GEORGE TOWN, Jan 24 — When Ong Keow Leng was a child, she had a bad stammer and didn’t believe in God. Little did she know that one day she would be in a profession that required a strong faith to help people.
Today, Ong, better known as Master Ong Q Leng, is a spiritual healer who not only exorcises ghosts and evil spirits but also provides spiritual help for health, relationship and career issues.
The 39-year-old Buddhist and Taoist healer, from the Jade Emperor’s Temple in Relau, has been helping crowds of devotees every weekend at the temple, either to get rid of black magic curses or help ease health issues for several years now.
Though images of a Taoist priest in full costume with a bell and a wooden sword come to mind when it comes to Taoist religious ceremonies, Ong’s methods do not require any complicated ceremonies, bells or strange chantings and prayers.
Her healing sessions involve a simple process where devotees and her are seated on stools, facing each other, and she helps them with divine assistance, using only her hands.
Ong did not always want to be a healer or “ghostbuster” but claims this was a calling she could not refuse even though it meant she now lives on a very meagre income based on donations from devotees.
Here, Ong shares how she was “called” into this profession.
In her own words:
I used to stammer as a child. I couldn’t speak a full sentence without dragging out the words and I used to get laughed at. I also used to suffer from very poor health. I had a weak heart and often had breathing difficulties. Though my family is Buddhist and we do pray to the deities, I wasn’t really religious back then and didn’t even think about God or deities.
One thing I did believe in back then was ghosts. This was because I used to see them a lot. It’s true. I remember I saw the si lo ban (hantu penanggal) flying about at night, the entrails sliding along underneath and being really scared. I also remember seeing really horrific ghosts, some with their faces all bloodied and gory because they had died in accidents.
Maybe because of that, I became a very strong-willed girl and despite my stammer and poor health, I was aggressive in school so nobody dared bully me. I also stopped being afraid of the spirits I saw, sometimes, I even shouted at them to leave me alone. So, when I was first called to become a healer, I shouted back at the skies. I didn’t believe that the deities were talking to me. I thought they were one of the ghosts or evil spirits out to harass me.
This sounds fantastical to a lot of people but it is true.The Jade Emperor came to me, He told me that it is my time to start helping people, to channel the powers they would give me to help people. I resisted. I didn’t believe. It took a while and some convincing before I finally accepted it as my fate. That was almost 10 years ago.
What I do now depends a lot on strong faith. Those who come to me must have faith in their own religion, not in the Jade Emperor or any of the deities in my temple. They can be from any religion, as long as they have faith, they can pray to their own gods for assistance, and I will help them. This is not my power, it is from the gods. I can’t choose who I can help or can’t help. This is entirely up to the Jade Emperor who decides who I can or can’t help.
No, I can’t give out lottery numbers. I can’t buy lottery and make myself rich either because it is not how it works. I can’t see the future, I am not a fortune teller. The gods are here to help with health and to fight against evil spirits but never to satisfy the greed of men.
Feng shui is not about placing some talisman or feng shui products in certain corners. Again, I only do what the deities say so every individual will have different problems that are resolved in different ways.
They may sometimes show me how some people have been cruel for many years and now they are suffering due to karma. We can’t change karma. Karma is very real. I always tell people that what they do or say today will reflect back to them in future. Positivity attracts positive vibes while negativity will always attract negative vibes. It is very simple and straightforward.
Every weekend, I will be at the temple to offer help to those with health problems or any other problems, all on donations basis. Sometimes, I may work from early morning till late night and get only a few ringgit in donations. So, despite what people may think, I don’t do this to become rich and famous.
I am human after all. I can’t survive only on the donations alone. So, on weekdays, I do offer feng shui services to companies and individuals for a fee… Now, on his part, whenever he has customers, he has to be humble, genuine and honest. If he doesn’t listen to this advice, he will lose his customers. These are actually very basic common sense advice but some people may have lost sight of that and need reminding of why they are failing. The gods can only help if they help themselves first.
