Linggiu, the site of an ancient Malay kingdom now taken over by Singapore?

Peace be upon you all. Previous articles in this blogspot related to my travels to the south in November 2009 have so far covered places in Pontian, Singapura and Kota Tinggi although the actually travelling also included places in Muar, Batu Pahat and Johor Bahru. Now, let us visit one more place in Kota Tinggi before we move on to the next Johor district, Kluang.

On the way to Kluang from the town of Kota Tinggi, one could take a right turn pass the small town of Bandar Tenggara and get into this dusty road...

Actually the road started quite normal and decent before one gets to the dusty parts apparently because of heavy vehicles used mostly for plantation works. The road heads to the east. To the north one could see the 3,300-feet high or so Gunung (Mount) Belumut situated in Kluang near the district borders of Kota Tinggi and Mersing.


Thank God, soon the dusty parts began to gave way to normal road again...



In fact the road a few kilometres later turned out to be rather smooth and of good quality...








Soon we could see the intended destination...

Welcome to the Linggiu Dam which if I'm not mistaken is situated on top of the site of an ancient Malay kingdom which have existed more than 1,000 years ago!

However entry is restricted. I understand the whole area is under Singaporean hands because it provides water for most of the island republic.

So I have no choice but to turn back and at least find a point where I can see the dam from afar...

There, a close-up picture from where I was standing. Can you see the waters of the dam?


OK. This Google Earth satellite picture should give an idea how big is the area covered by water. You see, a few years back there was a big hoo-haa when a local private researcher claimed to have found the site of an ancient Malay kingdom around here. He referred to verses from the old Malay text Sulalatus Salatin (also known in Malay as Sejarah Melayu, in English the Malay Annals) where it is said that a Hindi conqueror called Raja Suran (believed to be a certain Rajendara Chola who attacked Peninsular Malaysian 1000 years ago) once defeated a kingdom called Gelanggayu or something like that. The kingdom is said to lie somewhere inland of Kota Tinggi and the site in Linggiu fits the description. However for reasons not so clear, his findings was soon dismissed. Nevertheless, I do believe that the kingdom once existed and its main location is now submerged in the waters of the Linggiu dam.

For those who wonder why do I start this article using the Malay word Singapura while at the end I used the Anglicised Singapore? Well, as I've mentioned in some articles before, I've always preferred to used the word Singapura. But here, in the context of a selfish republic controlling land in another sovereign country, the word Singapore is more apt bearing in mind that it is the creation of the English colonialists who turned a once Malay-controlled Singapura into a main centre to destroy Islam and undermine the original Malay population of the whole Malay Archipelago. There, I've said my mind. Enough...

My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates...

Feast your eyes guys. My 5th book is already out! There you go, 444 pages with more than 150,000 words on matters pertaining to the Ahlul Bait, family of Prophet Muhammad SAW and the Malay Sultanates. It is practically and encyclopaedia on its own!

OK. The original Malay version might have been authored by someone else and I was just the translator. But hey... such great books like the Mathnawi is better known due to its translator R.A. Nicholson and so is the case for Conference of the Birds by Edward Fitzgerald when the actual Middle-Eastern texts were written by Fariduddin Attar and Jalaluddin Rumi respectively centuries ago. It is the translation that managed to garner such a large worldwide audience when the original local language version could only be appreciated by a certain limited segment.

Anyway, I've worked my heart out for six months to get the translation done for this version. So it is not out of place to say this is my 5th book after having produced the Malay trilogy of novels "Berpetualang ke Aceh" followed by the coffee-table book "Rumah Azan". Below is the synopis as laid out on the back-leaf. Get it at the nearest bookstores soon! :]

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The Ahlul Bait of Rasulullah SAW are descendants of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Propagated through the marriage of his daughter Saiyiditina Fatimah RA to his cousin Saiyidina Ali Karamalluwajha, the bloodline flourished and continue to be instrumental in the well-being of the Muslims until today 1,400 years after the prophet’s death, carrying his role of supporting, protecting and defending the sanctity of the religion of Islam.

The Malay Sultanates are among the few monarchies in the world still existing until today having hereditary roots which started no less than 600 years ago with the advent of the glorious kingdom of Melaka whose port is said to rival Venice in Europe, the biggest and most progressive Western city of that time.

While most rulers institution have crumbled down due to modernisation which has created republics and such, a number of Malay Sultanates still continue to function as the symbol of strength for its people despite its authority having largely been clipped due to the concept of constitutional monarchy along with parliamentary democrary introduced by the British during its colonial days.

What is more striking is the fact that there are 9 Malay Sultanates still functioning with full royal regalia in Peninsular Malaysia. Its land-mass is just 600 square kilometres bigger than the size of England but yet it has 9 kings compared to the latter’s one queen making it the highest concentration of monarchies in one area compared to anywhere else in the world!

In a world where Western-invented democrary rules with its leaders the politicians chosen by the masses, the existence of heriditary rulers is like an oxymoron. In fact with 9 kings still existing in such a small area, it is actually a big slap to certain parties who are bent on dominating the world as destroying all hereditary rule is a big step in their plans as detailed in Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

While these parties were very instrumental in destroying all other monarchies, it still fails to dislodge the kings in Malaysia. Why? Is it because of their special relationship with the Ahlul Bait?

The book “Ahlul Bait and the Malay Sultanates” tries to answer these questions as it follows the importance of the Ahlul Bait of Rasulullah SAW as inheritors of the Prophetic family (Prophet Adam AS down to Noah AS on to Abraham AS, Ishmael and so on) and how political intrigues and circumstances in the Middle East have made a number of them migrated east to the Malay world.

