Lessons and Fairy Tales

Legend of the Origin of the Establishment of Senua Island

Senua Island (Senoa) is the outermost island of Indonesia located in the South China Sea bordering the country of east Malaysia (North Kalimantan). Senua Island is an area of Natuna district, Riau Islands province.

Once upon a time in Natuna, there lived a husband and wife who were always afflicted by poverty.

Their lives have never improved since marriage. Because they want to change their fate, the couple decided to migrate to Bunguran Island which is famous for its sea wealth.

When he arrived at Bunguran Island, the husband named Baitusen worked as a fisherman as well as the natives of the island. A day Baitusen looked for shells and snails.

The wife named Mai Lamah worked to help her husband open the shells to be sold as raw materials for jewelry.

Baitusen and Mai Lamah are very comfortable living in Bunguran Island. In addition to its residents who uphold the value of brotherhood to others, their lives are also better than when settling in Natuna.

Baitusen worked with passion. The catchment area of snails and shells is getting farther and farther away.

Baitusen's passion to change his family's fate grew when Mai Lamah began to conceive. He did not want his son to suffer as he had with his wife.

Once upon a time, Baitusen found a sea cucumber that contained thousands of sea cucumbers. Neighbors advised Baitusen to dry the sea cucumber and sell it to traders coming from China.

The price of dried sea cucumbers in China is very expensive. That's why Chinese traders are willing to buy it at high prices

What Baitusen's neighbors say is not a figment. Baitusen made a lot of money from the sale of dried sea cucumbers. In an instant, Baitusen and Mai Lamah turned into rich people on Bunguran Island.

Since then, Baitusen has never again looked for snails and clams, he continues to hunt sea cucumbers every day.

The wealth obtained by her husband, apparently made Mai Lamah forget the land. Not only did her makeup change like a mistress, her temperament also changed. Mai Lamah is not the old Mai Lamah.

She turned into a very arrogant and miserly woman. His eyes seemed to be covered by the dazzling treasure. He not only rejected his neighbors who came to ask for his help, but also insulted them. Baitusen's insistence that Mai Lamah change his attitude is completely ignored.

The neighbors began to move away from Baitusen and Mai Lamah. They are reluctant to just greet the husband and wife. But Mai Lamah has not changed. He felt lucky that no one else came to his house to ask for help.

Days change, time goes by so fast. It was not time for Mai Lamah to give birth. Baitusen felt very confused as his wife cried out in pain. Baitusen immediately asked the neighbors for help. The heartache made no one on Bunguran Island want to help, even the child shaman refused to help Mai Lamah.

Baitusen could not bear to see Mai Lamah in pain. “As if we leave for the opposite island ,dik.”, he told Mai Lamah. “Abang heard there was a child shaman..”, he added again while memapah Mai Lamah.

Despite enduring the tremendous pain, Mai Lamah still remembered her possessions. “Don't forget to bring all our gold, bang.”, she told her husband. Baitusen according to his wife's words. He immediately took all their gold and returned Mai Lamah to the boat.

Baitusen started rowing his boat. The flow of water from the direction of the intended island makes the boat heavy to paddle. Not to mention the gold they brought made the boat even heavier. Although Baitusen had paddled with all his might, his boat only drove slowly.

The more into the middle of the sea, the waves that come are getting bigger. Baitusen is running out of energy. The seawater that entered the boat made Mai Lamah scream in fear. “Awas bang... we can sink..”, he cried in panic. Mai Lamah's fear soon became reality. The seawater that entered the boat was getting heavier and finally made the boat sink.

The bodies of Baitusen and Mai Lamah were washed away by waves of sea water and washed up on the beach of Bunguran Timur. Strong winds and rain came pouring down as the bodies of the couple arrived at the beach. Unexpectedly lightning struck Mai Lamah's two-bodied body many times and turned it into stone.

Over time, Mai Lamah's body incarnate stone grew larger and became an island. By the people around the island located at the tip of Tanjung Senubing, Bunguran Timur is called Senua which means one body with two bodies. Currently Bunguran Island is famous as a swallow nest island which is said to be the incarnation of jewelry worn by Mai Lamah.

The moral message from the Legend of Senua Island is to be arrogant and miserly. We need others in our lives. Therefore, good behavior in order to be accepted by the community.