Mass hysteria broke out during Kuching’s Festival Pratikum Seni 2017, held at the old State Legislative Assembly on Saturday night.
One hundred and twenty performers from across Sarawak were performing at the event. Those effected included performers, those waiting backstage, and some audience members.
Ustazes (Islamic religious teachers) were called to the scene to treat those affected.
One local ustaz blamed the incident on overly active jins (genies), who had infiltrated the unused building.
Ustaz Syahrizan Wahab told The Borneo Post that the building’s inactivity had resulted in it being an “attractive site” for the spirit world. Syahrizan runs his own Islamic healing center on Jalan Astana in Kuching.
How to rid yourselves of wily spirits? Quranic verses and doa (words of prayer).
He added that he expected the old State Legislative Assembly’s building management to contact him toon to pagar (clear and protect) the site and move the spirits away.
The shocking hysteria came at the finale of the week-long festival that was organized by the Sarawak Art Council, and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports.
