The Orang Minyak is one of a number of Malay ghost myths. Orang Minyak literally means oily man in Malay.
According to one legend, popularised in the 1956 film Sumpah Orang Minyak (The Curse of the Oily Man) directed by and starring P. Ramlee, the orang minyak was a man who was cursed in an attempt to win back his love with magic. In this version, the Devil offered to help the creature and give him powers of the black arts, but only if the orang minyak worshipped him and raped twenty-one virgins within a week. In another version it is under control of an evil shaman or witch doctor.
According to legend, in the 1960s the orang minyak lived around several Malaysian towns. The orang minyak of the 1960s was described as human, naked and covered with oil (supposedly to make it difficult to catch). However, there were also stories of the orang minyak where it was supposedly supernatural in origin, or invisible to non-virgins, or both. The mass panic has also led to unmarried women, typically in student dormitories, borrowing sweaty clothes to give the impression to the orang minyak that they are with a man. Other defense supposedly include biting its left thumb and covering it in batik.
Reputed sightings of the orang minyak, or events later ascribed to it, have continued with reduced frequency into the 2000s.
In 2005, there were cases reported of rapists covered in oil roaming around, armed with knives.
In 2012, the residents in Kampung (Village) Laksamana, in Gombak, Selangor Malaysia claim to have seen and heard the orang minyak around the vicinity of the Pangsapuri Laksamana and Jalan Laksamana 1. The village had been buzzing with sightings of the two paranormal creatures for the last 10 days.
This creature, in its general nature, behaviour and supposed origin would seem to be very similar to the Grease devil of Ceylon.
The legend has appeared in a number of films, including:
Sumpah Orang Minyak (1956), directed by P. Ramlee
Serangan Orang Minyak (1958), directed by L. Krishnan
Oily Maniac (1976), from the Shaw Brothers, directed by Meng Hua Ho
Orang Minyak (2007)
Pontianak vs Orang Minyak (2012), directed by Afdlin Shauki
