Haunted Homes

Home on the Dot

Ghosts are everywhere in Singapore. From the Malay pontianak, a female figure that haunts men, to Chinese festivals that burn offerings for the dead, the supernatural and the occult are integral to everyday life and have long fascinated Singaporeans. But what happens when a ghost is in your home? In this episode, Aisyah investigates when home no longer provides comfort, but instead causes fear. She interviews Dr. Irving Johnson, Associate Professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at NUS, who thinks ghost stories offer a way to resist the discipline imposed by Singaporean institutions, such as schools, the military, and public housing. Aisyah also talks with her mother, a real estate agent whose job regularly places her in haunted houses. She shares the story of a Malay family who moved into a new home, only to find family of ghosts that refused to move out. In a country where housing blocks and highways are regularly built on former cemeteries, it's not unusual to need an exorcist now and then.