Everyone knows banana plant has its many uses – from the leaves used for wrapping food to ikan bakar; the fruits for desserts, making cakes or puddings or fried as in goreng pisang. The Malays churned out delicious dishes from the flower shoots. The trunk was once used by poultry owners as feeds for the pigs, once its been cut into small pieces and cooked over the firewood for more than a week until soft. As for the Indians , the young plants with newly grown fruits are used as oranmental plants for prayers and weddings.
For the Chinese who loves to try their luck for anything that can bring them wealth, used it to ask for 4 digit number. And they believe that the tree has spirit in it. And that is how the banana ghost story comes about.
Near where I grew up was an old well surrounded with banana plants. One day there was a drought and the tap went dry. A young pregnant woman tried to draw water from the well. She peeped into the dark well trying to see whether there was water in it and accidentally fell over. The residents immediately sealed it off to prevent any more accidents. Evey year during Qing Ming time, her heartbroken husband used to offer prayers by the banana trees.
At midnight, the story goes that she will sit by the side of the road with baby in her arm to buy food from passing food peddlers. And thats how my story of the kuey teay man came about in my earlier blog. We heard the kuey teay man met the ghost. After taking the fried kuey teay she said she will go back and take money to pay but disappered into the banana trees. And the kuey teay man was never heard of.
