Jakarta
Paranormal is a thriving industry in Jakarta and it is an accepted form of alternative medicine and therapy. One could buy potions and lotions for nearly every ailment, be it physical, metaphysical or psychological.
Throughout this episode, our host will meet paranormal practitioners, also known as dukun or pawang, who use their power for business ventures. One of them is Kang Mashrukun who has extensive clientele from several Asian countries namely Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Hong Kong. People attend the classes he conducted to learn the skill of treating patients with different ailments. Li Kim, will also meet a celebrity dukun, Ki Prana, who produces his own online show. Together with Li Kim, they will explore an abandoned structure in the city with an interesting backstory.
Paranormal is a thriving industry in Jakarta and it is an accepted form of alternative medicine and therapy. One could buy potions and lotions for nearly every ailment, be it physical, metaphysical or psychological.
Throughout this episode, our host will meet paranormal practitioners, also known as dukun or pawang, who use their power for business ventures. One of them is Kang Mashrukun who has extensive clientele from several Asian countries namely Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Hong Kong. People attend the classes he conducted to learn the skill of treating patients with different ailments. Li Kim, will also meet a celebrity dukun, Ki Prana, who produces his own online show. Together with Li Kim, they will explore an abandoned structure in the city with an interesting backstory.
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TVTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 As I arrive in Jakarta, I see a vibrant and bustling city.
00:12 Put aside the chaotic and crowded traffic,
00:18 there is another world, the world of the paranormal.
00:22 I have learned that it has become
00:24 a very lucrative business.
00:26 How much of it is entertainment, and how much of it is real?
00:30 In this episode, we will explore the world of the paranormal
00:34 here in Jakarta.
00:35 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:42,
01:11 Jakarta can be quite an enigma, with about 12 million people
01:15 living here, from billionaires to homeless souls.
01:19 A city which is modern, yet submerged
01:22 in culture and tradition, and a deep-rooted belief
01:26 in the paranormal.
01:28 Perplexing, and yet very intriguing.
01:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:33 Who would imagine that amidst this concrete jungle,
01:39 congested traffic conditions, that there's
01:41 a thriving paranormal industry?
01:44 An industry that is not on the sidelines, not hidden,
01:47 nor shunned, but an industry that
01:49 seems to be accepted by all, practiced by everyone.
01:52 Spells to protect oneself, or one's business,
01:55 potions to win over someone's heart,
01:58 curses to destroy one's enemies.
02:01 Yes, all these exist here, and are flourishing.
02:05 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:12 I have made arrangements with one
02:13 of the most well-known paranormal practitioners
02:15 in Indonesia, Kang Masyukan.
02:18 And I will attend one of his paranormal classes.
02:20 Kang Masyukan is a professional parapsychologist,
02:27 and a practitioner of the paranormal arts.
02:29 Unlike the traditional dukuns, or bomoh,
02:32 Kang presents himself as an urban professional.
02:35 He heads a successful business, with offices
02:37 in the major cities of Indonesia,
02:39 and has a long list of clients from Malaysia, Singapore,
02:43 and Hong Kong.
02:44 Today, he is teaching me about the aura that
02:46 exists in all of us, and how we can tap into it.
02:50 I knew of this service through my friends
02:54 who have received treatment here.
02:57 And I also checked the social media
02:58 in the YouTube and the internet.
03:04 I had my aura read here, and I was also
03:07 given special recitations to be read after doing my prayers.
03:11 And Kang Masyukan also prepared for me a drink
03:14 that he has treated specially for me.
03:17 I have now grown in confidence, and this helps me in my career.
03:23 When I meet the clients, I meet them
03:25 with a newfound confidence that has helped me.
03:33 Can you please explain to me a little bit about your history?
03:37 I came from a family of paranormal practitioners.
03:40 I inherited the skills from them.
03:43 And I see them perform their paranormal services
03:45 since young.
03:47 In fact, I began to cure people when I was young.
03:50 I cured them through various prayers.
03:53 I didn't know how or why, but I just knew I could do it.
