The Haunted Playground

Years ago I rented a house on the island of Tarawa in Kiribati. No one wanted it. It was ten meters from the beach. It was large. It was open to the cooling breezes from the Pacific. It was delightful. No one had lived in the place for years.

Oh, I forgot. In the front garden, two meters from the front door, stood a grave. I rented it a desperation prices! I lived there happily till the end of my contract. When I left Kiribati, my replacement refused to move in. Why? Because of the grave.

I was reminded of how readily we assume that graves and cemeteries are somehow places to avoid when I met one afternoon with two friends of mine, Melvin and Roger. When they were younger, they attended a school that had just been opened on the western side of Kent Ridge, near the site of the present day National University of Singapore campus.

They preferred to walk to and from school through what is now Kent Ridge Park. They had found an old track they used to follow across the ridge and across the open fields to their home under the huge trees that shaded the lovely old homes along Canterbury Road.

Another reason they preferred to walk home was that they had a secret hideout on the ridge. They were absolutely sure no one knew of it. The excitement of their hideout was being in the forest and hearing the sounds of the birds and occasionally seeing small animals, and even, it must be said, snakes.

I sat amazed as my two friends, Melvin and Roger, recounted what had happened at their school. This is the story they told me.

One morning something happened that made Melvin think twice about ‘the things that go bump in the night.’ On the day in question, as normally happened every Monday morning before school started, the students assembled in the parade ground. The children were full of laughter and noise after the weekend. They took some time to settle down as the headmaster called for order.

The morning assembly drew to a close. The students were about to move into class when Emily, a girl in Melvin’s class, suddenly threw her arms into the air and screamed. She fell to the ground, frothing at the mouth and moaning. The children standing near her cried out in fear. Some ran as far away as they could. Others clung to each other, terrified. The class teacher, Mr. Piak, quickly ran over to help Emily. Melvin and Roger, who had been standing nearby, knelt down with Mr. Piak to see if they could help.

‘Give her air! Give her air!’ Mr. Piak shouted, and pushed the two boys aside.

No sooner had he pushed Melvin and Roger to one side than other children started shouting and screaming. Mr. Piak looked up in alarm. Children all over the parade ground started to drop to the ground, kicking and screaming just like Emily had done. They moaned. They screamed.  They yelled. Other teachers ran to help, but the pandemonium continued. One word the children called out above all others sent a chill up Melvin’s spine:  ‘Gui! Gui! Ghost! Ghost!’

Terrified, some of the children raced out of the parade ground and ran home. Others, uncertain what to do, moved well back and watched horrified. No one knew what was happening. Melvin watched the teachers rushing round trying to help the children who were screaming on the ground. Mr. Piak asked Melvin and Roger to help carry Emily and some of the others into classrooms where they could rest.

‘Thanks for your help, boys,’ said Mr. Piak as they lay Emily down. ‘I think that you had better wait outside now.’

Melvin and Roger left the classroom and joined the other children huddled together in quiet groups in the playground talking in whispers and trying to work out what had happened. 

‘You heard what they were shouting?’ asked Roger.

‘Gui!’ replied Melvin.

‘What does it all mean?’ Roger asked. ‘Why did Emily and the others fall down? Why did they all scream and yell like that? Why were so many of them doing it?’

‘If it was only one, maybe it could be a trick to get out of school, but there were so many,’ replied Melvin. ‘There must be twenty or more recovering in the class rooms.’

‘Aren’t you scared?’ asked Roger.

‘Of course I am,’ replied Melvin. ‘Who wouldn’t be? But,’ and he paused, ‘why? What happened?’

Roger shrugged. The two friends sat quietly and waited. After a while, the headmaster came out of one of the classrooms. ‘Children!’ he announced. ‘I think it is best if you go home for the rest of the day. We will sort things out and we will see you all back here at school tomorrow without fail!’

Normally the children would have been very happy to have a day off school, but today things were different. Melvin and Roger walked slowly across the ridge to their homes still baffled and still a little frightened.

‘That is one of the scariest things I have ever seen,’ said Melvin.

‘Those poor kids kept crying out about ghosts!’ said Roger, still trying to work things out. ‘Ghosts? I can’t believe that there are any ghosts in our schoolyard!’

‘I don’t know much about ghosts,’ said Melvin. ‘I know that your Dad talks about them, but I think that he is mostly having fun with us. I don’t know if they really exist or not. And I certainly don’t know if there are any at our school!’

