Located in the Tutong district is Lake Merimbun, a picturesque lake with clear blue water.

Situated in the middle of the lake is an island known as Labi-Labi Island. The tale of how this island came to be has its origin in a story about a Dusun family.

The story began one night when Lake Merimbun looked particularly beautiful from the light of the full moon.

“Father, what is that shining high up in the sky?” asked Malau. “That is the moon sitting high up above the clouds, Malau.” his father replied.

“I want the moon, Father! Can you get the moon for me?” asked Malau.

“Your request is an extraordinary one, my son. Ask me for something else so that I can get it for you.” his father replied calmly.

That night, unlike other nights, the conversation between Malau and his parents took on an unusual turn. Malau’s father could not stop thinking about his son’s unusual request. He feared that Malau would sulk and become bad-tempered out of disappointment.

The following night, Malau once again asked his father to get the moon for him to play with. Malau’s father and mother became increasingly restless as they thought about their son’s request. They did not want to disappoint him.

So Malau’s father set about finding a way to fulfill Malau’s request. The next day, Malau’s parents decided to go to the forest to cut down some bamboo trees.

Malau’s parents then joined the bamboo stems to one another to form a tower-like structure. As soon as the tower-like structure was completed, Malau’s father climbed up
the bamboo tower and, as he did so, he asked Malau to wait patiently for his return. So Malau waited for his father at the foot of the tower.

The bamboo tower reached up to the clouds and as Malau’s father climbed higher up the tower, he began
to disappear from view. Strong winds began to blow
as Malau waited patiently at the foot of the tower. He refused to return to his house because he wanted to wait for his father to return with the moon.

Many days passed but still there was no sight of Malau’s father. Although Malau’s mother persuaded her son repeatedly to return home, Malau stubbornly refused. Malau’s mother felt very sad as she thought about her husband and wondered what had become of him.

With each passing day, there was still no sight of Malau’s father. The villagers tried to persuade Malau to go home saying that his father had been swept away by the strong winds and would probably never return, but Malau would not listen to them. He was certain that his father would return.

Malau’s father had indeed been carried away by the strong winds and had fallen into the sea. He could not remember how long he had been separated from his wife and son.

Quite suddenly, a turtle appeared before Malau’s father and it spoke to him. “Hold on to my back and I will take you to the place you came from. When we reach a point from where the river begins to flow, that will be the place you came from.”

Upon hearing the words of the turtle, Malau’s father clambered up the turtle’s back and hanged on tightly as it began to move. With Malau’s father on its back, the turtle swam towards the Brunei River, the Temburong River and the Belait River. However, when the turtle tried to swim right up to the point from which each of these rivers flow, the turtle met with many obstacles and failed.

Then, the turtle changed its course and swam towards the Tutong River. Although the Tutong River was a more narrow river than the other three rivers, the turtle managed to swim into this river easily. As soon as the turtle came to the point where the river joined Lake Merimbun, there appeared a huge tree trunk which spanned across the entire lake. This trunk was called the Yadu trunk and, strangely enough, this trunk would bleed if it was hacked or chopped.

The villagers of Lake Merimbun were surprised to see a turtle swimming in the lake, because for as long as they had lived there, they had never seen anything more extraordinary. They were even more surprised to see a man hanging onto the turtle’s back. When Malau saw the turtle and the man on its back, he shouted that his father had returned. The villagers came running
to see for themselves and to welcome the return of Malau’s father.

The turtle brought Malau’s father to the edge of
the lake, and there Malau’s father was reunited with
his family. According to Malau’s mother, her husband had been gone for six months and many had thought that her husband had died. Malau’s father, on the other hand, insisted that he had only been gone for less than a month. And so they related their stories to one another.

After reuniting Malau’s father with his family,
the turtle then turned to swim back towards the
point where Lake Merimbun joined the Tutong River. Unfortunately, the Yadu trunk was still lying across the lake, and it obstructed the turtle’s journey. Despite its many attempts to get around the trunk, to get across
it, or to move it, the turtle failed. The Yadu trunk would not let the turtle leave the lake. Finally, feeling deeply frustrated and dejected, the turtle swam to the middle of Lake Merimbun and overturned its body. Eventually, the turtle turned into an island and this island is known as Labi-Labi Island. Even today, the island remains
in its original location and still resembles the shape
of a turtle, with its head in the direction of the point where Lake Merimbun joins the river, and its tail in the upstream direction. The Yadu trunk has also been seen to appear on occasions.