LIGHTHOUSE security guard Azman Tahir has seen enough to realise that manning such a structure in a lonely spot is not for the faint-hearted.

The 59-year-old relates accounts of voices of "invisible people" emanating from the nearby car park, a mysterious white monitor lizard and monstrous pythons crossing the hillside road.

He has, therefore, concluded that the lighthouse at Bukit Segenting in Minyak Beku, Batu Pahat, which he guards, is haunted.

"The elders of Minyak Beku have long told stories of white animals roaming Bukit Segenting. I never believed them until the night I saw a white monitor lizards during my night shift.

"I was making my rounds when I saw one inside the lighthouse compound, but it disappeared the moment I went to get a closer look."

Azman mans the lighthouse on a 12-hour shift before his colleague, Parnin Ishak, takes over for the subsequent 12 hours.

His duties include keeping an eye on the generator, keeping trespassers at bay and maintaining a security log.

As with many security guards, his night shifts are filled reading and watching television.

"The Japanese government, through its Malacca Straits Council, built the facility at a cost of 27 million yen (about RM981,500 at present rates) in 1978.

Its two large Xenon light bulbs use a cadmium sulphide (CdS) light-dependent resistor. The bulbs light up automatically when the light in the surrounding areas drops to less than 600CdS.

The two bulbs use up to 22,000 volts of power and have a lifespan of around 4,000 hours.

At Bukit Segenting, the light can be seen from as far as 23 nautical miles. During blackouts, the generator kicks in and the light range is reduced to 16 nautical miles.

The light flashes four times, with an interval every 30 seconds.

The inside of the lighthouse is narrow, with a spiral staircase and metal ladder leading up to the top room.

The narrow light room has two large light bulbs, the primary one and a secondary one that acts as a standby.

Another person whose life has been touched by the presence of a lighthouse is Jelius Akak, who believes that the secondary lighthouse at Kalampunian island, off Sabah, played a big role in keeping ships safe and pirates at bay.

"According to our elders, the area where the lighthouse is located is a dangerous place for boats because of the reefs and pirate attacks. Many boats get stranded there or are crashed.

"So I think that was why the government built the lighthouse," said Jelius, who lives at a nearby village.

However, Jelius cannot recall any outworldly tales about the lighthouse.

"They've renovated the place a bit now. It used to be rusty and very old looking. I've been there twice; it only takes about 10 minutes by boat from the beach here.

"The lighthouse looks small from here, but it's quite tall -- it stands four to five storeys high. There are a lot of sea snakes around there."

Jelius, who works as a caretaker of sorts at Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, does the odd bit of maintenance work, as well as sells ice cream to tourists.

The island, with crystal clear water and abundant marine life, is accessible by boat but visitors are usually content to view it from afar.

This structure is on the northernmost tip of Borneo, romantically named Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, which is derived from a Bajau word meaning "lingering junction", a meeting point between South China Sea and Sulu Sea.

The lighthouse stands on a tiny island, Pulau Kalampunian, and was built in 1925. Despite being considered as a secondary lighthouse, it is a reminder of the treacherous coastline that used to plague seafarers from afar.

History has it that the great sea adventurer, Ferdinand Magellan, had stopped at the crossroads of these two seas to repair his fleet of Spanish ships.

The lighthouse faces the Western shore of Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, 15 degrees to the east from this viewing point, also called as "Den Foh Liew", which means lighthouse in Hakka.

- New Straits Times