THE SINGA | Germinal of Singapore

Sang Nila Utama, an imaginative and adventurous king, was restless by nature and eager to travel to faraway places. He loved hunting wild animals, so when he heard that there were stags in the jungles of Tanjong Bentam that were difficult to hunt, he became excited and took with him a great fleet of ships to Tanjong Bentam.

When the king arrived on the island, he and his subjects embarked on a hunting expedition that lasted several hours, during which they slew many wild and savage beasts, but found no stags. This disappointed the king, leaving him with a sense of unfulfillment in his heart.

Suddenly, a large stag darted out of the bushes in front of Sang Nila Utama, giving the king a shock. But the king quickly drew his silver dagger and hurled it at the stag, only grazing the animal. The stag began to run, and the king pursued it. In those days, it was either on foot or nothing.

The stag ran through the jungle and darted up a knoll. The king followed the stag up the hill, but upon reaching the summit, the stag was nowhere to be seen. There was a large rock, so the king climbed it and looked out over the land and sea spread out around him. In the distance, he saw a stretch of white sand—an island.

Sang Nila Utama was fascinated by the sight of the island. He turned to one of his subjects who had followed him.

"What is the name of that island?" the king asked.

The subject looked into the distance and smiled. "That is Temasek, Your Highness."

"Then we are going there," the king declared.

The king ordered his fleet to set sail, and they began their journey toward the island.

Suddenly, the once clear blue skies were covered with black clouds, and heavy rain poured down. Strong bursts of wind threatened to tear the ships apart. The ship carrying Sang Nila Utama was in the very eye of the storm. The crew lowered the sails, started to bail water from the ship, and prepared most of the cargo for jettisoning.

However, an idea came to the king's mind. He remembered a story his grandfather had told him about how one of his ancestors became the Sea-King and that his crown was the only thing that truly belonged to his ancestor. He removed his crown immediately and threw it into the sea.

All at once, the storm broke. As suddenly as it had started, the skies began to clear, and the crew shouted for joy as they set sail once more for the island of Temasek.

When the king stepped onto the island, a creature appeared out of nowhere, and the king and his men were awestruck by its magnificence. It was large and moved with grace, had a black head covered in a furry mane, a whitish neck, and a red body. When the king drew his bow and arrow, the beast stared back at him with golden eyes and let out a deafening roar before leaping into the jungle.

"What sort of animal was that?" the king asked.

A wise old man stepped forward. "I have seen animals in portraits from the Far West. Perhaps this is a 'singa,' but I wonder how it came to be here."

"This must be a great place if it breeds such a beautiful animal. Let us live here...here on the island of Singapura."

Footnote: The word 'singa' is actually the Indonesian and Malay word for 'lion.' Therefore, Singapore is sometimes referred to as the 'Lion City'.