During the time of Sultan Bolkiah, also known as Nakhoda Ragam, the fifth Sultan of Brunei, there lived a young man named Manis. Manis’s mother, Dang Ambun, was a very wealthy widow. Manis’s father had died while he was still a little boy, leaving all his riches to his wife Dang Ambun who promised to pass down their great wealth to Manis when he became a young man. Manis’s father had left Dang Ambun a house as huge and beautiful as a palace, numerous shop-houses and dozens of ships. After her husband’s death, Dang Ambun devoted her whole attention and her love to her son Manis, the only child in this aristocratic family. From an early age, Dang Ambun sent Manis to study about religion from a pious man who also taught the children of other nobles.

When Manis became a young man, Dang Ambun started to think about her son’s future. “All my wealth will become yours, Manis,” Dang Ambun said to herself. “You will surely have a happy and easy life
with all this wealth and you will be able to find a beautiful and faithful wife.” Dang Ambun then started to day-dream about a life partner for Manis, and about marrying him off to a good-looking and kind-hearted girl. “I will find a special girl for Manis. You won’t need to work, Manis, as our vast wealth will guarantee a very comfortable life for you and your future generations,” Dang Ambun promised in her heart of hearts. Manis, however, had his own plans for his future and his plans were nothing like what his mother had dreamed about. In fact, Manis’s plans did not include his great wealth, nor a wife, not even his noble birthright.
For Manis had his own ambition, an ambition that his mother knew nothing about.

Many young men at that time were fond of travelling to other lands and these men brought back with them exciting tales of their journeys and adventures which Manis and his friends loved listening to. These stories helped to develop a keen spirit of adventure in Manis and his aristocratic friends, and fuelled Manis’s ambition to follow in
the footsteps of his well-travelled countrymen in search of exciting experiences. He would gain nothing by staying on in Brunei and he felt that, like the other young men, he was old enough to venture forth. “I too wish to seek experience and I wish to travel,” Manis said to himself as he was returning home from his friends’ house. “Mother told me that Father used to be a traveller too and his blood runs in me,” he said.

“I am a grown man now, mother,” said Manis. Dang Ambun
smiled upon hearing that. She was happy because her son was indeed
a grown man. “I want to be of service to our country, mother,” said Manis again. “Allow me to travel with my friends.” Dang Ambun was amazed when she heard Manis’ words and she asked sadly, “Oh Manis, where will you travel to?” Truly, Dang Ambun was not prepared for this. “We are living a life of luxury here in Brunei. How could you even think about leaving your mother here all on my own,” Dang Ambun continued. “I have made my decision, mother,” Manis said. “Besides, I won’t be gone for too long.” “Where will you travel to, my son?” Dang Ambun asked once again. “To foreign lands. Worry not, mother, for I will not forget you. I will be travelling with the young men of Brunei who are skilled sea-men,” Manis comforted his mother.

Dang Ambun was at a loss for words. She was deeply saddened that her beloved son Manis was leaving her to travel to foreign lands in search of experience. Tear streamed down Dang Ambun’s cheeks as she thought about Manis’ imminent departure.

‘I cannot stop you, Manis,’ Dang Ambun said in her heart. After kissing his mother’s hand, Manis set off joyfully with his friends on a sailing ship bound for the open sea. “Oh Lord, protect my son Manis wherever he may be...” so prayed Dang Ambun. Dang Ambun became even sadder as she remembered that her late husband too was well travelled and a skilled sea-man, but he had been killed in a foreign land. And now her son too would be travelling to unknown places. Dang Ambun wondered if Manis was on a mission to avenge his father’s death. Yet Manis was not aware of the cause of his father’s death, and Dang Ambun had never told her son. No one knew where Manis and his friends were travelling to, just that they were seeking new experiences in foreign lands. Dang Ambun feared that a similar tragedy might befall Manis.

Manis sailed away, leaving his native Brunei and his mother, Dang Ambun, grieving and longing for her only son. Dang Ambun prayed for Manis’s safety every day and every night. Every Friday evening without fail, she would pay for thanksgiving prayers to be held for her son’s safety in all the mosques in her town. She spent all of her wealth in doing so and she would have willingly sacrificed a lot more for her son. Time passed. Days became months and months turned into years, but still there was no sign of Manis’s return. There was no news of him and no one knew of his whereabouts. Yet, Dang Ambun continued to pay for thanksgiving prayers to be held for Manis’s safety in all the mosques in her town. She had to sell off her possessions one after another to ensure that the weekly thanksgiving prayers were still held for her son’s safety. Dang Ambun spent little time on herself and, eventually, she herself grew ill and weak. Despite her ailing condition, the thanksgiving prayers continued. Dang Ambun finally had to sell off her last remaining ship to bear the heavy costs of these thanksgiving prayers as well as the costs of her ailing health.

Dang Ambun’s relatives tried to console her, “Don’t think too much about Manis, Dang Ambun; he is safe.” But Dang Ambun wept as she said, “All of you have no idea how I feel. None of your children are away in a foreign land, like Manis.” “That’s not what we mean, Dang Ambun. You should look after yourself and your health, Dang Ambun. If you are at peace, those on their travels will be at peace too,” her relatives advised. “Besides, how can you prepare for the feasts if your body is weak?” “Thank you for your advice,” said Dang Ambun. “I pray to God Almighty to keep me in good health and to keep my Manis safe in His protection.”
All of Dang Ambun’s ships had since been sold and so too were her numerous shop houses. Yet Manis still had not returned and no news about Manis reached Dang Ambun. Poor Dang Ambun; she greatly missed her beloved son, who was far away in a foreign land.

