According to Malay legend, Orang Minyak is a creature that abducts young women by night. Supposedly, the creature is able to climb walls and grab victims while evading capture due to its slippery coating. The coating was first described as consisting of hair oil, before later stories evolved into it being covered in coconut oil and soot; the genre movies have it covered in crude oil reflecting the local industrial advancements at the time.
According to Malay mythology, Orang Minyak is a night-time abductor who captures young women. It can climb walls and evade capture thanks to its slippery coating. The coating was initially described as hair oil, but later stories changed it to coconut oil or soot; genre films depict it with crude oil to reflect local industrial progress.