Singapore Children's Favorite Stories Read online

  SINGAPORE

  CHILDREN'S

  FAVOURITE

  STORIES

  TEXT BY

  DI TAYLOR

  ILLUSTRATIONS BY

  L K TAY-AUDOUARD

  PERIPLUS

  For my parents, who first introduced me to the charms of Singapore when I was six months old. —Di Taylor For Father, with whom all things are possible. And for the child in all of us. —L.K. Tay-Audouard

  Published by Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd.

  www.periplus.com

  Text © 2003 Diane Kay Taylor Illustrations © 2003 Lak-Khee Tay-Audouard All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-1-4629-0849-3 (ebook)

  First printing 2003

  Distributed by:

  Asia Pacific: Berkeley Books Pte Ltd,

  61 Tai Seng Avenue, #02-12, Singapore 534167.

  tel: (65) 6280 3320; fax: (65) 6280 6290

  email: [email protected]

  www.periplus.com

  Indonesia: PT Java Books Indonesia

  Kawasan Industri Pulogadung JI.

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  tel: (62) 21 4682-1088; fax: (62) 20 461-0206

  email: [email protected]

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  Tuttle Publishing, 364 Innovation Drive,

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  Printed in Singapore

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  HOW • THE • ISLAND • OF SINGAPORE • CAME • ABOUT 7

  THE • LAST • TIGER 16

  THE • RAJA'S • MISTAKE 24

  QUEEN • OF • THE • FOREST 34

  PRINCE • PARAMESWARA • AND • THENAMING • OF • SINGAPORE 42

  THE • LUMINOUS • PEARL 48

  VANISHED! 58

  RAMANUJAN • AND • THE • MIXED-UP • WASHING 64

  THE • PIRATES • OF • RIAU 74

  THE • TWO • WIDOWS 82

  THE • MAGICAL • PRINCESS 88

  There once lived a terrible, cruel King called Hai Loong Wang. He ruled his kingdom by bullying, and his people were all terrified of him. His kingdom was made up of volcanic cones buried deep under the ocean, so deep that no human dreamt such a place could exist. Shilepo was the name of the largest of these cones.

  The people of Shilepo were mermaids and mermen, who lived happily together in their underwater paradise. The flowers in their gardens were colourful corals whose fronds and tentacles twisted and floated in the warm water currents in their search for food. Their trees were the mighty seaweeds that grew hundreds of feet up from the sea-bed. It was said that the tops of these magnificent trees were gathered and used as food by strange, two-legged land creatures.

  As for the mer-people, they planted sea cucumbers, anemones and other rock treasures for their food. Their pets were sea horses, urchins and turtles. Their playground was the ocean bed itself.

  Now Hai Loong Wang had many rules. The main rule was posted on signs all around the kingdom.

  Actually, none of the mer-people wanted to leave their magical home. Most of them never even dared to dream about a different life above the sea.

  All except one mermaid, that is. Her name was Sea Plum, and she was the brightest mermaid in all Shilepo. Her cleverness often got her into trouble, as she was inquisitive, bold and sharp-witted. She was always restless, and wanted to have real adventures.

  Bored with playing hide-and-seek with her friends, she frequently dreamt about a life outside. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that there must be other places to go. To Sea Plum, the invisible boundaries felt like prison bars.

  One day, while she was playing with her big sister Sea Pearl, she decided to run away. Because she was scared, Sea Plum decided to confide in Sea Pearl.

  "You know we're told that we can't swim far up the river or sea monsters will eat us, and that will be the end of us?" asked Sea Plum.

  "Yes, we all know that," replied Sea Pearl.

  "Well, I don't believe that anymore," retorted Sea Plum. "I've seen the King coming back from up-river many times. Sometimes he brings treasures. Last week, I saw him towing a whole ship back, and once he carried a creature with no tail but two legs. He collects gems, gold, jewellery and other precious things from the ships that sail above us. I'm sure of it."

  "Questioning the King's rules will only bring us trouble," replied Sea Pearl, as she nervously looked around to see if anyone else was listening. "Anyway, what's so awful about staying here?"

  "Oh don't be so boring," scorned Sea Plum. "Come with me. We'll swim up-river while we have the chance. We could go right now and be back in time for lunch."

  "We can't go against his orders," said Sea Pearl meekly, "even if the King is lying and we find a all kinds of things, we would be in serious trouble with everyone else."

  "I don't care," declared Sea Plum. "I'm going with or without you. I just need to know one way or another what lies outside our kingdom."

  With that Sea Plum swam defiantly up-current, leaving Sea Pearl perched on a rock, being a sensible big sister, and wondering what she should do next.

  Sea Pearl waited for what seemed like hours, getting more and more worried about Sea Plum's safety. Had she been eaten by sea monsters?

  Would she be kidnapped by passing ships? Had she been swallowed up by a storm? She dared not go home, because of course everyone would ask where Sea Plum was. She began plucking uneasily at her scales, counting them to pass the time as she waited.

