I was relaxing at home watching television when I suddenly heard someone calling my name “Seik Yee, help me! Help me please!” I turn my face to the person who calling me, I was so astonishment! I saw my friend Jack. “Jack! Are you okay? What happened to you?” I asked.
He stared at me blankly and started speaking in Mandarin! His Mandarin was very good as my Malay, which was zilch. I spoke some Mandarin. “Wo hen xin ku, jiu wo” he kept on repeating. “Fang wo zou, Fang wo zou” he said. This translated to “I’m suffering, please help me. Let me go. Let me go.” We usually conversed in English and his behaviour was strange and I was confused and worried. Jack’s face was drenched in perspiration and he was getting increasingly agitated. I was sure that he wasn’t having a heart attack though. I had seen the movie ‘The Exorcist’ before and his demeanour reminded me of one possessed, just like the movie.
Suddenly, someone rushed to my side and a crowd had gathered. Jack’s eyes were expressionless and he didn’t recognise me although it was impossible for him not to notice me. He continued talking aloud but now I couldn’t understand what he was saying at all. It seemed to be heavily-accented Mandarin and Chinese dialect of some sort I couldn’t identify.
The person who rushed to my side just now suggested he had suffered a heart stroke and a few people helped move him into shaded area. He was almost delirious by then. Suddenly, a group of monks nearby came over to see what the commotion was about. The most senior-looking monk took one look at Jack and shook his head. He immediately clasped Jack’s hand to his and started reciting mantras.
It was only then that Jack calmed down and stopped talking to himself. Eventually, after few minutes, he slept soundly, much to my relief. The monk reassured me that he was okay. After about 10 minutes, he gently woke Jack. A bit dazed, Jack was otherwise “normal”. After Jack absolutely okay, “Where was us now?” I asked.