One of the biggest news this week is the mystery of the missing Beijing bound Malaysia Airlines jet MH370. We have also written about the issue, noting how you should be wary about what you read on the news.
With the missing aircraft, it puts Malaysia under the international spotlight.
Earlier this week, renowned local bomoh (Malay for shaman) Ibrahim Mat Zin, who is known as Raja Bomoh Sedunia Nujum VIP, touched down at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to performed rituals to “locate” the missing Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines jet MH370.
Ibrahim invited himself to perform the ritual at the airport, and attracted many curious onlookers.
The ritual, which involved bamboo ‘binoculars’ and a fish trap, was performed at the entrance. The verdict? According to Ibrahim, who holds the title of Datuk Mahaguru, the missing MH370 has been hijacked by elves and is currently suspended in mid-air or has crashed into the ocean.
“The purpose of the rituals is to weaken the bad spirits so that the rescuers can find the plane if it indeed had crashed,” the shaman was quoted saying.
As reported by Nicholas from Yahoo Newsroom, after an ‘unsuccessful’ attempt, Ibrahim and several of his assistants returned to KLIA on Tuesday, this time performing a ritual using two coconuts, a mystic cane and a ‘magic carpet’ to “weaken the elves”.
Ibrahim’s latest stunt was ridiculed by many, with Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin calling for his arrest and PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim calling it a national embarassment.
Photographs of Ibrahim Mat Zin, holding coconuts as part of the ritual, circulated social media on Wednesday, prompting netizens to criticize the move.
Several parodies and spoofs were also created by netizens to show their frustration on the ridicule.
#MagicCarpeting #ZamzamAlakazam pic.twitter.com/tVSkhsi0Lk
— Fahmi Fadzil (@fahmi_fadzil) March 12, 2014
Bomoh power #MagicCarpeting #UiTMSarawakWeCare pic.twitter.com/LVGptZavHy
— Yen (@azreenmohamad) March 12, 2014
Harry Potter and his broomstick but RajaBomoh has #MagicCarpeting pic.twitter.com/V7dUYjXeKs
— Aizzat Mahmod (@ejatmahmod) March 13, 2014
#MagicCarpeting versi #Fit4Malaysia LOL! pic.twitter.com/a7iE43cGhK
— klubbkidd™ (@klubbkiddkl) March 13, 2014
what the bomoh looks like once theyre high up in the sky for their ‘carpet’ search & rescue operation. pic.twitter.com/J2FjITGkhw
— danny? (@illmarrymary) March 13, 2014
what a shame for using bomoh. Trust only God dear malaysian pic.twitter.com/EysMMfGhj0
— radioactive ? (@elizabethjcb) March 13, 2014
What? Lego also got Raja Bomoh edition? International fame! pic.twitter.com/pllB1jyuTL
— Tan Keng Liang (@tankengliang) March 13, 2014
As a Malaysian myself, all I can say is this, come I clap for you Malaysia.
Also read: Does Malaysia Airlines instill confidence in its handling of MH370 incident?
Update: The article is updated at 11.10am to reflect its accuracy.