  Suddenly she saw Sea Plum, swimming towards her, glowing with happiness. She grabbed her sister by the hand and breathlessly told her what she had seen.

  "I did it! I really did it, Sea Pearl! I went right to the top of the ocean, and I found myself in another world. There are no sea monsters or anything to stop us—the King has lied to us all this time so he can keep his secrets. What a greedy man! Come ON, Sea Pearl. Come and see things that will make your eyes wobble."

  She stopped to pause for breath, her green eyes shining brightly amidst the tangle of her flowing mermaid hair. In the midst of the tangles, Sea Pearl spotted something shimmering and glinting.

  "What's that?" she asked. "You've got something stuck in your hair."

  "It's a gift, a present. Look!" chattered Sea Plum. From beneath the tangles she pulled out a beautiful hair comb, studded with glittering gems. "The creatures on the ships threw all kinds of things to me, that's why I came to get you. Come ON! Have some fun for a change."

  By the next day, Sea Plum had managed to persuade Sea Pearl to join her on her next adventure. Together the two mermaids swam away from their home. Sea Plum led the way, gliding confidently through the water in full command. Sea Pearl, still unsure, followed more slowly, stopping every now and then to glance behind nervously.

  They soon reached the top of the ocean, where a rainbow arced across the clear blue sky. Large sea birds flew close to them, and the girls rolled, splashed and dived happily into the waves. Sea Pearl soon forgot her worries. In the distance they saw ships of all kinds, and as one of the ships grew closer, they could see strange two
-legged creatures aboard.

  "Come on, let's swim really close," called Sea Plum over the crests of the waves. "I did it before—they threw presents to me last time!" she giggled.

  But Sea Pearl was still nervous and shook her head. As her sister swam off, Sea Pearl wondered what to do. Should she turn back? Or should she follow her younger sister? She had a strange feeling that something dreadful would happen at any moment.

  She struck out through the waves after her sister, sure now that they must get home as soon as possible. As she drew near to the ship she heard the strange creatures calling out, and yes! ... even throwing things into the water for them to catch. Sea Plum was laughing and splashing her tail as she dived for the treasures like a performing dolphin.

  "Sea Plum! Stop! We've got to go..." Sea Pearl began. But as she called out to her sister she sensed danger. The weather had suddenly changed. The waves grew higher and rougher, the wind blew and the air filled with the cracking of thunder. Flashes of lightning ripped the sky apart. The ship began to toss around like a cork in a bath-tub.

  "What is it?" cried Sea Plum. She, too, was frightened now.

  "I think it's the King. Can you feel the water sucking everything down? I think he's come for that ship, and if we don't move fast he'll catch us up here. Swim for your life, Sea Plum. SWIM!"

  The two girls disappeared back under the waves, and tried as hard as they could to swim back to the sea-bed, but try as they might, they found they couldn't. Something was holding them back. All of a sudden, out of the churning water ahead of them appeared a menacing figure. It was the King!

  "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" he bellowed. "How dare you disobey the orders of the kingdom. You know what the punishment is, don't you?"

  The two mermaids stared at him, trembling from head to tail, praying that he would be kind and let them go home.

  But he didn't.

  "From this moment on you will be turned into mud-skippers," he roared. "For ten thousand years you and your people will only be able to crawl on your bellies, and slither helplessly in and out of the water's edge. Perhaps then you will learn to obey the orders of your King." The King waved his golden staff through the waters around them and...

  BOOM!...

  The whole underwater cone of Shilepo shook and trembled and began to rise up through the water. The sea swirled angrily around it, foaming and crashing onto its edges, and as the cone rose the two mermaids felt themselves shrinking smaller and smaller.

  Suddenly everything fell silent. The top half of the cone was by now an island basking in the heat of the tropical sun, its shores awash by a calm sea. The King was nowhere to be seen. Sea Plum and Sea Pearl looked around them in bewilderment.

  They were lying on the ground. All around them were slimy, wriggling creatures, sliding into the sea on their bellies, and trying to climb out again. The mermaids realized that not only they, but all the other mer-people of the kingdom, had been outcast by the king and transformed into mud-skippers. They were terribly ashamed, but it was too late to be sorry now. Their recklessness had brought disaster not only on themselves, but on the whole mer-community.

  However, all was not lost. The mud-skippers eventually learnt to live in their new home and soon Shilepo became a thriving island. Fisher-people moved there. Traders. Merchants. People came from all over to settle on this beautiful island, but no-one suspected the true story of how it had come about.

  So, next time you see a mud-skipper, be kind to it. Remind yourself that you might be looking at Sea Pearl or Sea Plum, the adventurous mermaids, who along with their families and friends are still waiting to return to their own beautiful kingdom beneath the waves.

  Long ago, on the island of Singapore, there were huge tracts of jungle, ancient trees and lots of wild animals. Tigers roamed the land quite freely. In those days, people hunted and killed the tigers, and soon there were none left.

