EPISODE 5:

THE DOUBLE IDENTITY OF TANGKI

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

By day, Daryl is a savvy digital marketer. By night, he’s a Chinese spirit medium who channels a Taoist deity who can see the truth through their third eye. Being a traditional Tangki spirit medium is best kept separate from his personal life. In Malaysia there’s a stigma to being a medium. Long ago, the gods would choose individuals who were on a path of darkness to act as their vessels. Troublemakers, alcoholics, and criminals—Medium-ship was meant to give their lives purpose.

And you need a little grit to handle the jobWhen Tangki go into trance they’re expected to perform outrageous self-mortification rituals to assure spectators that the gods are in possession of their bodies. Daryl is of a new generation of Tangki, one that is changing with the times. His patron deity, Erlang Shen, does not see any purpose behind rituals of self-inflicted harm. And while he himself is a true believer, others require hard proof, and sometimes what he offers is not enough. As a performer, Daryl takes liberties with the craft and is beginning to realize that he is in control of his own path within the traditional culture.

In his home neighborhood of Ampang, Daryl is one of five Tangki who perform at the annual Nine Emperor Gods festival. This decadent, nine-day, cleansing ritual has local Chinese wear white, eat vegetarian, and follow other austerities to purify their homes of illness and misfortune. The Nine Emperor Gods are worshiped all over Southeast Asia, but Ampang temple prides itself as Malaysia’s most traditional displays of Chinese culture. Thousands of devotees join Ampang for the celebration, and a theater of Tangki set the atmosphere. Under the pressure of spectators and the politics of temple officials, The Double Identity of Tangki shares how Daryl’s way of channeling falls under scrutiny, and forces him to come to a realization about his place amongst the gods.