The Quest of The Orang Minyak by Cheah Sin Ann
Ramli is a high-flying petrochemical engineer with a major Malaysian oil firm. A hydrocarbon genius, he is also a playboy, charming every woman he meets which in turn makes it difficult for him to find the right partner to settle down with.
One day, at an annual company function, he is introduced to Sarimah, a pretty young executive in accounts. Immediately, he is smitten and realizes SHE is the one. Vowing off everyone else, he makes every effort to woo her but she already knows about his Lothario-esque background and avoids him as best she can.
Jilted and rejected, Ramli immerses himself in work. One stormy night, on an oil rig way out at sea, he is in the control room when something goes wrong. The pumps have failed and the heat from the generators are building up to a dangerous level. Being the senior executive, he orders everybody off the platform. As Ramli tries to board the the last rescue helicopter, an explosion rocks the structure and he is thrown into a pool of crude. With flames surrounding him, he struggles to get out but to no avail.
Then, he hears a voice.
It is the Devil. He offers to save Ramli by turning him into the Orang Minyak, a supernatural spirit with fantastic powers. In return, the engineer must serve him and rape 21 virgins in a week. Unwillingly, Ramli agrees as another bigger explosion wipes out the rig altogether.
The next morning, Ramli finds himself washed ashore. Realising he's not injured in any way, he cleans up and reports for work, relating to everyone what had happened except for the detail about the Devil. With no intention to fulfill his Faustian deal and dismissing it as a hallucination, he gets ready to go out for the evening when he slips and falls on his apartment floor. He notices there's nothing wet on the surface. Then, to his horror, he finds his lower torso has turned into some oily grease. The Devil appears before him and reminds him of his bargain. 'In this form, you can enter any room you wish, without a key!' , he laughs. Ramli is returned to his physical self and he climbs into his sports car and heads out to find his first victim.
In the following days, terror fills the city with news of reported brutal rapes everywhere. When the number reaches 20 and on the 7th day, Ramli is shown a picture of his soon-to-be last victim by the Devil. It is none other than Sarimah, his unrequited love interest. Unwilling to harm her, he outwardly refuses. Instantly, he is transported into an A380 flying through the skies where he is led by the demon who has manifested himself in the form a steward, to the business class. The cabin is strangely empty, except for Sarimah who is on her way to a company meeting. Before she can scream, the Devil waves his hand and she slumps back in her seat, unconscious. 'Do it now or I will blow out all the tyres of this aircraft and everyone will die, including her!' , he threatened.
Ramli starts unbuttoning her blouse but halfway, he pulls the seat belt over her and straps her in tightly. He then quickly smacks the steward and proceeds to open the exit door. The decompression sucks the Devil out and the plane banks. 'I wasn't much of a fan of the mile-high club especially with a sick voyeur around, dude!' , the engineer yells. The captain rushes in, helps Ramli who is hanging on to the hatch in and is told to make an emergency landing. Suddenly, explosions under the fuselage shakes the jetliner. In the cockpit, Ramli is told the wheels of the aircraft are gone. 'Leave that to me and keep the plane lined up with the runway!' he tells the pilots. 'What're you going to do?', they question, in shock. 'Polymerize!', was the reply.
With that, he starts transforming into a black liquid which seeps through to the undercarriage. The substance then starts to coagulate around the landing gears in the form of crude-looking tyres. They screech on the tarmac upon touchdown but the plane is still going too fast. Again the exclamation rings out, 'Polymerize!'. This time,
at the tail, below the exhaust, a screen of black nylon webbing shoots out, forming a drag parachute and the stricken aircraft grinds to a halt. The mysterious wheels then melt away
into a black ooze once more and trickle upwards into the cabin. Hovering over the unconscious Sarimah like a dark satin curtain, Ramli exclaims, ’She’s safe!’. Realising he will never
win her love with his curse, he says goodbye with a heavy heart and exits the aircraft, running off the runway like rainwater, leaving the A380 lying awkwardly on its belly.
On higher ground, overlooking the airport, the dark slime takes on a human shape and Ramli's voice rings out, 'I still have to answer for the crime you made me do but before that, I'm going to hunt you down and all violators of women everywhere!' And so , the quest of the new Orang Minyak begins.
