Once upon a time, in a secluded island in Riau Islands, there lived a poor couple, the husband, Baitusen and his wife Mai Lamah. One day, they decided to go to another island to earn a living. They chose Bunguran island as it is well-known for its sea richness, especially clams and snails.
They started off as common fishermen, just like the native inhabitants of Bunguran island. Every day, Baitusen went off the shore to look for snails, clams, and other kinds of sea shells. While Mai Lamah cleaned and made the shells to become accessories.
Baitusen and his wife were contented to stay in Bunguran island because the people there showed them much kindness and friendship. They lived in a house next to Mak Semah, the village's midwife, who was also very poor but kind-hearted. She often said, "If you ever got sick, just call for me! I will surely come over to help you." Mai Lamah was pleased to hear this.The other neighbors were very kind to them too. In a few short months, Baitusen and Mai Lamah already felt as part of the community.
Time passed by. Baitusen went off to the sea more and more often to search for snails and shells. He started before the sun rose and came back after the sun set. He went off further and further to the shore of East Bunguran. On one fine day, Baitusen found a nest of sea creatures, where he saw thousands of sea cucumbers there. Since then, he never had to search for snails and shells anymore. He took the sea cucumbers and sold them overseas. Dried sea cucumbers sold very well in Singapore and China. He could get a lot of money selling these sea cucumbers.
His luck really changed his life. Baitusen and his wife became a rich fishermen couple. From then on, Baitusen was famous as sea cucumber merchant. Many other traders from far away land visited Bunguran Island to buy the sea cucumbers. Within less than two years, the East Bunguran Shore had become very busy and crowded. Baitusen's wife was by now famously called May Lam. This title made her very proud and she forgot that she was once a poor housewife of a fisherman.
Her daily appearance changed drastically. She now donned red lips, powder and perfume. Her attitude changed as well. She tried to stay away from her neighbors because she thought they smelled fishy. She became very arrogant and stingy. One afternoon, Mak Semah came to her house to borrow some rice. But alas, instead of a bag of rice, Mak Semah received a scornful remark from May Lam.
"Hey, poor woman. You always come here to borrow rice! How can you repay me?" the arrogant May Lam jeered.
Hearing the insult, Mak Semah just kept her head down. May Lam's husband tried to persuade her, "My dear wife, please listen to her plea. She is our kind neighbor and she has helped us a lot in the past."
"I don't care about the past. Past is past. Now is now," May Lam rudely retorted.
And that's how May Lam reacted to all the poor villagers who came to her house asking for help. Because of that, all her neighbors stayed away from her.
There came the time when May Lam needed help. She was expecting her baby and would be giving birth soon. The midwife from across the island had not arrived yet. Baitusen tried to get help from Mak Semah and their neighbors. But they did not want to help because they felt disappointed with her attitude.
Baitusen could not bear to see his wife in pain so he quickly brought his wife on a boat to go to the other island.
"Don't forget to bring our boxes of silver and gold, my husband. Bring them all onto the boat!" the greedy Mai Lamah yelled while writhing in pain.
Baitusen did as his wife told him. After that, they sailed across the sea. The rich merchant laborously attempted to paddle the boat. The further away they went, the rougher the sea became. More and more sea water got into their boat until finally the boat capsized and drowned with all the boxes of silver and gold.
Baitusen and his wife tried to save themselves by swimming ashore towards the eastern Bunguran. Mai Lamah was often dragged down under the surface as she was heavy with her pregnancy and all the gold jewelry that she adorned. Luckily, she managed to hold on to her husband's belt so they were able to get onto the shore. Unfortunately, Bunguran Land no longer wanted to accept Mai Lamah. Suddenly, there was storm and heavy rain coming down from the sky. Lightning stroke here and there accompanied with the sound of roaring thunder. Mai Lamah's body unexpectedly turned into a huge stone. And as time passed, the huge stone became an island.
People call it Senoa, which means one shape two bodies. While the gold and silver covering her body turned into swallow birds. Until now, Senoa island is famous as the breeding place for these swallows.
That's the legend of Senoa Island from Natuna, province of Riau islands. The moral of the story is that being arrogant and stingy are not a good way of socializing. It will bring hardship upon ourselves.
Let me close my story telling with a traditional poem:
A wonderful gift from the God
Beautiful Riau islands as we can see
Being arrogant and stingy we should not
Kind and friendly that's the way to be
We should not forget to be thankful
To God with all his grace
Remember to always be grateful
For everything that we have
That's the end of my story telling. I hope all of you enjoyed the story and can learn good things from it. Thank you very much for your attention.
Have a great day!
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