Known originally as Caledonia Estate, it was built in the 1840s by one of

Britain’s weathiest families at the time – the Ramsdens – who had links with
the British East India Company. Bringing their immensely fat wallets to
Malaysia (then part of the British “Straights Settlements”) they set up a sugar
cane plantation on the Malay peninsula, in Nibong Tebal, a stone’s throw from
Penang island. However, the economy moved on and the demand for sugar
cane waned substantially in the late 1800s, so the Ramsdens made the wise
decision to make the shift to planting rubber trees and consequently did pretty
well out of it. The winds of change blew again in the early 1960s towards the
rapidly growing palm oil industry, so once again they totally changed their
game and reaped huge profits. The mansion has remained throughout as a
tremendous display of wealth, and serving a variety of purposes. Living
quarters, dancehall, an administrative building for the plantation, and even the
headquarters for the officers of the occupying Japanese army during World
War 2.

But it’s not all palm oil and cream (ha). In June 1948, grandson of the family
John Saint Maur Ramsden was shot twice in the back of the head as he
walked up the mansion staircase. The murderer was never found, but the
common rumour online is that a business competitor gone and done it, though
I wager that this was one person’s conclusion that has since been
regurgitated umpteen times, doing as the internet does. Various suspects
were arrested, detained, and even put on trial – but no-one was found guilty,
with the magistrate declaring that “there is no evidence against any particular
person”. Another locally fuelled rumour is that John was a homosexual that
employed only “young and handsome Malay houseboys” and that local
residents “all remembered that no-one had been convicted of his murder, and
they did not seem to care”*. In the period of his death there were a number of
retributive attacks on British colonists, thus it would be foolish to ignore that as
a potential motive, particularly when considering the local’s general apathy
towards his lack of justice.

The case is still unsolved, and the grave of John S. M. Ramsden lies in
Georgetown’s Western Road cemetery.
The research on this place is both interesting and hysterical. In addition to the
above, it’s said that locals believe that the Japanese killed all of the Ramsden
family present before taking over the property during the war; but this doesn’t
really tie in with the fact that the grandson was shot in the head 3 years after
the Japanese surrender in 1945. Another compelling factoid is that after the
house itself (not plantation) was abandoned in the 1960s, a local Bomoh (kind
of like a witch doctor in this neck of the woods) took residence and used the
building as his little workshop, contacting spirits and whatnot. Supposedly the
locals are more scared of the Bomoh’s spirit mates than they are of the entire
Ramsden family. Visitors have reported hearing “growling noises”, the sound
of drums inside the house (not sure why unless the ghost of Keith Moon is
holed up in the loft), and some have even become possessed by a demon. I
wouldn’t disagree that they are possessed by something but it’s probably not
an evil spirit.
To say that I’m saving the best one for last is an understatement. The legend
is that at midnight every day, the 99 door mansion’s 100th door appears as an
entry point to and from the spirit world, allowing all of the naughty rascals that
the witch doctor summoned to come and cause mischief in the human world.
Unfortunately I wasn’t there at that time so can’t possibly comment. Ahem.
Well, that’s the history out of the way, time for my story.

Another reliable rumour I heard is that the spirits will take the names of
everyone that has written graffiti on the walls and will stalk them in their
sleep until they pass away, which will be 99 days exactly. No more, no
less. Creepy eh? DON’T WRITE ON THE WALLS YOU TACKY
SCUMBAGS, OR GHOSTS WILL KILL YOU.