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Langkawi Nature Blogs
About living in a 'Lonely' House
If you decide to live in a 'stand-alone' house - with no other houses nearby, you might encounter a phenomena you had not thought about.
No - I don't mean security...
I am now living in such a house and enjoy the incredible peace and quiet of nothing other than nature around me. Waking up in the morning with bird songs, watching monkeys walking through the garden and a small Monitor Llizard finding a way through the fence, are my daily delights....
I recently had some friends visiting me, a couple of Malaysians and one from Indonesia. Everything went fine, until it slowly started to get dark outside. Then they all showed the same symptoms: they became visibly uncomfortable.
"It's very, very quiet here" one said. Another one asked me to turn on the TV. And a third one explained to me, after I insisted on knowing what was the matter, that he was not used to being in such a 'quiet place'. That having no other people nearby frightened him. He was not frightened of me but one alone could just not reassure him enough against the ghosts of the darkness.
He told me he had once been with his parents in such a lonely house with no people around and he and his parents had been very frightened.
I know that Malays and Indonesians are very family orientated. If you ask a 'Westerner': "Who are you?" you will be told "I am me, I am myself". If you ask a Malay or an Indonesian, he will tell you: "I am the son of xxxx (his father), Child No 1 and from the village bladibla...". He defines himself as a member of his group.
I knew this - but I didn't know that to be separated from their group, or the group of people they are used living with, is something that frightens them so much.
So, if you plan to have a social life with Malays and Indonesians etc. or to take a maid into your house, or a wife from Thailand or the Philippines, be aware of this fact. They will not like to be in a 'lonely' house ....
Mark