  At this time, gambier trees were grown in huge forests called plantations. One of the largest gambier plantations was by a village named Choa Chu Kang, in the north of Singapore. Hundreds of workers came to the plantations, to work planting new trees, or chopping down the old ones to be sold. Some collected gambier leaves to make dye. Sometimes the workers laboured in pairs or groups, but often they worked alone.

  It was a very lonely job. In the evenings, the workers swapped stories. One evening, as they sat round chatting, one worker mentioned, "I heard there is a tiger around. It stole a goat from Choa Chu Kang village yesterday."

  "Don't be silly—there can't be," said another, "there are no tigers left in Singapore. I heard from the villagers that a man named Peng Hoe has helped to track down and kill them all."

  "Still, if it is true," said the first, "we'll have to be careful. An old and hungry tiger will be desperate enough to eat anything. We've got nothing to defend ourselves with."

  Each plantation had a head man, or kangchu, and this one was named Wang. He was a busy and rather impatient man, full of self-importance. On this particular day he was also very worried, because he had heard some bad news. Two of his workers had been killed and eaten by a wild and hungry tiger during the week. It seemed that the tiger had stealthily crept up on each of them while they were working, pounced, and made a meal of them before they could even shout for help. The only thing the tiger left behind was their rather chewy leather hats.

  Wang was not only worried for his workers, he was also worried for his own safety, and had no intention of having his life threatened by a tiger. He called a meeting of all the plantation workers.

  "I'm sure you have heard that we have lost two men this week to a roaming tiger. No-one has seen him and lived to tell the tale, but his hungry roar has been heard many times. There will be a $ 10 reward for the person who can kill this animal, before he takes any more of our men."

  One plantation worker raised his hand: "Sir, we all want to catch him for we're afraid out there in the plantation alone, but we have no weapons apart from our parangs. Can you supply us with guns?"

  Now the only gun for miles around belonged to Wang himself, and he was too afraid to even think about trying to shoot the tiger himself, so he kept this information quiet. He would rather risk his men than put his own life in danger.

  "There are no guns here," he lied. "Anyway, are you such cowards that you can't face an old tiger with a parang You are young. You are well fed. You are fit. This tiger is old. The reward will now be $20 for the man who gets rid of this tiger!"

  And with that, he left the meeting.

  The next day, two workers came to his office, heads bowed, gripping their hats in their shaking hands. "Master Wang, the tiger has struck again," one of them said, nervously. "This time we saw it happen. It was terrible. He leapt out from behind a tree and seized worker Li. Before any of us could get near, it had already dragged him into the trees. It all happened very fast and we can't find any sign of poor Li. There's just nothing left of him."

  Wang was afraid. "Next time you see that tiger, don't just stand there—kill it!"

  The two workers left his office, by now very angry with Wang.

  "It's all very well for him to give us orders, but his servant told me that he owns the only gun in the village. He should stalk and shoot the tiger himself!"

  "He's a coward," replied his friend. "He would rather we risked our own lives."

  That evening, after work, the two men called some of the plantation workers together to form a plan.

  "Men, this is a dangerous time for us. We must find that tiger and kill it before it gets any more of us," said one.

  "But everyone knows that tigers are faster and stronger than humans," called out another worker. "They run fast, they climb trees, they can even swim—we don't stand a chance. We only have our small parangs. They are no match against a tiger's teeth and claws."

  A young man stepped forward. He was from the local village of Choa Chu Kang.

  "I can help you," he said. "My name is Peng Hoe, and I have helped the villagers of C
hoa Chu Kang hunt down the other tigers. I heard that Master Wang owns a gun. If this is true, I will ask if I can borrow it and I will track down the tiger myself."

  The men were so relieved at his offer of help that immediately they took Peng Hoe to meet Master Wang.

  "You're right," replied Wang, when asked, "I do own a gun and I am happy to lend it to you. I will give you bullets and $20 if you kill the tiger."

  With that he placed a large rifle into Peng Hoe's hands and wished him the very best of luck.

  Peng Hoe went back to the waiting workers and showed them the gun.

  "I can do this alone," he said, "Or you can help me. If I do it alone, it may take some time. If I have 20 men to help me track down the tiger we can finish the job tonight. Once we know where it is, I will kill it with a single shot. We must not lose any more men to this animal. If I am killed, take the gun back to Wang. At least we will have tried."

  The crowd clapped and cheered Peng Hoe, and many volunteered to help him. He selected twenty men and asked them to assemble at dusk.

  That night, dressed in dark clothing, each of these men carrying an empty tin can and a stick, arrived at the agreed starting point for the tiger hunt. They followed their instructions faithfully They fanned out, making a long line through the plantation, shouting and banging the tin cans with their sticks as loudly as they could to scare the tiger out of its hiding place.

  Under the cover of the trees, the nervous men moved slowly forwards. It was hard to see in the dim light, and the shadows played tricks on them many times. Then suddenly there came a terrific roar as a huge tiger leapt out right in front of them. Confused and angered by the noise, and faced with so many humans, it was unsure on which one to pounce.

  Peng Hoe's plan was working! Although terrified, the men carried on banging their tin cans as they closed ranks around the tiger.