‘Well something made our school friends go crazy today,’ said Roger. ‘If it wasn’t evil spirits or ghosts, what was it?’

Melvin had no answer to that.

When they reached home, Roger’s father, who Melvin called Uncle Ken, looked surprised to see them.

‘Why aren’t you still at school?’ he asked.

The two boys told him about the strange events that morning. Uncle Ken listened carefully and nodded.

‘Come inside and sit down, boys,’ he said when Roger and Melvin had finished their story. He led them into the sitting room where the breezes from the forest kept their beautiful old house cool.

‘Do you believe in ghosts Uncle Ken?’ asked Melvin as they sat down with a drink.

Uncle Ken did not answer at first. He sipped on a glass of water and looked across the veranda to stare at the forests covering Kent Ridge. He nodded as if he was asking himself a question. Then he turned to look at Melvin and Roger.

‘This is what I think. As a policeman, I have seen lots of odd things happen,’ he said. ‘I have also heard many strange stories that I cannot explain.’ He paused and he thought carefully before he continued. ‘I think that there are definitely spirits of some kind or another. Maybe some of them are good. Maybe some of them are bad. Just like us.’

‘And can these spirits hurt people?’ asked Melvin.

Uncle Ken nodded. ‘I think it is possible,’ he said. ‘Sometimes things happen to people that we cannot explain. Strange things. Odd things. They make no sense, unless they are caused by spirits of some kind or another.’

‘Are there any bad spirits in our school yard?’ asked Roger.

‘You know, son,’ he said, and he shifted in his chair as if he was a little uncomfortable, ‘there are times when I think that there are. For example, I think that the area under the mango trees in the corner of the school yard might be haunted.’

‘Why?’ asked Roger.

‘Because of what happens on the road that passes by the school at the spot,’ said Uncle Ken quietly.

‘What sort of things are you talking about Uncle Ken?’ asked Melvin.

Uncle Ken took another deep breath. ‘There have been several strange—and tragic— accidents there, as you know,’ he said. ‘Sadly, one of your classmates was knocked down on his way to school last year. I think his name was Ah Chee. He died soon after the accident. You remember Ah Chee, don’t you?’

The two boys nodded solemnly but said nothing. Ah Chee had been their friend. Uncle Ken allowed them to think about Ah Chee for a moment before he continued.

Uncle Ken turned to look at the two boys. ‘Have you ever noticed anything strange going on in that street?’

‘Sometimes when we are in class,’ answered Melvin, ‘we hear the cars outside slamming on their brakes. I think it is because they are bad drivers.’

Uncle Ken laughed a little. ‘Of course you are right. Sometimes it is bad drivers! There are enough of them in Singapore!’ and he sipped some more water. ‘But there is another reason why they slam on their brakes at that spot,’ he said. ‘What do you think that it might be?’

The boys shook their heads.

‘We refer to it as an accident hot spot. Because of the all the traffic incidents there, we place our officers on duty at that corner. When people slam their brakes on or swerve violently our officers pull them over and ask them why they are driving so dangerously,’ he said. ‘Strangely, many of the drivers tell us that they had to swerve to avoid a dark shape or an apparition of some kind that suddenly appeared in front of their car.’

‘A dark shape? An apparition?’ asked Roger. ‘Do you mean a ghost of some kind?’

‘If only one driver had said it, we would ignore it,’ said Uncle Ken, ‘but several drivers have told us the same story.’

‘What about the driver who killed Ah Chee?’ asked Roger.

Uncle Ken nodded. ‘He said the same thing, but tragically for him, he never got over it.’ The two boys looked at him waiting for him to continue. ‘The accident upset him so much that he went crazy and he will spend the rest of his life in a special hospital,’

‘For mad people?’ asked Roger.

His father nodded.

Melvin frowned. ‘Uncle Ken, if people, like the police, know about this problem, why don’t they do something about it?’ he asked.

‘We have talked about it a lot,’ he replied, ‘but what can you do about ghosts?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Melvin, ‘but I am sure that there is something that can be done.’

‘Then, my little friend,’ said Uncle Ken, ‘you lead the way!’ Uncle Ken stood up and stretched. ‘Enough chatter now,’ he said. ‘Go and play. I need a sleep. I am on special duties tonight.’

