Jong Batu is a rock outcrop located in the

Brunei River The Brunei River () is a river which flows through Brunei and empties into the Brunei Bay towards the north-east direction. The Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, stands on its banks. The Brunei River is the s ...

.The Tale of the Unfilial Son
Brunei Times 30 March 2007 – last retrieved 2 May 2008 It is shaped such that when viewed from the shores of the Brunei River, it resembles a sinking ship, with the bow sticking out of the water.
BruDirect 28 March 2007 – last retrieved 2 May 2008
– last retrieved 2 May 2008 In

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

folklore, the legend of '' Nakhoda Manis'' (literally the "Captain Sweet" in Malay) tells of how an unfilial son was turned to the rock outcropping known as Jong Batu.

Description

Jong Batu is located in the

to the east of the

Istana Nurul Iman The Istana Nurul Iman (Jawi script, Jawi: ايستان نور الإيمان; English language, English: The Light of Faith Palace) is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, and the seat of the Brunei government. Th ...

. Administratively, it is part of the Lumapas

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English language, English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay language, Malay from the Arabic word ...

of the Brunei-Muara district. The rock outcropping is about 20m long and 15m wide at its widest point and is uninhabited. A few shrubs dot the island. It takes approximately 15 minutes to travel to it by boat from

Kampong Ayer Kampung Ayer (') is a prominent traditional settlement in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. It comprises neighbourhoods of traditional houses, schools and mosques built on stilts above the Brunei River near the capital's city centre ...

. A light buoy was constructed near the rock outcropping to warn mariners about the island. The island is a popular spot for sightseeing, especially from the river cruises that operate on the Brunei River.

Legend

In some versions of the story as told in Brunei, ''Dang Ambon'' was a rich

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

and her son, ''Nakhoda Manis'', inherited wealth from his deceased father. In other versions, they were both poor. Nakhoda Manis wanted to be rich. They lived in

. Nakhoda Manis left

to seek his fortune in the city of

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilaya' sin Lupa' Sūg''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago. It was part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Autonomous R ...

. After many years, he achieved success and wealth there and married a pretty noblewoman and became owner of a huge ship. The version of the legend where they were rich had his mother sharing her wealth with poor people until one day she found herself poor like them. In any case, she longed for her son. Dang Ambon was overjoyed to hear that her son's ship was going to anchor in the

and Nakhoda Manis was also looking forward to reuniting with his mother. When he arrived at the Brunei River, Dang Ambon paddled a small boat out towards his larger vessel and shouted that she missed him. He was very happy upon hearing his mother's voice and looked forward to introducing her to his wife. However, before he could say anything to his wife, she was disgusted with the poor old woman and demanded her to be chased away. Nakhoda Manis was forced to turn his back on his mother and ordered his crew to push her small boat away. Other versions of the tale had them throwing her overboard. Dang Ambon was heartbroken and she cursed her son, whereupon a storm came and capsized the ship. After the storm, there was a huge rock in the river where Nakhoda Manis had anchored his vessel, which sank in the storm. The rock is known today as "''Jong Batu''" (stone jong).Legend from River
– last retrieved 2 May 2008 Similar stories about the ships of unfilial sons turning into stone are also told in Tutong which is a different part of Brunei, the

Batu Caves Batu Caves is a 325-m tall mogote with a series of limestone caves in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located about north of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The cave complex contains many Hindu temples, the most popular of which is a shri ...

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

in Malaysia, the Philippines and Padang,

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, Indonesia.Indonesia
Justine Vaisutis, Lonely Planet Publications, 2007,

References

{{reflist Islands of Brunei Uninhabited islands River islands of Asia

Description

Legend

See also

References