PETALING JAYA: As the global media spotlight shines on bomoh Ibrahim Mat Zin and his ‘magic carpet’ rituals in KLIA, an old video has resurfaced to cast doubts on the ‘Raja Bomoh Sedunia Nujum VIP’s’ prophetic credentials.
Ibrahim’s list of accomplishments, verified only by him, include dealing a single death blow to a crocodile, making predictions on the Highland Tower tragedy, and waging a supernatural battle with murderess Mona Fendy’s own brand of black magic.
But the self-designated ‘world bomoh VIP king’ has been silent on a more recent, and far less stellar prediction: That Pakatan Rakyat would win the May 5, 2013 General Election.
A video, apparently recorded on April 22, 2013, revealed Ibrahim doing what he knows best: performing rituals with his now-world-famous bomoh gear: bamboo binoculars, coconuts and a fish trap.
The aim of the ritual was not to detect a missing plane, but to predict the victor of the 13th general election.
In the 1:28 video, which can be viewed on YouTube, predicting Pakatan’s win required Ibrahim to perform two separate rituals.
In the first part of the video, Ibrahim is seated before a table in a dimly lit room, surrounded by assistants. Camera flashes go off as he peers through his binoculars at a bowl. The audience, who remain off-camera, wait in silence.
While the bowl’s contents are not visible, it is made remarkable by the two large leaves dangling over it. The leaves hang by a thread at the end of a long stick, which Ibrahim’s assistant obligingly holds over the bowl.
Resting next to the bowl on the same table is a traditional fish trap; netizens will easily identify it as the same contraption Ibrahim used for his fruitless search of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
After examining the bowl, Ibrahim stands up and declares to the off-camera crowd with great gravity: “(After) looking into this bowl with my fifth sense…it appears as if, like I mentioned previously, that the Opposition will win 65%.”
It is unclear if the bomoh is predicting that Pakatan will win 65% of the parliamentary seats, or 65% of the votes, or there is a 65% likelihood that Pakatan would win.
‘Barisan will not win’
The video then moves on to a different scene, where five individuals are seen kneeling on the ground while clutching half a coconut on top of their heads. A miniature flag depicting a party symbol (PKR, DAP, Bebas, BN or PAS) is planted firmly in each coconut.
Standing behind them is Ibrahim, who holds the stick with the two leaves and swings it around his assistants’ heads.
Holding a microphone is his other hand, he utters various incantations that include the words: “God is great. May Allah bless what we are doing.”
He stops mid-chant to sharply rebuke the unseen audience: “You can see for yourself, there is no need to talk.”
The ritual ends; the bomoh points out to the audience that all the party flags, except one, are fluttering, as if an unseen breeze is blowing through the room.
Only the BN flag remains mysteriously lifeless.
“Why is the BN flag not straight? Am I correct?” Ibrahim asks.
“Correct,” someone from the audience replies.
“Today I have seen through mysticism that on May 5 the opposition party will win 65%! Barisan will not win,” he declared, before the video comes to an abrupt end.
Despite Ibrahim’s prophecy, Pakatan went on to win 51% of the popular vote, 40% of the parliamentary seats (89 seats out of 222 seats), and lost the 13th general election last year.
When speaking in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Pakatan Rakyat supremo Anwar Ibrahim lashed out at the bomoh for his unIslamic rituals, and demanded to know who gave the shaman clearance to perform at the airport before the international media.
Anwar noted that Ibrahim had worn a 1Malaysia badge, and quipped that the latter was “Bomoh 1 Malaysia.”
But BN leaders denied any links to the bomoh.
