The latest buzz at the main campus of
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) here in Penang since last week has to be news regarding the numerous cases of rape and molestation (supposedly as high as four so far) by the supposedly supernatural being
Orang Minyak (oily man). Other newspapers have picked up on the story a few days back but
The Star only featured the story today.
All abuzz over oily man
PENANG: While not many in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are taking the stories of an orang minyak (oily man) preying on female students seriously, some of them have begun taking extra safety precautions on their own.
The main campus has been abuzz over the last few days with talk that an oily man had broken into several hostels and raped female students.
USM acting vice-chancellor Prof Ahmad Syukri Mustapa Kamal said so far, the authorities had yet to receive any reports of rape or sightings by students.
"USM is working closely with the police to ensure the security of the campus. We appeal for people to refrain from spreading rumours about rape cases that have been found to be baseless," he said in a press statement.
Security has been stepped up at the entrances with closed-circuit TV camera surveillance and 24-hour patrols conducted by guards and hostel authorities.
Female students are taking better care of themselves.
"Students are saying that the orang minyak is raping girls to improve his prowess in black magic, but whatever the reason, we are very concerned," said second-year communications student Nur Farahiyah Mhd Taib, 21, who stays in a hostel on campus.
She said the girls were now staying together in big groups at their hostels or when walking back from meetings at night.
Course mate V. Kumutha, 22, said the girls in her hostel also had a meeting with the hostel committee.
"They advised us to keep safe and also taught some of the girls prayers to deter the oily man," she said.
Some students had gone to the extent of vacating the campus hostels during the night.
"For the last two days, many people have been sleeping over with friends who live off campus," said second-year management student C.P. Teng, 22.
In all seriousness, I don't believe that the
orang minyak is a supernatural being at all. To me, it is just a horny bastard who loves to run around naked with his body all greased up in oil, preying on innocent (virgin) women (and men). Yes, there have been cases of men (a security guard in fact) being sodomised by the
orang minyak before. The
orang minyak must be really horny that day or just couldn't differentiate between a guy and a gal.
The
orang minyak chooses to go full monty and cover his whole body with grease or oil is actually to facilitate his escape. Without any clothing on him for you to grab him by and his whole body fully greased, you'll have a very hard time to catch the horny bastard. Some will resort to black grease to use as a camouflage in the dark and to avoid recognition.
It has been said that the
orang minyak has mystical powers and you will feel light-headed when he has chosen you as his prey. To me, that's a whole load of crap. With chemicals widely available on campus, the
orang minyak probably used acetone, chloroform or some other chemicals to knock his victims unconscious. Such chemicals aren't exactly that hard to come by in the open market either.
There are claims that the
orang minyak could walk through walls too while escaping. To me, it is probably the victims being too high from the fumes used to knock them out (and/or their first orgasmic experience with the
orang minyak) to actually think coherently.
I really hope it is all not true and just the creation of some undergraduate who is too free at the moment and has an overly active imagination. This is of course for the safety of everyone in USM (both male and female) as there's definitely a heightened atmosphere of fear here in USM at the moment.
After all, the USM administration claims it is all just rumours since no one has come forward to report any such cases or substantiate these claims. If that is the case, care to explain the increased security checks at every entrance/exit points of USM? If there's no fire, there's no smoke. Also, which rape victim would actually come forward to subject themselves to more shame? As much as I plead for rape victims to come forward to bring the animals that attacked them to justice, many would rather not go through the whole ordeal of shame all over again. That is the sad reality not just here in Malaysia but everywhere else around the world.
Also, is there a link between this and the allegedly person who committed suicide at University Heights recently? Was it a student? Was it a victim of the
orang minyak? Is there any connection at all? It is really strange that no reports were picked up regarding the alleged University Heights suicide even in the Chinese dailies.
Orang minyak or no
orang minyak, this has been a somewhat good distraction for the mundane life of university students. It has proven to be a very popular topic during lunchtime and tea breaks. For the sake of everyone in USM, I do hope it is just some cheeky undergraduate trying to spice up everyone's life.
However, if the cases are actually true, then the culprit(s) should be hunted down and since they love to run around naked, we shall fulfill their wishes by parading them all around campus without a piece of cloth to cover any part of their body. I wonder how big they will think of themselves then.
