In former days during this period it was “taboo” (pantang) for the father to cut the throat of a buffalo or even of a fowl; or, in fact, to take the life of any animal whatever—a trace no doubt of Indian influences. A Malay told me once that his son, soon after birth, was afflicted with a great obstruction of breathing, but that when the medicine-man (Pawang) declared (after “diagnosing” the case) that the child was suffering from a “fish-affection” (kĕnan ikan), he remembered that he had knocked on the head an extraordinary number of fish which he had caught on the very day that his son was born. He therefore, by the advice of the medicine-man, gave the child a potion made from pounded fish bones, and an immediate and permanent recovery was the result.
Such affections as those described are classified by the Malays according to the kind of influence which is supposed to have produced them. Thus the unoffending victim may be either fish-struck (kĕnan ikan), as described above, ape-struck (kĕnan b’rok), dog-struck (kĕnan anjing), crab-struck (kĕnan kĕtam), and so forth, it being maintained that in every case the child either displays some physical deformity, causing a resemblance to the animal by which it was affected, or else (and more commonly) unconsciously imitates its actions or its “voice.”
Another interesting custom was that the father was stringently forbidden to cut his hair until after the birth of the child.
The following passage bearing on the subject is taken from Sir W. E. Maxwell’s article on the “Folklore of the Malays”:[35]—
“In selecting timber for the uprights of a Malay house care must be taken to reject any log which is indented by the pressure of any parasitic creeper which may have wound round it when it was a living tree. A log so marked, if used in building a house, will exercise an unfavourable influence in childbirth, protracting delivery and endangering the lives of mother and child. Many precautions must be taken to guard against evil influence of a similar kind, when one of the inmates of a house is expecting to become a mother. No one may ‘divide the house’ (bĕlah rumah), that is, go in at the front door and out at the back, or vice versâ, nor may any guest or stranger be entertained in the house for one night only; he must be detained for a second night to complete an even period. If an eclipse occurs, the woman on whose account these observances are necessary must be taken into the pĕnangga (kitchen), and placed beneath the shelf or platform (para) on which the domestic utensils are kept. A spoon is put into her hand. If these precautions are not taken, the child when born will be deformed.”
Sir W. E. Maxwell in the above is speaking of Perak Malays. The passage just quoted applies to a great extent to Selangor, but with a few discrepancies. Thus a house-post indented by a creeper is generally avoided in Selangor for a different reason, viz. that it is supposed to bring snakes into the house.
“Dividing the house,” however, is generally considered an important birth-taboo in Selangor, the threatened penalty for its non-observance being averted by compelling the guilty party to submit to the unpleasant ceremony called sĕmbor ayer, a member of the family being required to eject (sĕmbor) a mouthful of water upon the small of the culprit’s back.
In Selangor, again, a guest must stay three nights (not two) in the house, his departure on the first or second night being called “Insulting the Night” (mĕnjolok malam). To avert the evil consequences of such an act, fumigation (rabun-rabun) is resorted to, the “recipe” for it running as follows:—“Take assafœtida, sulphur, kunyit t’rus (an evil-smelling root), onion skins, dried areca-nut husk, lemon-grass leaves, and an old mat or cloth, burn them, and leave the ashes for about an hour at sunset on the floor of the passage in front of the door.” That a sensible and self-respecting “demon” should avoid a house where such an unconscionable odour is raised is not in the least surprising!
In the event of an eclipse the customs of the two sister States appear to be nearly identical; the only difference being that in Selangor the woman is placed in the doorway (in the moonlight as far as possible), and is furnished with the basket-work stand of a cooking pot, as well as a wooden rice-spoon, the former as a trap to catch any unwary demon who may be so foolish as to put his head “into the noose,” and the latter as a weapon of offence, it being supposed that “the rattan binding of the spoon (which must, of course, be of the orthodox Malay pattern) will unwind itself and entangle the assailant” in the case of any real danger. Finally, the Bidan must be present to “massage” the woman, and repeat the necessary charms.
From the following passage it would appear that the corresponding Pahang custom does not materially differ from that of Perak and Selangor:—