‘Bomoh’ trending worldwide, tweeted 200,000, says BBC

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia): The word “bomoh” is trending worldwide and has been tweeted more than 200,000 times, with the most obvious sentiment expressed being shame, the BBC reported. 

"It's so embarrassing to have 'Malaysia' and 'Bomoh' in the same sentence," tweeted one. 

"Stupid, shameful" and "ignorant", others tweeted back to BBC Trending, the BBC said

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The tweets were in response to the bomoh who showed up at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport twice, initially claiming that he was invited by a government leader to help solve the mystery of the missing flight MH370, although he later said he was there on his own will.

Using coconuts, bamboo binoculars and a fish hook and esoteric mumbo-jumbo, bomoh Ibrahim Mat Zin reportedly said his spells would "weaken the bad spirits".

The curious and the gullible might like to visit the website, Bomoh Gadgets Malaysia.

Among the many items on sale is a magic flying carpet at RM99,900. The site is also offering a 20% discount on magical bubu fishing trap and magical bamboo sticks.

Eddin Khoo, a Malaysian cultural commentator, reportedly said that the bomoh episode was hardly surprising, adding that it had been "very much a problem of the cultural politics of Malaysia over the last 30 or 40 years", according to the BBC report.

He said that Islam had traditionally been interpreted in a mystical way and, in recent years, this has been taken more literally.

According to Khoo, many politicians were known to summon the help of bomoh to advance in their careers, and that these bomoh also make regular appearances during national crises in the country, the BBC reported.

On Thursday however, Pertubuhan Ilmuan Malaysia chief executive officer Ahmad Fazrin Yahaya condemned the “bomoh act” at KLIA, saying that his nonsensical rituals were an embarrassment to Malaysian Muslims and was a mockery of true Islamic teachings.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also questioned who in Putrajaya had sanctioned the bomoh to conduct rituals inside KLIA to locate the missing jetliner.

He had said the presence of the bomoh had made Malaysia a laughing stock.

However, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, minister in the prime minister's department had denied claims that Putrajaya had hired the bomoh, adding that it was not a directive from the government.