Who Is Mona Fandey, Why Do People Want Her Back For GE15 & Why Is She Always Smiling?

By Quinny Tan  •  22 Nov 2022 in Features

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On the night of 19 November, Malaysians unitedly gathered to keep up with the results of GE15, gripping to the edge of their seats as they refresh every live stream possible, only to receive the frustrating results of a hung Parliament.

Naturally, netizens took to Twitter to express their feelings, and a familiar name was brought up multiple times – Mona Fandey.

MONA FANDEY WE NEED YOU

— شكينة (@_nsyakinah) November 19, 2022

If PH wins and it becomes BN-PH, we shall ALL move out of the country OR, hear me out, revive Mona Fandey.

— Diya 🪔🐀 (@DiyaSeesGhosts) November 17, 2022

Did Mona fandey left her notes of her rituals? Can someone send me in pdf

— Giritaren Assokumar (@pxxg_25) November 20, 2022

Clearly, this was all in friendly banter (or frustration). But it begs the question, who is Mona Fandey? What’s her story? And most importantly, why is she always smiling?

Most of us might know her as the inspiration behind the main character in the local film Dukun, starring Datin Paduka Umie Aida and Adlin Aman Ramli.

The movie was originally filmed in 2006, but was banned by the government due to the sensitive nature of the film. It wasn’t until a clip was leaked on the internet and public interest urged the government to green light its eventual release in 2018.

Mona, whose real name is Maznah Ismail, was born in 1956 in Perlis where she grew up as a pop star singing and dancing along with adoration from her fans.

She ended up marrying Mohamad Nor Affandi Abdul Rahman who promised her all the fame and fortune that would come with a career in the entertainment industry. He was also apparently her biggest fan.

She eventually adopted the stage name Mona Fandey, inspired by her husbands name, and launched a studio album titled Diana which managed to boost her celebrity status enough to secure her TV gigs and interviews.

But as show biz goes, it didn’t last very long and she made an unexpected career change to become a witch doctor, or as we Malaysians call them, bomoh.

This proved to be way more successful than being a pop star, as she claimed to be booking high-profile clients and even senior politicians.

Not long after, Mona and her husband were swimming in cash and purchased mansions, luxury cars, and face lifts. Remember, this was in the ’90s and these were high-status, covetable items, and habits that were definitely not as common as they are today.

In 1993, the couple gained the attention of Mazlan Idris, who at the time was a Pahang assemblyman and rising politician who wanted a “spiritual flower bath cleansing ritual” in exchange for a payment of RM2.5 million and 10 land titles. That’s one expensive bath. 

During the ritual, the couple and their assistant, Juraimi Hassan, had Mazlan lay down on the floor with his eyes closed to “let the money fall from the sky,” while the witch doctor placed flowers on his body.

Then all of a sudden, Juraimi chopped off the politician’s head with an axe.

The trio proceeded to dismember and skin Mazlan’s body into 18 parts, which were later buried in a storeroom near one of Mona’s mansions. However, some body parts were never found and rumour has it that they ate it.

He was reported missing to the authorities after he had missed several UMNO meetings and further investigation found that RM300,000 was withdrawn from his account.

The thing is, they would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for Juraimi who was arrested for drug charges unrelated to Mazlan’s murder, and confessed to the murder while he was tripping on drugs. The police apprehended the couple not long after.

In 1995 they were charged with murder under Section 302 of the Malaysian penal code, which meant a mandatory death sentence.

But the weirdest part is that Mona seemed cheerful and happy all throughout the trial, smiling for the cameras and saying bone-chilling things like, “I’m happy and thank you to all Malaysians,” after the verdict was reached. Morbid much?

On 2 November 2001, Mona and her two accomplices were hanged after being granted a last meal with their families at KFC.

Her last words were, “I will never die,” and some say that she was still smiling for a few minutes after her execution.

As for her assets, two of them still stand to be hotspots for thrill seekers and ghost hunters to visit. The two abandoned mansions are in Seksyen 12, Shah Alam, and Raub, Pahang.

So after knowing all this, would you still want Mona Fandey to come back and ‘save us all’?

I’ll leave that up to you, but I say let sleeping dogs lie.