03:56 When I became older and entered college,
04:02 I noticed that the lecturers and academicians also
04:05 believed in the paranormal.
04:08 This further gave me the confidence
04:10 to pursue a career in this field,
04:12 but as a true professional.
04:13 Have you received a client who has come from fake dukun
04:19 or who has been extremely confused?
04:23 What did you do, and how bad was the situation?
04:28 Usually, they come to me when they
04:30 have used up all their money.
04:32 I also offer services for free because some
04:35 of these people who have been conned by others
04:37 and have finished their savings.
04:41 I only ask them to put their total trust in me.
04:43 Commercial paranormal.
04:50 That really is, to me, quite interesting.
04:52 And after speaking to him, more intriguing.
04:55 But I'm still very interested to see
04:57 what else is out there in this commercial paranormal
05:01 in Jakarta.
05:02 The paranormal scene in Jakarta is full of celebrities.
05:27 Not celebrity clients, but celebrity shamans and dukuns.
05:31 Some have managed to produce their own reality programs
05:33 and have huge fan base.
05:35 I'm on my way to meet one of the more famous television
05:38 shamans, one who has managed to change
05:41 the public perception of what a local shaman should look like.
05:46 Kiprana is one of the more popular television
05:48 personalities who used to host Indonesia's highest-rated
05:51 paranormal program.
05:53 Today, he continues to break new barriers
05:55 by producing a weekly paranormal show for online broadcast.
05:59 Kiprana, you have made a celebrity of yourself
06:02 on television as a celebrity spiritualist.
06:05 May I know what inspired you?
06:07 The first reason was because I was scared.
06:12 I enrolled in an Islamic school and learned the Quran.
06:15 There I found I could see the unseen.
06:18 I decided to study more Islamic spiritual techniques
06:21 until I became a spiritualist.
06:28 I entered the entertainment world by accident.
06:30 There was a television show that was looking for a paranormal
06:33 expert who didn't have a scary image.
06:36 They approached me a few times, but I rejected at first,
06:39 as I didn't feel confident facing the cameras.
06:42 After five attempts, I agreed to give it a try.
06:46 I tried to show that the supernatural world does exist,
06:49 but I show how we should embrace it and not fall into a realm
06:53 that we cannot control.
06:55 The connotation used to describe the realm of the unseen
06:59 is that we live in our world and they live in theirs.
07:02 We cannot enter their realm, but they can enter ours.
07:06 With this understanding, if we try to experience
07:09 this supernatural world without the proper knowledge
07:12 or a strong faith, it would be very dangerous.
07:16 Where did you get your skills from?
07:19 Where did this talent come from?
07:21 I can say that this ability that I have is a gift from God.
07:26 However, it was not an immediate thing.
07:29 To be involved in this, you need to have tenacity and faith,
07:33 because if you ignore all this, you cannot succeed.
07:37 I find this amusing.
07:40 In reality, ghosts cannot be hunted.
07:43 They can only be summoned.
07:45 We are here at a place called the Holy City of Mecca.
07:49 We are here at an old abandoned Catholic school
07:53 to observe how Kiprana produces his online series
07:56 Jejak Spiritual, or Spiritual Footsteps.
08:00 The school was said to have been the site of a bloody riot
08:03 many years ago that led to its closure,
08:06 and since then it is reputed to be haunted.
08:09 There was no problem at all.
08:16 And personally, I have been working for a long while at this school
08:21 as a security guard and now as a caretaker for the village.
08:26 I have never seen or witnessed anything,
08:29 but I do feel as if there is something here.
08:32 For example, something would break the glass,
08:35 sounds from the basement, and lights that suddenly cannot turn on.
08:44 However, some have seen a girl with long hair.
08:48 Due to various unforeseen factors,
09:08 the shoot for Kiprana's online show was delayed for nearly four hours.
09:13 It is nearly midnight.
09:15 According to him, he will first be releasing a few jenglots,
09:19 which can be described as Indonesian Ims,
09:21 into the area and then we will witness what happens.
09:25 There may be some differences here.