The boys got up to leave. Uncle Ken paused as he reached the door to his bedroom.

‘By the way,’ he said. ‘Keep what we have talked about to yourselves, OK?’ and he winked at Melvin and Roger ‘As for what is happening at school, don’t worry! I am sure that your headmaster will sort things out.’  And he closed the door behind him and went for his afternoon nap.

Next morning as Melvin and Roger walked to school, they wondered if things would be back to normal. As they entered the school grounds, they quickly became aware that things were not ‘back to normal’. Several concerned parents had come to school with their children. They stood round looking worried and speaking in hushed tones.

Morning assembly passed normally. The headmaster spoke of what had happened the previous day and announced that some children would be resting today. He thanked the parents for coming and told them not to worry. Everything would be fine. He dismissed the assembly. The children moved into their classrooms.

Mr. Piak called the roll. Emily and another girl, Sari, were not present.

‘Emily and Sari are still recovering from yesterday’s strange events,’ Mr. Piak said. ‘So let’s hope they feel better soon and get back to school. Meanwhile, the rest of you, let’s get to work! We missed a day of school yesterday. We have lots of work to catch up on. Open your geography books. We are go…’

Without any warning, Stephanie, who sat in the front row, suddenly stood up, knocking her chair back with a loud clatter. Her face was wracked in pain. She fluttered her hands back and forth. Her eyes bulged grotesquely. She stared into space, unblinking. Her head rocked violently from side to side. Mr. Piak rushed to help her. Stephanie screamed and thrashed her arms at him, scratching his chin. Blood flowed.

Some of the other children started to cry. Others rushed to the back of the classroom. Still others ran into the corridor. With a great deal of effort, Mr. Piak pinned Stephanie’s arms to her side.

‘Can somebody strong help me to hold her legs still?’ he asked

Melvin and Roger needed no second bidding. They both raced over and took hold of Stephanie’s legs.  They picked Stephanie up and rushed her to the sick room.

As they staggered along the corridor, Stephanie twisting and yelling in their arms, screams and cries started up from other classrooms. What had happened the previous day was happening again. Children fell on to their desks, thrashing themselves round and crying out: ‘Gui! Gui! Ghost! Ghost!’

Some parents who were still standing around the school entrance chatting about the strange events of the previous day ran into the school. They grabbed their children and took them home. Children cried and screamed. Teachers and parents rushed round trying to help.

Once again, school was cancelled. Roger and Melvin spoke not a word as they trudged home. Maybe Uncle Ken was right after all. Maybe the school was haunted?

‘We have to stay home until they get rid of the ghosts,’ explained Melvin to his parents that night over dinner.

‘I think that what has happened is really awful,’ said Lillian, Melvin’s mother. ‘And those poor children! What can be done?’

‘Someone told me that the headmaster has asked for a daoshi…’ began Melvin’s father, Lim Kee.

‘What is a daoshi, father?’ asked Melvin.

‘A bomoh, a shaman – a medicine man – someone who can work a kind of magic and overcome evil spirits, throw them out and so on,’ explained his father.

‘Can they fix things up so that no one gets scared anymore?’ asked Melvin.

His father nodded. ‘Sometimes,’ he said, ‘but not always. Getting rid of ghosts is not easy, you know.’

The following day, Mr. Ponosamy Rajalingam sent a letter to all the parents telling them that he had invited a daoshi to the school to try and help to sort things out. The daoshi would come the next day. Meanwhile, he advised the parents to keep their children at home until he let them know that all was clear.

‘Can I go to the school tomorrow to watch?’ Melvin asked his mother.

‘No you cannot!’ she said. ‘If they are getting rid of the ghosts in the school grounds, it will not be safe. Spend the day playing with Roger’

Melvin sulked. He really wanted to go to the school and watch the daoshi do whatever it was that daoshsis do. He decided that, despite his mother’s warning, he and Roger would sneak off to the school while their parents went out and try to watch what would happen.

Next morning, after their parents left, Melvin and Roger ran to the school.

When they arrived, they found two policemen guarding the school gate.

‘You are not allowed in to the school today, boys,’ said one of the policemen. ‘Do your parents know that you are here?’

Melvin and Roger did not want to lie, so they said nothing.

‘Go home and wait till you hear from the headmaster that all is clear,’ continued the policeman.

As he spoke, a taxi pulled up at the gate. An old man dressed in a crumpled shirt and raggedy trousers and carrying a battered satchel got out and walked up to the gate of the school. The two boys stared at him.

