Many years ago I went on a
holiday to Malaysia. I crossed streets through malls. I expected it to be
completely different from the life I was used to here but apart from the
different food they served at the malls and the different languages they spoke,
it felt like any other first world country. Determined to make a run from
anything concrete, I decided to take a holiday on the nearest island, Tioman. I
heard that it was a paradise island with rich coral reefs and turquoise blue
oceans. The pictures on the brochures looked amazing but being the cynic that I
am, I wanted to wait to see if it really lived up to its reputation.
To get there, I had to take a bus
from downtown KL to the nearest port and take a ferry from there to Tioman
Islands. While on the boat, I was sat next to an old bent over Malay lady who
was busy eating boiled peanuts from a plastic bag. She caught me looking at her
and smiled at me and immediately struck up a conversation. Among other things,
she asked me if I knew about the legend of Tioman. Not being a fan of reading
too much about a place (lest it ruins the joy of discovery), I shook my head in
a no.
She immediately spun a beautiful
tale about how long ago, a Chinese Dragon Princess was engaged to a Singaporean
prince – a marriage arranged for her by her father. The Dragon Princess was
free spirited and wanted to explore the world and be one with nature. However,
on account of her being a princess, she had to give in to her father’s demands.
A day before the wedding, the princess set of on her long journey to Singapore.
While flying over the lands (being a dragon), she discovered a beautiful
turquoise paradise on which she wanted to take rest before setting off again to
see her future husband. Her rest was so beautiful and she fell so madly in love
with the South China Sea that she decided to stay put and forgot all about her
wedding and her life as a dragon.
As she finished the story, we
reached our destination. Sure enough, the beautiful green trees and waters
bluer than I had ever seen greeted me. Floating on the ferry and looking at the
breathtaking beauty around, you could almost see the dragon island slowly
breathing.
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