Malin Kundang  

Posted by Marvin in

Malin Kundang (also called Si Tanggang and Nakhoda Manis) is a Southeast Asian folktale about retribution on an ungrateful son. A sailor from a poor family, the protagonist voyages to seek his fortune, becoming rich and marrying a princess. On his return to his home village, he is ashamed of his humble origins and refuses to recognise his elderly mother. She curses him, and when he sets sail, he and his ship are turned to stone.

In Indonesia, the story is called Malin Kundang, and the legend is based in West Sumatra. Air Manis, a beach near Padang, has a rock formation called Batu Malin Kundang that is said to be the remains of his ship. In Malaysia, the story is Si Tanggang (or Tenggang), the disloyal child, the story being associated with the Batu Caves, some chambers of which are said to resemble a ship's cabins. In Brunei, the story is Nakhoda Manis, and associated with a prow-like rock, Jong Batu, in the Brunei River.

As a parable on family responsibility, the story is popular in Southeast Asia as a theme for animations, film, drama and literature. For instance, the 1979 autobiographical The Travel Journals of Si Tenggang II, one of the major poetical collections of the Malaysian Laureate Muhammad Haji Salleh, uses the story as a metaphor for the general experience of moving away from one's cultural roots.

This entry was posted on Minggu, 23 November 2008 at 18.49 and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

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