In Malaysia (and many other countries in Asia) there is a running supernatural belief that the sweet scents of jasmine and frangipani flowers at night indicate the presence of the local ghost, Pontianak.
Similar beliefs include that you’re neighbours with a ghost when hearing moving furniture at 3am or that your house is haunted by the spirit of a child that likes to play with … marbles?
Yes we Malaysians have rich superstitions and paranormal beliefs rooted within the workings of our various cultures. Thing is, we’ve uncovered some of the science that explains the 3 most common creepy experiences we Malaysians may face frequently. Now, we can learn the facts and stop brushing them aside as just some common ghostly indicator.
1.Lunar blooming flowers are the reason for the strong scent of flowers at night (not always a sign of a Pontianak ok!)
It refers to a group of flowers like the Pontianak associated, tuberoses, jasmine flowers and local frangipani. These so-called “supernatural” flowers bloom simultaneously with the full moon, setting the scene for a spooky night according to folklore.
These blooms remain tightly closed all day, only opening their petals when the moon appears, attracting pollinators like bats and butterflies.
Remarkably, after successful pollination, some of these nocturnal blossoms shed their petals the next morning.
So as we’ve uncovered, the creepy flower scent does not come out of nowhere and is not always an indicator of a more sinister presence. Most of it has a logical explanation, a cool insight on how mother nature works.
2. The random (but creepy) marble sounds in your house are actually from internal plumbing and not ghosts!
According to the scientist, Andy Piacsek, these sounds could be caused by trapped air inside water pipes. The sounds that occur may be altered as the water flows away or the air dissipates as it goes through a building like at your landed houses or condominium.
There’s been a few explanations of this creepy marble sound already but all point to the water and air pressure of a building’s internal plumbing.
3. No one is moving furniture at night it’s actually just how vast sound waves and work
If you’ve heard eerie sounds of furniture or what if it’s actually a dead body? That’s being dragged about dead in the night.. Fret not because it’s actually a remarkable explanation of how sound waves can travel.
Night time also is proved to be quieter than the day so any sudden distinct sounds are made more aware (and creepy) when they happen.
The likely truth is that your ghostly neighbours aren’t the actual ones moving furniture so aggressively at night, it’s probably a collection of sound waves from bumps and activities of the entire building travelling through the concrete.
Mr Chiam Soon Kiam, director of engineering firm, Vertes Technologies explains that “because the apartments are built in one structure, sound can travel through it from a few units above, below, or beside where you are.”
These sounds heard at night may be caused by the expansion or contraction of linked materials. For example, if steel or plastic pipes were connected or mounted on the wall or floor, differential movements could produce a noise that could then travel through the floor or wall and be heard farther away from the source.
Do you find these explanations hard to believe?
Well maybe that’s also another science to explore. So the next time you catch a whiff of those eerie nocturnal flowers or hear another spine-tingling superstition, remember that there’s often a scientific explanation behind the mystery.
Join the conversations in the comment section and feel free to share your own additions of eerie encounters or insights on this story! We’d appreciate hearing from you.
Also Read: These 7 Creepy, Spine-Tingling Real-Life Malaysian Ghost Stories Will Give You The Chills!
