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This blogspot is a medium to share my thoughts and adventures apart from promoting my books. Below are the books which have been written or authored and published by myself.


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti".

ISBN 983-42031-0-1, Jun 2006


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Membela Syiar yang Asal"

ISBN 983-42031-1-x, May 2007


"Berpetualang ke Aceh: Sirih Pulang ke Gagang?"

ISBN 978-983-42031-2-2, November 2007


It is interesting to note that while these books were written in Malay it has gained enough attention to merit being part of the collections of the American Library of Congress and National Library of Australia. Look here and here.


While the first three books were published by my own company, the fourth titled "Rumah Azan" was published in April 2009 by a company called Karnadya with the help of the Malaysian national literary body Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It features beautiful pictures along with stories behind selected mosques which could be related to the history of Islam and the Malays alongside the formation of the Malaysian nation. Look at the article A collaboration of old collegemates - the book "Rumah Azan".


My fifth book "Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and Malay Sultanates", an English translation and adaptation of the Malay book "Ahlul Bait (Keluarga) Rasulullah SAW dan Kesultanan Melayu" authored by Hj Muzaffar Mohamad and Tun Suzana Othman was published early 2010. Look here... My 5th book is out! Ahlul Bait (Family) of Rasulullah SAW and the Malay Sultanates... . For more information check out my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU.



Like my fourth book "Rumah Azan", the sixth book "Kereta Api Menuju Destinasi" is also a coffee-table book which is published by the company Karnadya with the cooperation of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the main Malay literary body in Malaysia). Coming out January 2011 it features pictures and stories on the adventure travelling by train to all of Peninsular Malaysia along with the interesting places which could be reached this way.


My seventh book "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" in turn is a coffee-table book which is written, editted, designed and has pictures taken by me. Coming out of the factory October 2011, this book which combines family history with history of places such as Singapura, Johor, Batu Pahat, Muar and in fact the history of the island of Java and England has been reviewed with me interviewed live in the program Selamat Pagi Malaysia at RTM1. Look at the article Siaran langsung ulasan buku "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah" dan temu ramah di Selamat Pagi Malaysia. Some selected contents have been featured in Sneak peek "Jejak keluarga Yakin : Satu sketsa sejarah".


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The "Berpetualang ke Aceh" series of novels could be obtained in e-book form. Enter http://www.e-sentral.com/, click general novel and go to page 4. You can also type the word "Aceh" at the search box. Or click straight Book 1, Book 2 and Book 3.


Friday, May 14, 2010

Latest visit to the tomb of Keramat (saintly figure of) Sungai Durian

In the article Looking for the tombs of Sultan Shahabuddin and Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain... I've mentioned how hard it is to get to the tombs of the said Sultans. Travel after that was practically a breeze. From Kampung Bandar I just have to get back to Kampung Gajah and then head to Teluk Intan to visit a certain tomb which I've visited many many times.

Next, it's time to visit tomb of the last Sultan of Perak in the list. As it lies just next to town I managed to reach it in no time. But I still have to visit one more tomb before calling it a day and it lies 17 km from Teluk Intan. Its position inside a secondary jungle that is quite hard to penetrate would make it daunting but the harder part is trying to reach it before dusk bearing in mind that I left town at 7 pm.

After a quite frustrating traffic crawl I managed to reach the bridge 9 km outside of Teluk Intan. It was 7.15 pm. Could I cover the other 8 km and make the walk to penetrate the jungle before dusk?


This bridge lies 40 km from the Perak river mouth. It is the only option available to cross the Perak river anywhere near Teluk Intan. The next bridge lies another 40 km upstream at Kampung Gajah. If only I could go on a straight line from town... then the place I was heading for is only 5 km away...


I soon reached the place called Sungai Durian. As my wife haven't done her Asar (late afternoon prayers) and the way to the said tomb could be rather challenging, I decided to drop her and baby at the nearest mosque. For the record she has reached the tomb once when she was 7 months pregnant. This time I just can't risk bringing baby along knowing there's a rather hard secondary jungle to penetrate while the sky was getting dark...


Having parked the car at a local's compound I was ready to make the walk. The time was almost 7:30 pm.



You see. I have to get to the tomb before dusk because according to the Islamic Hijriah calendar, a new day starts after dusk. I wanted to be able to call the current string of tomb visits as being accomplished in a day. Behind the trees and growth lies the river of Perak...




