Mona Fandey: the pop star witch doctor who murdered a politician
As I stumble into my mid-30s with all the grace and coordination of a concussed flamingo, I find myself thinking of every pop star, actor or TV host who made my life bearable 25 years ago and desperately hoping things worked out for them.
Whether that supporting character from my favourite Saturday morning TV show ever made it as an actor in adulthood. Or if that one-hit wonder pop star I had the album of on tape is now an assistant manager of a decently sized Greggs. One hopes that whatever they’re doing, they’re happy with their lot. If they’re not, they could do a lot worse than to learn the case of Mona Fandey, and know that wherever they’re at in life, they’re in a better place than she was.
Fandey was a pop singer and a dancer as a teenager, having decent success in her native Malaysia and even releasing an album in 1987. This was a project she worked on with her husband Mohamad, who doubled as her manager. However, the project didn’t go far, and by the time she was in her mid-30s, it was back to the drawing board. However, Fandey and her family had more success in her next endeavour, one that even in the wild world of post-fame careers is a bit of a doozey.
Fandey became a witch doctor, something that in Malay culture is called a Bomoh or shaman. A healer that people go to in times of need, and while the pop star dream might have been a step too far, this (fittingly enough) worked like a charm. Fandey went down an absolute storm in this new role. Eventually becoming so famous and respected that political figures were coming to her to receive her blessing. Politicians like Mazlan Idris, who had his eye on becoming Menteri Besar (first minister) of the Malay district of Pahang.
In July 1993, Mazlan went to Fandey and her team seeking a guarantee of his ascension to the office, something that she agreed to in exchange for a massive cash advance and a guarantee of land titles when he took office. The money was exchanged, the blessings made… and Mazlan’s career stalled. He was apoplectic and demanded an explanation, so Fandey requested that he come to her home for a more intense ritual to kickstart his success.
One that involved him lying on the ground in her front room, looking up and imagining money falling from the sky. Something did fall on him from the sky, alright. The problem was that it wasn’t money; it was an axe wielded by their assistant Juraimi Husin, beheading the politician.
The couple then skinned and dissected the body before burying it. Then, bizarrely enough, they went on a spending spree. Perhaps knowing that it would only be a matter of time before one of the more high-profile young politicians was missing and that they were the last people he’d been seen with, they decided to live large before the inevitable happened. When it did, and they were arrested, they did so with a disturbingly positive attitude.
In fact, it arguably became the most iconic image of the life of the former pop star. Her beaming with seemingly genuine joy after her, her husband and their assistant were all sentenced to death by hanging. A joy that didn’t let up until the three of them were executed on November 2nd, 2001.
What’s more, there’s reason to believe that Mazlan wasn’t the only victim of Mona Fandey. The location where Mazlan’s remains were found was later found to contain the remains of several other people who went missing in the 1990s in the same city where Fandey and her family were based.
So, y’know, if life didn’t pan out the way that your hero when you were a kid wanted it to, just remember her story and know that a normal life really isn’t such a bad thing.