SUNGAI SIPUT: A 22-year-old man believes his silat guru's reminder to always remember Prophet Solomon's prayer saved him from being attacked by a tiger in Taman Dovenby Phase 2, here, yesterday.
Muhammad Luqman Haqim Muhamad Ghazali Lim said he went to a pond in an oil palm estate there about 1.40pm to fish for haruan, as his wife had just given birth and it was located not far from his house.
He said he then noticed what he thought was the smell of an animal, which he thought nothing of as he knew there were goats nearby.
Luqman said he was alone at the time but was supposed to have been joined by a friend named Hakimi.
"I almost never enter the area alone. I am usually always with a friend, so at the time I was moved to recite the prayer of the Prophet Solomon.
"Then, I was shocked to see the tiger. It roared and was watching me closely... we were looking right at each other and my heart was racing.
"I again recited the prayer of Solomon and slowly backed away for about 10m before turning around and running off. I headed to a nearby temple and asked the people there for help," he said.
Luqman said he did not know if the tiger had chased after him when he was running but was grateful that he had made it safely out of the area.
He said the people in the temple did not at first believe him when he told them about the tiger, but then they heard the beast roar once again.
At that point, they also heard monkeys screaming and saw them jumping from branch to branch in the nearby trees.
"I later ran to a friend's house nearby, to ask him to call the authorities and Perhilitan (Wildlife and National Parks Department) for help," said Luqman.
He said he later recalled a "strange" occurrence at the same pond two weeks earlier.
Luqman said he and his elder brother would often go to the pond to fish and would bring along firecrackers to scare off any monkeys or wild boar which may wander nearby, as well as parang in case they were attacked.
"Usually, when we fire off the crackers, the wild boar and monkeys would run away. But this time, we could hear some kind of animal approaching us.
"That day, my brother mentioned that when a tiger approaches, you may smell something and mistake it for a goat, but I thought then that he was just joking," he said.
Meanwhile, Sungai Siput fire station chief Mohd Jamalludin Mat Yusop said he received a report on the incident at 2.12pm.
He said a group of firemen were despatched to the scene to check the area and found tracks which were believed to have been left by a tiger.
"We have reported our findings to Perhilitan for further action," he said.
State Perhilitan director Yusoff Shariff said the department would investigate the incident.