There, I've reached the boundaries of the secondary jungle. Mind you, it is probably no more than 100 metres to the river banks while the jungle covers a stretch at most 300 metres long. That's not a huge area to look for a tomb unless it's all covered by thick growth with thorns nearly at every juncture.

The truth is looking for an old tomb inside this area is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The first time I've tried was in 2007 and I failed to find it. In 2008 I came with a cousin and a friend and somehow got a hunch it is located at the foot of the coconut trees seen in the middle. We managed to find the tomb after a hard time trying to get through the growth and thorns and that's the case too when I came in 2009 with the wife. Now I have to go inside again with the clock ticking fast...





This is the closest to a decent path going inside. Then I have to practically crawl under some branches while avoiding thorns...




Thank God I could find the tomb again. And time was 7:35 pm. But I couldn't really sigh a relief until I get back to my wife and baby at the mosque. It is only after I fetched them that the call to prayer signifying dusk and time for Maghrib, the dusk prayers came out. It is only then I could be sure I've succeeded in my mission to reach this tomb, the final tomb in my list before dusk.


OK. In the starting paragraphs of this article I've said that the tomb in Teluk Intan is that of the last Sultan of Perak on the list. With that, I've stepped foot on all 28 tombs of Sultans available in Perak. My list also included a number of tombs belonging to Perak important persons. For the record, the tomb in Sungai Durian, the final tomb in my list belong to a person called Toh Jambu or Tok Jambu.


Apart from being a warrior and a religious person he is said to be a saintly figure. While official records mentioned his ties with royalty as due to the fact that the 18th Sultan of Perak, Sultan Ahmaduddin Shah married his daughter and gave birth to the 19th Sultan, I have reason to believe that Toh Jambu himself was a person of high descent. My private research showed that he was a member of the Aceh-Bugis royalty... in fact he became a Sultan in Perak using a different identity and name but that's all I can say. Cheers! :]


3 comments:

Mohd Azhan said...

salam blogger Si Merah Silu,


Alhamdulillah,sekian lama saya mencari sejarah Sungai Durian baru ketemu dgn blog saudara ini.Nama saya Azhan dan berasal dari Teluk Intan.Banyak sejarah di Sungai Durian yang berkait rapat dengan sultan Perak.Sebenarnya tanah yang terletaknya kubur keramat Sungai Durian itu adalah milik turun temurun keturunan saya dan sekarang menjadi milik ibu saya(baru dibeli dari waris tok saudara).Cuma untuk pengesahan sejarah sebenar agak kabur kerana disitu adalah perkuburan lama dan mengikut cerita orang tua-tua,ada juga kubur Laksamana yang mati dibunuh.Saya dan saudara mara yang ada tidak banyak informasi yang lengmekap lainkan cerita-cerita dari generasi terdahulu tanpa bukti bertulis.lebih kurang 50meter dari tapak kubur itu,ada sebuah perkuburan lama yang berbatu nesan besar milik Haji Ibrahim bin Toha dan saya adalah waris ke 5 dari beliau.Dikatakan Haji Ibrahim adalah orang kanan Ngah Ibrahim dan dikalangan antara 50org yang dibuang ke Pulau Seychelles.Tetapi beliau dapat pulang ke Tanah Melayu dan menetap di S.Durian.Mohon jasa baik kalau saudara ada informasi terperinci sejarah di Sungai Durian.Kami sudah lama mencari namun kurang lengkap.
Emel saya-azhan_bahakodin@astro.com.my

Salam Ukhuwah...

Radzi Sapiee said...

Wassalam dan salam ukhuwah kembali. Sebenarnya saya pun tak tahu cerita tentang Sungai Durian kecuali sedikit yang disebut Nenek saya (ibu kepada ayah) tentang Laksamana Sulaiman bin Toha yang memiliki adik seibu sebapa bernama Abdul Raof dan adik berlainan ibu bernama Haji Ibrahim. Ibu kepada Nenek, Aminah adalah anakanda Abdul Raof. Nenek ada menceritakan tentang Laksamana Sulaiman tidak memiliki anak lalu mewariskan hartanya kepada Abdul Raof. Namun ada cerita belah Sungkai seperti merujuk kepada Laksamana Sulaiman selepas Perang Perak-Inggeris 1875-1877 mendapat anak kemudian cucu yang katanya berkahwin dengan Sultan Aceh. Lihat http://merahsilu.blogspot.com/2010/10/menyelesaikan-bab-perak-cerita-sebenar.html

mikael said...

BOLEH SAYA TANYA DI MANA KUBURNYA LAKSAMANA SULAIMAN INI