09:29 Even though it's raining heavily,
09:31 it has not stopped enthusiasts from coming to this area
09:35 to watch a shoot Jejak Spiritual.
09:37 I have also brought with me a collection of jenglots,
09:40 which are shrunken entities that some others also called "kerap".
09:45 Right now, I'm observing Kiprana Lewu,
09:53 conducting a ritual with regards to something I understand to be called jenglot,
09:59 which is basically a figurine that looks as though it's carved,
10:03 but it is believed to have shrunk from a human,
10:06 a human with supernatural powers.
10:08 But due to that, it was rejected from the earth,
10:11 so it couldn't be buried,
10:12 and as such, it shrunk to become what it looks like.
10:16 Let's see what unfolds here tonight.
10:19 This jenglot is also a being belonging to God.
10:26 And what is more important for us to know is how we carry ourselves
10:30 and what we need to understand about jenglots.
10:32 And in this manner, also understand our role in the eyes of God.
10:36 And in doing so, understand that we don't have to use these beings for any purpose.
10:41 The Ustaz and Kiprana discussed about some aspects of the jenglot
10:45 that we couldn't quite understand
10:47 when suddenly Kiprana poured gasoline onto the effigies or the jenglots in the box.
10:52 With a burning piece of wood, Kiprana torched the contents in the box.
11:03 On the burning of the jenglot, which is happening right now,
11:06 after they poured some hot oil...
11:09 Suddenly, a few people in the audience started screaming hysterically.
11:16 The Ustaz and Kiprana took some time to exorcise those who were in hysteria.
11:21 This is a phenomenon that I do not really understand,
11:29 but it's obviously happening.
11:32 It appears that this whole scenario seemed to have been staged
11:35 because we recognised that the people who became possessed or hysterical
11:39 were the same people that Kiprana brought with him.
11:42 But then I realised that this may be what the audience wants to see.
11:46 [Screaming]
11:48 [Screaming]
11:54 [Screaming]
12:06 [Screaming]
12:13 [Screaming]
12:15 Stay with us as I decide to stay alone in one of the school's rooms after this.
12:32 It was banging on that wall.
12:36 [Screaming]
12:38 We have only touched upon the tip of the iceberg
12:48 in understanding the huge paranormal business in Indonesia.
12:52 I believe it would be wise to also meet a dean from one of Jakarta's top universities
12:57 to give us an insight into this phenomenon.
13:00 This is Professor Dr Noh Zengki of Universitas Negeri Jakarta's Faculty of Social Sciences.
13:07 There are many dukuns or spiritualists,
13:11 and I realised that it's actually a lucrative business.
13:15 May I know how such a business came about?
13:20 The urban folk in Jakarta are hungry for supernatural matters
13:25 and they seek to find it through the television.
13:28 And the shamans are willing to facilitate and exploit this.
13:31 And when TV stations realise that the public is interested in the supernatural,
13:36 they feel that it could be a lucrative for them to commercialise it.
13:41 The dukun is authentic, but because of entertainment,
13:46 they have to elaborate, they have to dramatise.
13:52 But the elaboration and the dramatisation is not necessarily fake.
13:59 The real ones, usually upon finishing their work,
14:03 they need to expel the energy by vomiting.
14:07 And secondly, they need to soak themselves in water
14:13 so that the energy will not engulf them.
14:17 Thirdly, smoke. The energy that is called upon through supernatural means,
14:23 it needs to expel smoke.
14:25 The fake ones do not show any of these three attributes.
14:29 We return to our investigation of the old Catholic school with Kiprana,
14:37 and he is taking us deep into the basement of the school.
14:40 We're now going down to the basement, not knowing what to expect.
14:47 Kiprana explains that he feels a lot of restless energy down here.
14:52 At the moment, he is using my watch to transfer energy of the sosok,
15:01 which is little-sized beings, but they have faces that are elderly,
15:07 probably around 50 years old.
15:09 That's the being that's present here in this corner, that he's connecting with.
15:15 Hot.
15:17 Really cold, and now really hot.
15:22 It's burning my skin.
