by Diane Taylor
But there was one man he cared strongly about, and that was Prince Parameswara. He cared about him because this was the one person who challenged him constantly, like a mosquito always on the attack. He wasn't exactly dangerous, but he was very annoying. The Raja was a tiny bit afraid that one day this Prince would rally enough supporters to steal his powerful position. He knew he had to watch him very carefully.
Now Parameswara was not terribly nice either. He thought nothing of playing sport with someone one day, and having them punished the next, if they did not allow him to win. He was extremely tired of being bullied by this Raja. In fact he would do anything to annoy the man because he enjoyed causing trouble. Knowing that the Raja was growing suspicious of him, he decided to throw him a real challenge. He asked his palace woodcarvers to make him a lion throne, and once it was completed, he sent a message to inform everyone that he was now the Lion King. This message was really meant for the Raja to tell him that Prince Parameswara was now more powerful than he.
Of course, the very idea made the Raja really wild. Immediately he sent troops of soldiers and ships to drive Prince Parameswara out of the country.
When Parameswara heard the news, he didn't feel quite so brave any more. Once he had been told that forces were coming over land, and by sea, to drive him away, he panicked. He realized that this time he had gone too far. Because he was a complete coward, he did not stop and confront the Raja. He just hurried to the nearest available boat with some of his men, and left the country as fast as he could.
They sailed for two days and two nights, until they reached an island by the name of Temasek. White sandy beaches, fringed with coconut palms, stretched back from the water's edge. The scent of frangipani wafted towards them on the breeze. Behind the trees, lush, green jungle covered the land. Monkeys swung freely amongst the tree-tops, and large colourful crabs scuttled undisturbed across the sand.
The only people to be seen were two fishermen, snoozing under a parasol on a boat nearby. This was truly paradise.
"I know the King of this island," Parameswara told the crew. "He was a close friend of my father's. I came here because I know he'll welcome us with open arms. He's known for his kindness and hospitality."
He was quite right. When the King heard of their arrival, he rushed out to meet them, and greeted him and his men like long lost friends. He took them to his palace, prepared a feast, and gave Prince Parameswara and his men palatial rooms to sleep in.
"Don't worry!" the King said, when he heard Prince Parameswara's story. "You can hide out here for as long as you like. The Raja will never dream of following you to this island. This is a peaceful place. The only people here are fisher-people who have inhabited the island for centuries. They are very calm and settled. You won't find any trouble here."
But Prince Parameswara had other plans. Remember, he wasn't such a nice person either. He had already caused trouble, threatened a ruler, and had to flee his own country. The seed of another wicked idea had already planted itself in his mind.
"Listen, men!" he whispered to them during the feast. "This is our perfect chance. If we kill the King, we can rule this country ourselves. The people of Temasek are quiet fisher-people. They won't stop us. Think how powerful we could be. We won't just stay here, we'll rule the place!"
So during the night, that kind King who had opened his doors to them, was killed in his bed while he slept. His family was loaded onto a boat with some provisions, and pushed out to sea. The next morning, Parameswara announced to the people of Temasek that he was their new King.
"I hereby change the island's name from Temasek to Singapura, or Lion City, after my carved and painted lion throne," he announced.
Sadly for the islanders, Parameswara was not a good King. He really knew nothing about how to run a country. He definitely did not know how to look after the people, protect them and make sure they were happy. After a while the once quiet fishing villages began to be attacked by pirates.
As Parameswara did nothing to stop the attacks, word soon spread to other islands, and Singapura was invaded by other people. The island became a very unsafe and difficult place to live.
As a result of this sad situation, many of the fisher-folk took their families and boats, and set sail for safer lands. They could not see any future in Singapura—and they decided to try to start new lives elsewhere. The island fell into ruin.
As attackers continued to try their luck against this Lion King, Parameswara again panicked. Because he was both a tyrant and a coward, he ran away for a second time, leaving the island to its fate.
He was never heard of again.
For almost 400 years the outside world forgot about Singapura, the Lion City. Once things settled down, the fisher-folk slowly moved back, bringing their families, and new friends they had made. Villages re-appeared, and grew. Peace once more reigned on the island of white sandy beaches, palm trees and lush jungle. The only thing that remained of Parameswara's time, was the name he gave to the island. For some reason it was still called Singapura, the Lion City.
Bigger ships from further away began to stop off at the island, on their way past. One day, a British man named Stamford Raffles landed, and decided that it would make a perfect port and trading post.
And the rest of the story, as anyone who lives in modern Singapore knows very well, is history!
Long ago in the Eastern Sea lived a dragon king and his daughter Mai Li. She was a clever girl, and her father looked hard to find her an equally clever husband. But Mai Li didn't like the men who came to visit. Some were too tall, others too short, too fat, too thin, too rich, too vain, too serious... and so the list grew.
"So, what kind of man do you want?" asked her father.
"I don't need money, and I don't like people who are full of their own importance. I'd be more interested in someone who was poor, but honest and brave," came Mai Li's reply.