It this from here that a strong meaningful relationship was cemented with the rulers, the continued existence of the Ahlul Bait and the Malay Sultanates implying a huge responsibility they will shoulder towards the end of times.

The immensely wide Johor river - Views from Teluk Sengat...

Continued from The immensely wide Johor river - views from the jetty at Johor Lama...

Some 3 km closer to the estuary of the Johor river lies the small sleepy town of Teluk Sengat...

Its position besides the river offers similar views to what has been shown before in previous articles...

So let me just show one more picture only, one that did now show as much water. From here you could get a rather good view of the bridge in progress with the naked eye, without the need to zoom in by camera. That's all! :]

The immensely wide Johor river - Views from the jetty at Johor Lama...

Continued from The immensely wide Johor river - Views from Kampung Johor Lama... ...

Further inland some 1km lies this jetty...

Even from the sides one could see it offers a superb view of the Johor river...

A look to the north shows the river still stays wide. But watch closely and you'd notice a part where it starts to taper. For the record after 20 km inland the Johor river closes down to about 1 km wide. Go inland just 4 km further and you'll find the river tapering down to just a meagre 80 metres in breadth. And it stays more or less that way as it curves in and out to the north towards the town of Kota Tinggi, some 30 km by road from Johor Lama...

Let's have a better look from the jetty...

You see, even from the furthest end, it is still quite a distance to the other side...

A look towards the estuary...

One towards the nearest riverside...

Time to head back to land...

The river's sandy banks make it ideal to stroll around in the water I guess. For the record this is the 434th article in this blogspot :]

The immensely wide Johor river - Views from Kampung Johor Lama...

From Tanjung Pengelih we moved on to Kampung (village of) Johor Lama...

The village stood on what was once a seat of the Johor-Riau Empire which was started 500 years ago.

It overlooks the immensely wide Johor river. Johor Lama is about about 14 km away from the Johor river mouth but the river still stays wide here with an average breadth of about 2.5 km!

A check with Google Earth shows the river is about 4 km wide at its mouth. It is still nearly 2 km wide 20 km inland making it the widest river in Peninsular Malaysia!

Here's a view towards the river mouth...

A close-up picture shows a bridge being built across. It is part of new highway which currently reaches up to Pasir Gudang, the port town east of the city Johor Baru. Once the bridge is completed it should cut the distance from Johor Bahru to the beach resort of Desaru by 30 km or more. As it is part of a highway much smoother than the normal trunk road, driving time could in turn be cut an hour, maybe even more!

Tanjung Pengelih, entry-point to the Riau islands

From Sungai Rengit we drove some 16 km to the west to get to a cape called Tanjung Pengelih. From here there is no mistaking the land across as the island of Singapura. The skyscrapers in the distance could not belong to any other except its city-centre skyline...

Here there exist a main navy camp. Then again it is out of bounds to us civilians...

Next place to go is the jetty of Tanjung Pengelih...

It is for boats or ferries plying the route to the Indonesian island of Batam, known to be a sort of weekend hideaway for some...

Across the jetty one could see the island of Pulau Tekong belonging to Singapura...

I understand works have been going for years to reclaim land around Pulau Tekong and make it closer to the Singapura main island, a process that has somehow constricted flow of waters of the Straits of Tebrau which divides Singapura from Johor.

From Tanjung Pengelih it is only 20 km down straight south to the island of Batam. For the record, Batam is part of the group of islands called the Riau islands which is very famous in old Malay history for being the centre of seat for the Bugis dynasty comprising descendants of the famous 5 Bugis princes, Daeng Parani, Daeng Merewah, Daeng Menambon. Daeng Kemasi and Daeng Chelak. The islands included Bintan (also known as the island of Bentan) and are part of Indonesia. Thus while the cape is some distance by road from the main Johor city of Johor Bahru, its small distance from Indonesia makes it an ideal entry or embarkation point.

Sungai Rengit of Kota Tinggi, the southern-most point of east Johor

From Desaru we head south past Teluk Ramunia and on to Sungai Rengit...

Like at Desaru you can have a good view of the South China Sea. But here it is much closer to the island-nation of Singapura... not the island in the picture though...

Here's one directly to the south with a view of the ships anchored off Singapura. When I took this picture I thought it was Singapura in the background but a check with Google Earth shows that it is either the island of Batam or Bintan in Indonesia.

A look to the west...

And on we go to the small town of Sungai Rengit.

This one nearly got me spooked...

Anyway did I tell you that Sungai Rengit is the southern-most point of east Johor? Well, I've been told that by some people but a check using Google Earth shows a cape 3 km to the south-west as the actual southern-most point. That again you could say it is still part of Sungai Rengit. So I guess the claim still holds...

Desaru from one of its best resort

After Singapura we went to the Johor district of Kota Tinggi to spend the night at one of the best hotel resort in the beach of Desaru...


While the facilities here are superb we don't have much time to enjoy it as there were still other places to go...

So apart from the little sleep we got, breakfast and lunch we only have time for a quick look about...

Oh, we stayed at one of the rooms at the top floor up there...

Here's a view of the beach...

Desaru offers miles and miles of white sand. The last time I was here was when I made a solo biking trip across Peninsular Malaysia at the end of 1997...

I can't remember if I took a dip then. If not, then the last time I've ever immersed myself in these waters was probably sometime in the 1980s. So there... if not because of the time constriction, I would definitely take a dip even though the waves were pretty strong.

What could I say? Thank God at least the view was worth the while...