St. John's In Kuala Lumpur
This inident occurred during the mid-60's when I was attending St. John's
Institution in KL. I was on duty as a school librarian together with a good
friend (who resides in the UK currently) one weekend evening in the extension
wing of the school library on the 2nd floor above the main library. There is
only one entrance (heavy glass door fitted with a self-closing attachment)
into this library extension via a big staircase within the building. The
L-shaped checkout counter is located beside the door and I was seated at one
arm of the counter facing the door while my friend was seated at the other
arm facing the length of the library.
By 9PM, the extension was deserted except for the two of us manning the library checkout counter. I remember it as clear as day when the glass entrance door opened wide slowly by itself. I was kinda surprised and stared at it for a few seconds and called to my friend who was engrossed in a magazine.
"Lee, the door just opened by itself. Have you seen that before?"
He glanced up and stared at it for a few seconds. "Nope. Spring probably loose on that door hinge or something. I'll close it".
Since he was seated closest to the counter entrance, he slid off his high stool and ambled towards the door. When he was about six feet from the entrance, the door began to close slowly by itself. We both watched until the door was completely closed and Lee reversed direction back to his seat to pick up where he left off in his magazine. A little while later, the glass door began to repeat its open performance and I again called to Lee.
"Lee, look quickly! The stupid door is opening again. Something is really wrong with it. Wanna go close it again?"
Lee watched it for about a minute and then mumbled something derogatively under his breath about the door manufacturer's quality as he again proceeded to make his way towards it. As before, the heavy glass door began to close as he approached it. As he turned around to return to his warm seat, he suggested that we inform Brother K later (who was in charge of the library) of the faulty door. A few minutes later, the door opened and closed once but we ignored it.
Around closing time, Brother K came down from the Brothers' Quarters together with Brother B. We informed him of the incident with the door but were kinda taken aback when Brother B laughed and casually said, "Oh, don't worry, that was just Brother X (I've forgotten the name) doing his evening rounds."
Both our ears pricked up at his statement and we began to question him in detail. To the best of my recollection, here is what we gleaned from him.
St. John's, in its earlier days, was also a boarding school for some of its students and the boys' domitory was located in then extension wing of the library. For many years, Brother X was in charge of the boarders and it was part of his daily, late evening, routine to perform a domitory check to ensure that his boarders were asleep and not on the lam raising hell around town. Then one day, years later, Brother X passed away and it is rumoured that it is his spirit that still walks the hallways and corridors of the old school building to check on his school boarders late at night as he had done for many, many years when he was alive.
By 9PM, the extension was deserted except for the two of us manning the library checkout counter. I remember it as clear as day when the glass entrance door opened wide slowly by itself. I was kinda surprised and stared at it for a few seconds and called to my friend who was engrossed in a magazine.
"Lee, the door just opened by itself. Have you seen that before?"
He glanced up and stared at it for a few seconds. "Nope. Spring probably loose on that door hinge or something. I'll close it".
Since he was seated closest to the counter entrance, he slid off his high stool and ambled towards the door. When he was about six feet from the entrance, the door began to close slowly by itself. We both watched until the door was completely closed and Lee reversed direction back to his seat to pick up where he left off in his magazine. A little while later, the glass door began to repeat its open performance and I again called to Lee.
"Lee, look quickly! The stupid door is opening again. Something is really wrong with it. Wanna go close it again?"
Lee watched it for about a minute and then mumbled something derogatively under his breath about the door manufacturer's quality as he again proceeded to make his way towards it. As before, the heavy glass door began to close as he approached it. As he turned around to return to his warm seat, he suggested that we inform Brother K later (who was in charge of the library) of the faulty door. A few minutes later, the door opened and closed once but we ignored it.
Around closing time, Brother K came down from the Brothers' Quarters together with Brother B. We informed him of the incident with the door but were kinda taken aback when Brother B laughed and casually said, "Oh, don't worry, that was just Brother X (I've forgotten the name) doing his evening rounds."
Both our ears pricked up at his statement and we began to question him in detail. To the best of my recollection, here is what we gleaned from him.
St. John's, in its earlier days, was also a boarding school for some of its students and the boys' domitory was located in then extension wing of the library. For many years, Brother X was in charge of the boarders and it was part of his daily, late evening, routine to perform a domitory check to ensure that his boarders were asleep and not on the lam raising hell around town. Then one day, years later, Brother X passed away and it is rumoured that it is his spirit that still walks the hallways and corridors of the old school building to check on his school boarders late at night as he had done for many, many years when he was alive.