15:25 What just happened is that my watch was burning that man's arm,
15:29 until it suddenly became normal again.
15:32 And now, Kiprana will attempt to trap an entity into the bottle.
15:37 It's moving.
15:40 It's moving.
15:42 There's something in my hand.
15:49 It's a manifestation.
15:52 Kiprana is now in the basement of the school.
15:55 I'm going to try to put it in here, into the bottle.
16:16 (sniffling)
16:18 What you are seeing is Kiprana trying to spit out the entity into the bottle.
16:25 But somehow, when he did that, the bottle broke,
16:28 and the entity seemed to have taken off,
16:31 and Kiprana immediately followed its trail.
16:34 Is it the same thing now, that you were trying to catch, or is it a new entity?
16:41 It's a different entity.
16:43 It's a different entity.
16:45 It's new, right? -Yes.
16:47 What just happened?
16:49 Nothing.
16:50 Nothing at all.
16:51 There's nothing.
16:52 I'm going to try to point it there.
17:04 Okay.
17:06 (siren)
17:08 Look at the blood.
17:21 It's bloodstained.
17:29 Bloodstained.
17:31 Try to take a sniff.
17:33 Can you smell?
17:35 Smell it.
17:36 It's very interesting, what Kiprana can do.
17:45 For me, it is about not just mere coincidence,
17:49 but the timing,
17:51 and how consistently when he asks for their presence,
17:56 they present themselves, of course, not what we expect to see in full form,
18:00 but in sound, in destruction,
18:03 and moving of the trees,
18:05 which is quite interesting.
18:07 The blood thing, obviously there,
18:09 and he didn't cut himself.
18:11 So, that has left me with more to think about.
18:14 Let's now go outside for another ritual called Pembuktian,
18:19 which is the ritual of finding evidence.
18:23 (door opens)
18:25 (door closes)
18:27 Ready for the challenge?
18:33 Okay.
18:34 I'm left alone down here in the basement of this structure.
18:46 Over there on the table, there are some balls,
18:50 empty plastic bottles,
18:52 and there is flour on the floor.
18:56 And the theory is, if there is presence of astral beings,
19:03 when they step on the flour, it will glow.
19:07 So now, we shall wait.
19:21 It is 3 o'clock in the morning,
19:23 and I am alone in this room, with only a chair to accompany me.
19:27 Everyone else is outside,
19:29 allowing whatever entities present to make their appearance to me.
19:44 There was a thud, or a bang, again, on the overhang.
19:51 I think that's what it's called, the overhang, or the roof over there.
19:55 Before you came down, it was banging on that wall, like bang, bang.
20:04 Noise, not suara, not a voice, but noise.
20:13 A noise activity.
20:15 The flour that we spread, turns out to be here.
20:24 Oh, there it is, there it is, there's more.
20:31 Here, here.
20:39 Oh, this one.
20:41 No one was here with the flour, because we sprinkled it up in the front.
20:45 So now you have flour sprinkles, fresh ones, they're not flat or dry.
20:54 There are many traces of the past,
20:57 as if they were left by someone, or something.
21:01 But clearly, no one is too much of a hindrance around here.
21:05 But strangely, there are phenomena like this.
21:08 Personally, if you ask me,
21:20 I think that the commercialisation of paranormal practice is somewhat dramatised.
21:26 Why? Because it's entertainment.
21:30 And we all know that with entertainment,
21:33 we want something quick, stunning and astonishing.
21:36 How do we differentiate the knowledge from all the sensational effects?
21:45 This is when the information by Professor Norzinski strikes that balance.
21:51 Because he explains how far back in time and history,
21:55 that paranormal beliefs began,
21:58 with the mixing of different cultures and variety.
22:02 Bringing forth a lot of substance,
22:04 that creates the foundation in how many people think until today.
22:10 So, is paranormal practice real? Is it accurate?
22:15 Can we believe in it?
22:17 That is something you need to ask yourself,
22:21 minus the drama and the theatre.
22:26 [PARANORMAL BELIEFS]
22:54 [PARANORMAL BELIEFS]
22:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]