Jong Batu is a rock outcrop located in the

Brunei River The Brunei River ( ms, Sungai Brunei) 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 Brun ...

.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 ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

folklore, the legend of '' Nakhoda Manis'' (literally the "Captain Sweet" in

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

) 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: ايستان نور الإيمان; English: The Light of Faith Palace) is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, and the seat of the Brunei government. The palace is located on a lea ...

. 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. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The clo ...

of the

Brunei-Muara Brunei-Muara District ( ms, Daerah Brunei dan Muara; Jawi: برونائی-موارا ضلع) or simply Brunei-Muara is one of the four districts of Brunei. It has the smallest area among the four districts, with , yet is the most populous, wi ...

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 Kampong 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. It ha ...

. 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. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

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: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...

. 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 ( ta, பத்து மலை : Pathumalai) is a mogote (a type of karst landform) that has a series of caves and cave temples in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Malay word ''batu'', meaning 'rock'. The hill ...

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

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Padang Padang () is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. Th ...

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 sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

.Indonesia
Justine Vaisutis, Lonely Planet Publications, 2007,

References

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

Description

Legend

See also

References