution chamber, where their legs would be tied and the noose placed over their neck.
“Basically, I did everything except pull the lever (to release the trap door). That was another person’s job,” he says.
The hangings at Pudu Prison, he says, were eerie affairs.
“The corridors were narrow and the lighting was dim, adding to the eeriness of the execution. There was a chill about the place.”
The gallows he says, were very old as the trapdoor worked with a pulley system and the creaking made it all seem unreal and scary.
The execution chamber at the Kajang prison works on a hydraulic system which is quieter and more efficient. And the place is much brighter, he adds.
Taking a human life is not for the faint hearted, but Kesavan says he has no regrets about having carried out the job.
“After an execution you do feel tense. Usually I would avoid people, and an adjustment of the mind was needed. But after a few days I would feel better,” he says.
“I believe that I did what I did for the benefit of the nation. Those people had already exhausted all avenues of law, and I only did the final bit.
“Since I was able to interact with the prisoners, I learnt what they had done and I do not feel bad,” says Kesavan.
He has his own scary tale to tell, involving Mohd Affandi Abdul Rahman, who along with his bomoh wife Mona Fandey, had been sentenced to death for the murder of Batu Talam state assemblyman Datuk Mazlan Idris.
Affandi, he says, had asked him to bring him a rose bud.
“When I eventually did, Affandi put it on his palm and recited a few words. And the rosebud flew round and round,” he claimed.(Wow! Fuyoo Magic !)
“I know it’s unbelievable but I saw it.”
He says Affandi then asked for a bottle of water, tore the rosebud into bits, put it in the bottle and gave it to him as a magic potion.
“However, I did not want anything to do with that. And I left the bottle at the officer’s area,” he says.
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