There was once an old woman and her 2 daughters, who lived on one of the 54 islands off Singapore. The old woman was a widow and had to work hard to support her small family.
When her daughters grew up to a marriageable age, the widow decided that it was time to marry them off and let them enjoy marital bliss. However, the 2 sisters named Minah and Lina were inseperable, for they loved each other dearly. They became sad at the prospect of being married off and living seperate lives, and told their mother they would marry on the condition their suitors were brothers.
Time went by and many suitors came and went, for none of them were brothers. Soon, the old widow died and the sisters went to live with an uncle.
One day, Lina went to draw water from the village well when a group of Orang Laut (sea people) came by. These Orang Laut were a group of robbers and pirates. When their leader, a burly man saw Lina, he was thunder-struck with love. Her beauty filled his mind with lust and he smiled as he approached her.
Lina, upon seeing these frightening men approaching, immediately ran back to the village, but the leader had ordered some of his men to follow her and find out where she lived and soon, he was knocking on the door. Her uncle went to the door and was frightened when he saw the group of Orang Laut at his dorstep.
"Old man, I'm here to ask the hand of your daughter in marriage. As I'm the chief of the Orang Laut, I can lavish her with treasure. You'd better agree to my request, for I have yet to come across anyone who would defy me."
"Please, chief. The girls are not my daughters, so I cannot make the decision for them.", pleaded the old man.
"I don't care. I'll come for the girl tomorrow." And with a wave of his hand, the group dispersed.
The old man could not protect Lina and told her there was no other way to prevent this, even though the girls begged and cried. That night, the sisters stayed up the whole night and prayed for a miracle, but morning broke and nothing happened.
The chief and his men soon arrived, and although the sisters clung to each other, the chief's men pulled them apart and brought Lina to their chief, who threw her over his shoulder and started to carry Lina away to his sampan (little boat). The whole village came out and watched the scene, but did nothing to stop what was happening.
At this time, a storm was brewing. Minah, injured by the chief's men while they were trying to seperate the sisters, ran after them, begging the chief to let her sister go. Even when the sampan carrying Lina was at sea, Minah continued running into the sea until a large wave engulfed her.
When Lina saw her sister disappear into the water, struggled harder and escaped her captors. She flung herself into the sea to join Minah.
The storm grew heavier and the people of the village ran back to their homes, afraid at the loud claps of thunder and lightning. The storm did not stop till the next day and when the people stepped out of their huts, they were shocked to find 2 islands where the sisters possibly drowned.
According to legend, every year on that particular day the sisters became islands, there will be a storm.