‘Are you the daoshi?’ Roger asked.

The old man turned to look at Melvin and Roger. He smiled, and his weather beaten, gnarled old face exuded a warm glow.

‘Yes,’ said the old man. ‘I am the daoshi. And who are you?’

‘I and Melvin and this is my friend Roger and I want to be a daoshi when I grow up,’ said Melvin.

‘Good for you, son, good for you,’ said the old man. ‘But let me tell you something. You don’t have to wait till you grow up!’ and with a wink, he nodded at the policemen. They unlocked the gate and the old man walked into the schoolyard.

Melvin and Roger tried to follow but once again the policemen gently pushed him away.

‘Stay clear,’ he said. ‘It could be dangerous in there.’

‘Are you afraid?’ asked Melvin.

The policeman looked at his companion. Both nodded slightly.

‘But we are policemen! We are supposed to be brave! Off you go now!’

Melvin and Charlie walked slowly back along the street, then doubled back up a small track that led up the ridge behind the school. They pushed their way through the bushes that lined the back fence of the school till they reached a spot where the policemen could not see them. They sat down. They waited and watched.

They were rewarded when they saw the old man walk over to the corner of the schoolyard carrying his satchel. He paused under one of the mango trees. He knelt down and scratched in the soil. He picked something up. He opened his satchel. He took out what looked like a bottle. He held it out in front of him. His body seemed to shake. His lips moved but the two boys could not hear a word. He was too far away.

Suddenly the old daoshi’s body jerked. He leaped to his feet and placed a cap on the bottle, screwing it tightly. He put it in his satchel and snapped it shut. He stayed under the trees for a while, his head bowed. He seemed tired. Then he stood up and slowly walked back to the school buildings and entered one of the classrooms.

Melvin and Roger waited but saw nothing else. They decided it was time to try and get home before they got caught.

Naturally, the dinner conversation turned to the events of the day at the school. The phone rang and Lim Kee went to answer it.

‘That was the headmaster. School starts again tomorrow morning. Apparently,’ said his father as he returned from taking the phone call, ‘the problem is fixed!’

‘Indeed,’ added Lillian. ‘Was that what the call was about?’

‘It seems that a daoshi come and he fixed it all up,’ replied Lim Kee.

‘What did he do?’ asked Melvin.

‘I have no idea what a daoshi does, son,’ said his father. ‘I heard that he mumbled a few words here and there. He went into every classroom. He scraped paint off the ceilings of each classroom and…’

‘Why would he do that?’ asked Melvin.

‘I have no idea,’ said his father, sounding a little impatient. ’Do you know, Lillian?’

‘I have no idea at all,’ she replied. ‘It’s all a little bit evil if you ask me.’

‘Did he go to the big mango trees in the corner of the schoolyard?’ asked Melvin.

‘Why would you ask that?’ said his father.

‘Because Uncle Ken said…’ began Melvin.

His father let out a loud sigh. ‘Your Uncle Ken and his stories! Where will they end?’ He ate some more of his kway teow.

‘So,’ asked Melvin again, ‘did he go to the trees or not?’

‘Apparently he did,’ answered Dr Lim Kee.  ‘Your Uncle Ken tells me that lots of accidents take place on the road that runs besides the mango trees. The daoshi did something there—don’t ask me what! — and that is all that I know about it!’

‘What sort of things did he do?’ asked Melvin.

‘I have no idea,’ shouted his father. ‘I already told you that is all I know!’

‘Calm down, Lim Kee,’ said Lillian. ‘The boy only wants to know.’

Melvin’s father calmed down. ‘I am sorry, Melvin,’ he said. ‘I wish I knew more, but I don’t. All I know is that after he did whatever he did at the school, the daoshi then visited the homes of all the children who had been attacked. He spoke some words over them, gave them some herbs to eat, and now everything seems fine.’

Next morning, Melvin and Roger wondered if things really had been fixed at school. They got there early. Both of them were impressed. Everything went smoothly. Even the children who had been ‘visited by the ghosts’ acted quite normally. All was as peaceful and quiet as it should be in a well run school.

’You know,’ said Roger after school as he and Melvin walked up the ridge to the park that ran along the top of Kent Ridge, ‘I wonder if we could organize another scare like that so we can get out of school some more!’