One day the King heard of a poor young man who lived by the bend in the river, at the foot of the tall mountain. He was known for his honesty and bravery. The King decided to put him to a test to see if he would be right for his daughter.
While the King was thinking up the test, this brave young man, Wei Jing, had a dream. He dreamt that a beautiful girl waited for him at the bend in the river. The dream was so real that he woke up with a start, and told his twin brother, Wei Ling, about it. Now Wei Ling was a nasty piece of work, and was always very jealous of his brother.
Wei Ling was even jealous that his brother had had such a dream. What if dreams came true? Then his brother would have a gorgeous girlfriend and Wei Ling would have no-one. In his most sarcastic voice, he said: "Dreaming again, are you? You know that dreams mean nothing. Just go back to sleep and forget it. It's rubbish!"
Wei Jing lay down again, and drifted back to sleep, but Wei Ling got dressed and crept off. You can guess where he was heading.
Wei Jing had the same dream again. There was the girl waiting for him by the bend in the river. Again it seemed so real that it woke him up. Although it was still dark, he noticed his brother had already gone out. He put on his clothes and rushed down to the bend in the river, only to find Wei Ling already there.
Before he could call out to him, something amazing happened. Silver moonbeams streaked across the sky Glittering fireflies darted about, each one holding a shooting star. Standing on a rock in the middle of all this he saw Princess Mai Li, the girl from his dreams. Her gleaming black hair was so long that it trailed in the water like tendrils of seaweed.
Both brothers fell under her spell immediately. She also liked the look of both of them, because, being twins, they looked exactly alike.
"Which of you is honest and brave?" she called to them.
"I am!" they both replied at once.
"Then I'll have to give you a test. One of you must bring me a luminous pearl that shines in the night. The one who can manage that will be my husband. Right now, that pearl is in the keeping of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea."
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br /> She gave each brother a magic scythe and said: "This will carve a passageway through the sea for you. You'll just have to manage the rest yourselves."
Wei Ling, afraid that Wei Jing might get to the pearl before him, rushed off at once, but Wei Jing stayed behind to get to know Mai Li better. The more he talked to her, the more he liked her. Eventually, after a long chat, he said goodbye and started out on his quest for the pearl.
He headed back to his hut first, to get some things for the journey. When he got there, he found that his brother had already cleared it of everything, including their only horse and every scrap of food. Wei Jing had no choice but to walk. For several days he struggled along on foot, without food, stopping only to pick fruit and to drink from the river.
Meanwhile, Wei Ling had arrived at a riverside village that had been hit by a massive flood. People everywhere were panicking. He asked a villager what was happening.
"Our village and crops have been devastated. We are starving. The only way to save the village is to go to the Dragon King and borrow his Golden Dipper," the villager told him.
"Just for you I will go there right now and pick it up, if you lend me a boat," said the sneaky Wei Ling, for we all know he was going there anyway.
The villagers were terribly grateful to him, and lent him a small boat to help him on his journey. So Wei Ling headed off in the boat across the swollen river, towards the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea.
Wei Jing arrived soon after this, and stopped to help the villagers, despite being very tired and hungry. He heard them talking about a magical Golden Dipper that they said was the only thing that could save them.
"I'm heading that way myself," he told them, "I will try to fetch it for you."
The villagers were happy to find someone else so keen to help, and offered to lend him a boat too. However, he thought the people needed it more than he did.
"No, thank you," he said politely, "I am strong enough to swim," and he dived straight into the river.
Swimming fast, Wei Jing crossed the choppy water, and after a while, he arrived at the edge of the rough and stormy Eastern Sea. The winds howled, the rain poured down and the waves were frighteningly high. At the water's edge was a small figure—crouched down and very scared. It was Wei Ling. He had been there for some time, but was too afraid to go near the water.
Not stopping to think, Wei Jing hurled himself into the waves, waving the magic scythe from side to side. The water immediately moved back, clearing a space for them to walk through. Wei Ling followed meekly behind without a word.
The Dragon King's palace was a vast cave. Green seaweeds were draped across the doorways. The entrance was studded with shells of different designs. Pearls were embedded in the massive main door, made from a giant clam shell. At the gate of the Dragon Kings golden palace stood the King himself. Of course, the brothers had no idea that this was Mai Li's father.
"I am so very pleased to see you. I have been expecting you for some time. Please follow me to my treasure house," he smiled.
This turned out to be a small cave filled to bursting with riches. There were gems, jewels and glittering treasure chests. Some pieces were natural ones from the ocean bed. Others were beautiful objects salvaged from ships that had sunk in storms.
"You may look at everything, but can only take one item each,' warned the King.
Wei Ling looked around greedily. Seeing a basket full of pearls, he picked out the biggest one with the most dazzling light. Whichever way you turned it, it shone like a mirror. Once he had the pearl, his greedy eyes could not tear themselves away from the other jewels in the room. Sparkling sapphires and dazzling diamonds seemed to beckon to him. He tried to steal a handful, but the guard was watching, and hurried him out.
