Why when one sees the Santubong mountain today, one can see a dent on the higher part of the mountain - forget about scientific explanation for a moment, just how did it happen according to the legend of Puteri Santubung? 

O… Puteri Sentubung,
O… Princess Sentubung
Sejinjang sayang,
Beloved Sejinjang
Kesah lamak,
An old story
Jaman menseya mayang
Of forgotten time

Puteri Sentubung, Puteri Sejinjang,
Princess Sentubung, Princess Sejinjang
Penjaga gunung negeri Serawak,
Guardians of Sarawakian mountains
Manis sik ada dapat dilawan,
Beatiful they were, unmatched
Anak dak dewa turun kayangan
Daughters of gods descended from the heaven

O… Sentubung puteri,
O… Sentubung the princess
Bertenun kain malam,
Who weaves fabric at nightime
Ooo… Sejinjang puteri,
O… Sejinjang the princess
Menumbuk padi siang
Who thumps paddy at daytime

Satu hari nya duak kelaie,
One day they quarreled,
Beranok-anok sik henti-henti,
Exchanging words unrelentingly,
Sorang madah dirik bagus agi,
One said she was better
Sorang sik kalah walau sampe ke mati.
The other did not give in, even to death

Puteri Sentubung, Puteri Sejinjang,
Princess Sentubung, Princess Sejinjang
Penjaga gunung negeri Serawak,
Guardians of Sarawakian mountains
Manis sik ada dapat dilawan,
Beatiful they were, unmatched
Anak dak dewa turun kayangan.
Daughers of gods descended from the heaven

O… Puteri Sentubung,
O… Princess Sentubung
Sejinjang sayang,
Beloved Sejinjang
Udah bermusuh berpanjang-panjang,
Are now enemies for a long time
Sayang...
Pity...

Udah lejuk nya duak kelaie,
Endless altercations wore them out
Lalu bertukuk nya duak puteri,
Finally, fighting they were
Sejinjang mengayun aluk ke pipi,
Sejinjang swung a slap to her (Sentubung’s) face
Tebik sentubung sampe gitok ari.
Sentubung became dented, until today.

Tapi Sentubung membalas juak,
But Sentubung fought back,
Lalu ditikam batang belida,
A daggered pole she threw, then
Lalu terkenak sejinjang ke palak,
Right at Sejinjang’s head it went
Lalu bertabur jadi Pulo Kerak.
(Sejinjang) shattered and became the Isle of Monkey

Puteri Sentubung, Puteri Sejinjang,
Princess Sentubung, Princess Sejinjang
Penjaga gunung negeri Serawak,
Guardians of Sarawakian mountains
Manis sik ada dapat dilawan,
Beatiful they were, unmatched
Anak dak dewa turun kayangan.
Daughers of gods descended from the heaven

Kesah Sentubung kesah Sejinjang,
The story of Sentubung and the story of Sejinjang
Asal berkawan jadi musuhan
Once were close friends, then became bitter enemies
Kinek tok tinggal jadi kenangan,
Now are left to be memories
Pakey ingatan sepanjang jaman,
As a lesson for all time

Puteri Sentubung, Puteri Sejinjang,
Princess Sentubung, Princess Sejinjang
Penjaga gunung negeri Serawak,
Guardians of Sarawakian mountains
Manis sik ada dapat dilawan,
Beatiful they were, unmatched
Anak dak dewa turun kayangan.
Daughers of gods descended from the heaven

Puteri Sentubung, Puteri Sejinjang…
Princess Sentubung, Princess Sejinjang...


The Story:

The legend is about the love triangle between the two friends who were both princesses from heaven, Puteri Sentubung and Puteri Sejinjang who were living where Sarawak is now, as commoners. Puteri Sentubung was a paddy thumper and her friend Puteri Sejinjang was a weaver while both were the guardian of the mountain. Big jobs for these ladies, but they were so powerful and had magical powers too. 

Unfortunately, they both had a crush with the same man, the handsome prince, Putera Jaya, who hailed from outside Sarawak. Putera Jaya being the heart-throb of both the beautiful princesses has the soft spot on Puteri Sentubung. Being in love, the princess had forgotten about her friend and more importantly her "career" as the paddy thumper resulting in chaos and hungry people in the land.

Their exchange of angry words turned into quarrel very so often. It was just Puteri Sentubung, who forgot her duties, now both had forgotten their responsibilities to the people now. Once, people had little food and natural disasters because of Puteri Sentubung's neglect. Now, in addition to the former, the people now live naked because Puteri Sejinjang no longer provided clothes for them. Furthermore, many fell ill as they had to bear living naked and hungry.

They fought a couple of time but never as bad as their last one when they really had a physical and thunderous fight ( now imagine : Xmen). 

Puteri Sejinjang started the great fight - it was told that people suffered great thunderstorms lasted for days because of the fight. Puteri Sejinjang, due to her anger, swung her hand very hard and fast that it landed squarely on Puteri Sentubung's face and displaced Puteri Sentubung's jaw and bled Puteri Sentubung's mouth - a fatal blow to Puteri Sentubung's beauty. (That is according to this legend, why the Santubong mountain today has a dent on the higher part of the mountain - a physical manifestation of the "great slap" by Puteri Sejinjang on Puteri Sentubung's face.)
 

To counter the offensive, Puteri Sentubung took a daggered pole and threw it towards Puteri Sejinjang. The pole hit right at Puteri Sejinjang's head and shattered it subsequently. And this marked the end of Puteri Sejinjang's life. ( Again, according to this legend, if one passes by Mount Santubong, one can see a group of small islands right beside Mount Santubong. These are Pulo Kerak (Isles of Monkey), a remnant of Puteri Sejinjang. )
 

Puteri Sentubung won the battle but she regretted her misdeed as she had killed her very own bestfriend and the only true friend she had.

The man they were fighting over, Putera Jaya, soon deserted Puteri Sentubung once he learned about the killing.  (Bad guy.. for someone who started all the clashes between the two princesses.) She later turned to the mountains to see the people but the people rejected her as well as she had kind of dumped them last time she was in love. She tried to get support from her father but he despised her for what she had done. As the King, her father chose justice over mercy towards her. Because she had neglected her jobs, many lives were lost and nations destroyed; because she had abandoned her friends, she had sown hatred and enmity inside the heart of a sincere friend.

In the end, she died a dishonorable death. The heaven cursed her to become a mountain - Mount Santubong, as a lesson for all people to see the dire consequence of arrogance and neglect of friendship. While Puteri Sejinjang was condemnable of her jealousy and hatred, her faults was not as great as Puteri Sentubung's. That is why Pulo Kerak (the Isles of Monkey) are relatively hidden from eyesights by towering Mount Santubong itself that can be seen many miles away..
 

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Note:

The song was in a Malay Sarawak accent with a number of words being used only by Sarawakian. It is slightly different compared to the standard Malay language.

The story may not be very logical and has the elements of paganisme, but some of the morals of the story we can extract are never fight over a man, value your friendship and keep committed to your main responsibility. As this is a myth,  the story may bring different reaction to each of us. The paganisme is a common element in many Malay legends which was passed throughout the centuries, but as the people learn more about religion and science,  and Islam was introduced in Malaysia, in the 1200s century, the story is not taken seriously and became a topic to kick off conversation with the locals.

Full version of the legend http://thoughtstreasuretrove.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post.html

Video source: Youtube.com