Melvin was about to reply when he noticed an old man sitting in the shade on one of the benches in the park. He Squinted. Who was it? He gasped when he recognized him.

‘Look, Roger! It is the daoshi.’

The old man beckoned to the two boys. They walked back to the bench and sat next to him on a park bench. He was sipping some teh tarik from a plastic bag.

‘Sit down, my young friends,’ said the old daoshi. ‘So, everything was fine at school today?’

‘Everything was fine,’ replied Melvin. ‘Tell me, sir, were there really ghosts in the school?’

The old man nodded. ‘There were, that is for sure. They were in the corner of the schoolyard under the mango trees. They had been there for many years without any trouble but of late they had to find some peace.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Melvin, and frowned.

‘Many years ago, farmers planted crops along the coast there just below us. As Singapore expanded and they needed land for more houses, the farmers were told to stop farming and move to the new buildings that the Government built for them.’

‘HDB blocks?’ asked Melvin.

‘And new schools,’ nodded the old man.

‘So what happened?’ enquired Melvin.

‘It seems that there was a cemetery on the side of the hill, just near where the mango trees are in the schoolyard,’ continued the old daoshi. ‘Now normally, people are very careful about disturbing cemeteries, and at first the developers made sure that they left the small plot alone.’

‘So why…?’ asked Melvin.

‘It was a very small area, and everything was fine for a while,’ he continued. ‘People left the plots undisturbed for years. Sadly, many years after the farmers were moved to other parts of the island, people forgot about it.’

‘So they built the school over the graves?’ asked Roger. ‘Didn’t the people who built the new school know about the cemetery?’

‘Apparently they thought it did not matter,’ replied the daoshi. ‘After that new building was constructed, the spirits were well and truly disturbed. They suddenly found that they got little peace what with the traffic on the road and the noisy school, so they decided to try and settle things down so that they could be at peace again!’

‘ Is that why they caused all the accidents on the road?’ asked Melvin.

The daoshi nodded. ‘But surely that wasn’t a very nice thing to do?’ said Melvin.

‘What happened to them was not very nice either, was it?’ asked Qu Daoshi.

Melvin nodded.

‘Anyway, the noise of the traffic and the school drove them mad! That’s why they tried to stop it by scaring the drivers, and that caused lots of problems and some tragedy, as you well know.’

Melvin and Roger nodded, and thought of their friend Ah Chee.

‘But what about the school? Why cause trouble for us?’ asked Melvin.

‘The spirits did not really want to disturb the children at school, but what happened last week became too much for them.’

‘And what was that?’ asked Melvin.

‘Last week, your headmaster moved the morning assembly so that it would take place nearer the large mango trees. He thought it might be cooler. Am I right?’ he said

Again, the boys nodded.

‘The noise of the parades disturbed them even more. So they decided to try and stop the parades by frightening the children,’ he said.

‘Why would they do that?’ asked Melvin.

‘As I said, they simply wanted to be able to be at peace again,’ replied the old daoshi. ‘They thought that if they made enough trouble maybe someone would do something about them.’

‘So what did you do yesterday to make things right with them?’ asked Roger.

‘They spoke with me,’ he said and the boy’s eyes widened.

‘The ghosts spoke with you?’ Melvin asked.

‘Yes, Melvin, they did,’ he said. ‘Very few people can hear them, but some can. I am one of the lucky ones that can. It takes a special talent. Maybe…’ and he looked at Melvin and Roger. ‘Maybe you have that talent!’

Melvin gulped and looked at Charlie

‘So what did they say to you?’ asked Melvin.

‘They asked me to arrange a proper burial, and I have promised them that I will get that organized.’

‘Are they still there under the trees?’ asked Melvin. ‘I was watching you when you were under the trees yesterday and I saw you put some things in a bottle. What was that?’

The old man took a sip of his tea. He stopped. He looked at his bag of tea.

‘Empty!’ he said. ‘Drat!’ He turned to Melvin and Charlie. ‘Could you go over to that tap and fill this with water, please?’

The two boys ran to do as the old man asked.

I turned to look at my friends. ‘And is that the end of the story?’ I asked.

Melvin shook his head.

‘When we returned, we could not see the old man. We looked all round the park. We looked along the paths. We peered down the steps leading up from the school to the ridge.

He had definitely gone.

‘And the ghosts?’ I asked.

‘They never bothered us again,’ said Roger.