Wei Jing also spotted the luminous pearls, but nobly remembered his promise to the villagers. In the middle of all the gems was the Golden Dipper, so he chose that. By the time he came outside, his brother had already gone without waiting. The Dragon King felt sorry for him, and personally escorted him to the border of his underwater kingdom.
Of course, Wei Ling reached the flooded village first. A crowd of happy, eager faces rushed to greet him."Did you bring the Golden Dipper?" asked the hopeful villagers.
"The Dragon King was mean and refused to lend it to me," lied Wei Ling, and before they could ask him anything else, he mounted his horse and galloped off, leaving the villagers sad and disappointed.
Soon after, Wei Jing arrived. He immediately brought out the Golden Dipper and began to scoop water. At once the flood waters moved back, revealing a huge oyster sitting on the riverbed. Inside the oyster was a large black pearl.
"This village hasn't seen an oyster like that for a hundred years," cried the villagers. "It's an omen. Give him the pearl as his reward."
Wei Jing was delighted. Although this black pearl was not what the Princess had asked for, it was still beautiful, and he was grateful to the villagers. He thanked them for their kindness, and took off as fast as he could to find Princess Mai Li.
Just as his brother arrived at the Princess's side, he caught up with him, and they both presented their pearls to her together.
"Thank you," she said, "We'll keep them until nightfall. Then we can see how they shine, and we'll know if they're genuine."
The brothers waited impatiently for the sun to go down. They busied themselves fishing, and resting, until evening fell. Looking very confident, Wei Ling sat by Mai Li when she took out his gorgeous, luminous pearl. But mysteriously the glow had gone, and it was now dull and lifeless. He snatched it from her, shook it furiously, polished it with his sleeve and breathed on it hard. None of this made any difference.
Wei Jing's pearl, however, dazzled like a million stars. It was so bright that Wei Ling had to close his eyes against its brilliance. By the time he opened them again, he found himself sitting all alone. Mai Li and Wei Jing had disappeared from sight. They were soon to be married and, like all fairytale couples, lived happily ever after.
Long ago, when Singapore had just a few people living along its shores, a village or kampung grew in a shady spot, near to a large area of rainforest. The people who came to live here were Malays (from Malaya), and Javanese (from Indonesia). There were so many trees in the area, that even at midday the village remained quite dark. Because the village was shaded by the trees, many ghostly shadows formed, especially at sunset. The shadows were spooky, and frightened all but the most stubborn of children.
The newly arrived villagers were very superstitious, and felt sure that the forest was evil. Each family believed in something different—ancestral ghosts, wild animals, spirits that appeared in different forms and so on. There were lots of stories about people who vanished if they went into the forest. The village elder sternly warned the parents to tell their children not to play there.
"If you do, you will be munched by monsters," reminded one mother.
"Consumed by cruel creatures," muttered another.
"Stolen by spirits," came yet another.
Their warnings were very frightening, but mostly the children were far too afraid to venture into the forest anyway. Furthermore, they had plenty of other things to do. Early each morning they had their family chores to help with. The older ones had to fetch water from the village well, look after the younger children and feed the livestock. During the day when it was much too hot to run about, they would play congkak (a traditional board game with marbles) and chequers. But in the evening when the sun began to set, that's when the real fun began. All the kampung children would gather to play spinning tops, to chat, tease the village dogs, and to run wild.
Amongst the children were two mischievous boys named Din and Mahmud. They had been born within a day of each other, lived close to each other and had hardly spent a moment apart as they grew up. They weren't exactly naughty but they were often in trouble, for they were very inquisitive children. If they were told not to do something, you could be sure they would try it anyway, just to se
e what happened. Din had fallen out of more trees than you can count. Mahmud's speciality was collecting insects and leaving them around for his nervous mother to find. Both of them had several younger brothers and sisters, which meant that their parents had very little time to spend following Din and Mahmud around. Amazingly, up until this day, they had never, ever broken the rule about going into the forbidden forest.
That evening as the children of the village played one of their favourite games of hide-and-seek near the forest, Din and Mahmud made a plan to trick everyone.
"This game is way too easy now," said Mahmud. "Let's make it harder for everyone. Let's hide in the forbidden forest. We needn't go too far in—just a little way will be fine. We're not really breaking the rule then."
"Good idea! No-one will find us there!" exclaimed Din without hesitating. "They'll never dream we would dare go inside! We'll be able to jump out and scare them all!"
So they sneaked off down the muddy track that led into the trees. As they drew near to the forest, they began to shiver. It was much cooler in the shade, and the air felt almost chilly. The silence of the forest and the quivering of the leaves gave them a ghostly feeling.
"M-m-maybe we shouldn't have come here," mumbled Mahmud, nervously.
"It's only for a moment," laughed Din. "There's nothing scary here. Just trees, that's all."
The game of hide-and-seek ended at sunset, but the other village children could not find Din and Mahmud anywhere. They searched everywhere. They called, and shouted, and screamed their names, but the boys seemed to have completely vanished.
Their younger brothers and sisters began to cry, not used to their big brothers leaving them behind like this. By now it was getting quite dark. The children grew frightened and ran to tell their parents.