Manis was twenty years old when he set off on his travels and
now he was forty years
old. Dang Ambun too had since grown old
and, suffering from
various illnesses, she
had grown weak and
thin. Where previously she had lived a respectable life
of wealth and luxury, Dang Ambun was now fated to live her life in great hardship and in extreme poverty. She
was no longer able to hold
feasts in mosques like she did before and, every day, Dang Ambun had to beg for food
from her relatives. She ate what her relatives could give her and she would go hungry if they could not. Nevertheless, Dang Ambun’s faith in God Almighty remained strong and she endured her hardship with forbearance. And everyday without fail, Dang Ambun would pray to God, “My Lord God Almighty, allow me to look upon my son Manis’s face before I die, even for a brief moment as I miss him greatly!”

One day as Dang Ambun was paddling her boat as she usually did on the Brunei River, she saw a huge and beautiful ship in the harbour. The ship soon moored and dropped anchor in the harbour. Dang Ambun was surprised because she had never before seen a ship of that size and beauty. Crowds of people had flocked out to see the extraordinary vessel and Dang Ambun was caught up in the general excitement. Forgetting her ageing and frail condition, Dang Ambun was excited to find out the origins of the magnificent ship. In the midst of the crowd, she heard the people talking. “The ship belongs to Nakhoda Manis,” they said. “He and his friends left Brunei over twenty years ago and now they’re back.” “What? Manis? Manis is back?” Dang Ambun asked in astonishment. “Yes,” said the crowd who did not recognize Dang Ambun because they had come from another village. And they continued to talk about Nakhoda Manis, the son of a tycoon who had since become penniless.

“Thank you, oh Lord, for you have granted my prayers.” Dang Ambun uttered as it began to dawn on her that the magnificent vessel was indeed owned by Manis, her beloved son who had always been in her mind all these years. “Surely by now, Manis, you will have your own children and a beautiful wife,” Dang Ambun said quietly, and with all her energy began paddling her small boat towards the ship. “My dear Manis, you have returned, my son,” Dang Ambun called out from her tiny boat as it tossed around in the water. ‘That is my mother’s voice; it is Mother’s voice, I know it well,’ Manis said to himself. The voice was gradually becoming closer and clearer. Nakhoda Manis was clearly excited to meet his mother.

Nakhoda Manis was shocked to see before him an old unsightly woman, dressed in patched clothing. She was waving her arms and asking to board his ship, all the while uttering, “Manis, Manis, I am your mother, let me come up to your ship.” The wife of Nakhoda Manis was astonished to see Dang Ambun’s actions. But before she could even ask Nakhoda Manis about the old lady, Nakhoda Manis had already ordered his crew to push Dang Ambun’s tiny boat away from his ship. “Push it away, push,” said Nakhoda Manis. He was ashamed of his mother because he had told his wife that his mother was a very wealthy woman and not at all like the old unsightly being before them. “Manis, this is me, your mother. I have used up all my wealth to hold prayers to pray for your safety and well-being,” shouted Dang Ambun from her tiny boat. “Do you no longer recognize your mother? Do you no longer recognise the woman who gave birth to you?” “Push, just push away that mad woman,” Nakhoda Manis kept telling his men, yet in his heart he admitted, ‘She is my mother, but what has happened to her? Ah, I am ashamed of her.’

As Dang Ambun listened to Nakhoda Manis as he ordered his crew to push her little boat away from his vessel, she was amazed at how much he had changed. Even so, she tried to reason with him, “Manis my son, help me, I am your mother.” And as she cried pitifuly, she said, “I have suffered, my son.”

“I am helpless. Ah, I am ashamed, mother,” Nakhoda Manis laments silently. “But she is not my mother, my mother is a wealthy woman.” And so he ordered his crew, “Push her boat away, do not let her come near this ship.” As her tiny boat was pushed further away by the crew, Dang Ambun felt an immeasurable sadness and disappointment. Her life felt meaningless for this was not the Nakhoda Manis that she knew. And so Dang Ambun distanced herself from the ship, extremely disappointed that she was not able to be reunited with the son she had been longing for all these years. As Dang Ambun reached the river bank, she saw from a distance Nakhoda Manis standing on his ship, and as she did so, she spoke quietly to herself, “Manis, today you have driven me away from you and you have disowned your own mother.”

As soon as Dang Ambun had spoken, the clear blue sky unexpectedly turned cloudy and dark, and a violent storm broke. The rain fell in torrents, accompanied by bolts of lightning and loud outbursts of thunder. Manis’s magnificent ship was tossed and flung about by huge waves. At that moment Nakhoda Manis realized what a grave sin he had just committed against his mother. And at that same instance he realized that he needed his mother’s help. But it was too late. At that very same moment, Dang Ambun was tearfully praying to God to punish her son for his actions.

“Mother! Mother! Help me, mother!” With regret in his voice, Nakhoda Manis called to his mother. “You are indeed my mother and I am indeed your son, mother!” Nakhoda Manis called out again to Dang Ambun who was still crying as she watched the magnificent ship being swallowed by the waves. But it was too late. God’s power and will were too great and knew no bounds. When the storm subsided, Nakhoda Manis, his wife and all of his crew had turned into stone. Today, at the edge of Kampung Burong Pingai Ayer, there stands a massive rock in the shape of a ship. It is named Ajong Batu or Jong Batu (meaning “stone ship”). This story teaches a moral lesson about a mother’s love and a child’s ingratitude.