The Legend of Red Hill

The Legend of Bukit Merah



There was once a king, who was the most handsome in the land. No one could be compared to him, he grew haughty and proud, always seeking praises. He could not bear it, if others got praised for clever antics or acts of bravery, and his jealousy would grow into hatred. In fact, he would actually kill those who drew attention away from him.


One day, a shoal of swordfish came to the shores of Singapore and began leaping up the beaches and attacking the people on the beaches. Fishermen were attack too. The swordfish were strong and large, they had long hard snouts and razor sharp teeth which they pierced right through the bodies of the people with violence. When the king heard this terrible news, he got up on his war elephant & took his army to the beach. He saw many bodies of his people strewn across the sandy white beaches now stained red with blood.


The king immediately ordered his men to kneel and form a line on the beach. That created a wall against the swordfish. But this didn't stop the fish from attacking. In fact, one of the swordfish leapt so high up in the air, his snout tore the sleeve of the king. Upon seeing so many of his men being killed by the ferocious fishes, the king ordered the men to retreat immediately and declared that everyone stayed away from the coastline. Meanwhile, he gathered all his advisors and tried to figure out a way to deal with the problem, as Singapore is dependent on its fishing and seas for trade. A boy asked for the audience of the king. He said, 'Your Highness, I may have a solution to the swordfish. Why don't we line the beaches with banana stems, so when the garfish attack them, they will become stuck and we can kill them at our own leisure?'


The king, having no other solution, executed the plan and ordered his men to cut banana stems and firmly plant them along the beach at low tide. Soon the tide came up and the shoals of swordfish approached. The king, his men and the little boy watched as the swordfish began jumping toward the line of banana stems and getting their snouts stuck in the thick stems. When the last swordfish got itself stuck, the men began to slay each and every one of the fishes, ending the menace.


A shout of joy rang out throughout the kingdom and the people began to praise the boy for his cleverness, calling him a genius and a blessing from the gods. The king's heart began fill with jealousy and rage. That night, the king ordered his lieutenants to kill the boy.
The boy lived with his mother on a small hill in the southern part of the island, but his mother could not sleep that night and left the boy asleep in their hut to take a walk. The lieutenants walked up the hill and pulling out their kris (wavy blade dagger), began to stab the boy. At first, the boy began to scream in pain and cry. His mattress then filled with blood. When the men stopped stabbing the boy, they noticed something was amiss. The blood did not stop flowing and became a fountain of blood. Scared, the lieutenants fled from the hut.


The fountain of blood oozed down the hill, covering it. The next morning, the people of Singapore gathered around the hill, wondering why it was red. After searching the hill, they found the boy's body and became sad, never knowing that it was their own king who plotted the boy's death. As the hill was reddish, the people began calling it Bukit Merah, or Red Hill.