Originating from the late 50s, Malay folklore tells of a creature covered in black oil who abducts women at night. Some even say his eyes are hypnotic, or that he possesses mind-controlling abilities to manipulate his victims.
Some versions of the legend suggest that the Orang Minyak is actually a human warlock who made a pact with black magic, gaining supernatural powers to target young women.
But it’s not entirely folklore. There were real criminal cases—particularly sexual assaults—reported from the 50s.
If you wore little to no clothing—even just underwear or swimming trunks—you’re likely to get away faster or commit assaults more easily. Apply lubricant to yourself, and you’re even harder to catch because people simply can’t grab you.
Either that, or… it’s kinkier.
And indeed, there have been a spate of robberies and crimes involving people using exactly this modus operandi.
In Singapore, there was a real-life gang of robbers arrested in the 70s that the press called the “Swimming Trunk Gang.”
The gang comprised Suhaymi Harith, 40; Khalil Mohammed Dol, 39; Wassan Sakeebun, 45; and Wagiman Abdullah, 47—those were their ages when they were finally arrested in 1975.
Just like the Orang Minyak, they carried out armed robberies wearing only swimming trunks. It wasn’t for drama. Wearing nothing but their “Sunday best,” they could run quickly, especially since some of their escape routes were near water-access areas.
The gang targeted homes and businesses, often striking fast and disappearing before police could respond. They would first meet up dressed normally, take a taxi to their destination, then strip down, leaving nothing but their swimming trunks. Then they would strike—breaking into homes and robbing families at knifepoint. After the robbery, they would return to where they had left their clothes, flag a taxi, and flee.
For 30 months in the early 1970s, this gang of four terrorised residents, inflicting injuries in at least four of their hold-ups.
They were so successful in evading the police that they were believed to be responsible for around 500 offences, including housebreakings, thefts, and armed robberies. Their total haul, by the time they were arrested, amounted to nearly $500,000—reportedly an all-time record in local criminal history at the time.
They specialised in breaking into bungalows, semi-detached, and terraced houses using screwdrivers, spanners, pliers, wire cutters, and mini torchlights.
The men began their crime spree in January 1973. They usually struck between 2am and 4:30am, with windows as their preferred entry point.
Wassan was skilled at removing window louvres using tools. Khalil, being small in build, would squeeze in and open the back door to let the others in. The stolen items were quickly sold off at low prices to Indonesian illegal immigrants working at construction sites.
The police eventually caught up with them in pre-dawn raids.
Of the total money and valuables stolen, only $13,000 was recovered.
All four men pleaded guilty to 228 charges of housebreaking, robbery, and theft committed between January 5, 1973, and June 13, 1975.
District Judge E.C. Foenander, who presided over the trial, sentenced the four men to a total of 64 years in jail and 144 strokes of the cane in July 1975.
Many of the spooky stories we hear have their roots in real life.
But in today’s world of CCTVs and GPS tracking, the methods of the Orang Minyak probably wouldn’t work anymore.
So what would we have today?
Orang Invisible Radar?
