SI PITUNG

Go to the zoo on the weekend

Don’t forget to see the cockatoo

All audience and friend

I just wanna say

Assalamu'alaikum wr wb...
Hi everyone and all the judges, my name is Fatimah Nanda Kamilah. I'm a student of SDS
Kartika VIII-2.

Do you guys know si Pitung? Well, if you don't know, I would like to tell you the story
about si Pitung. A "local hero" that was born around 1866 in Rawabelong, Batavia or
now Jakarta. His real name was Salihoen. The name Pitung actually derived from
Javanese "pituan pulung" which means group of seven.
When he was a child, his parent sent him to a "pesantren", a non-formal boarding
school, belonged to Haji Naipin. There he learned basic skills like reading and
writing, religious knowledge, and also traditional martial art known as pencak silat.
Pitung grew up to become a religious and generous young man.
When he went back to his village, he witnessed the cruelty of the rich landlords. They
robbed lands from the local villagers. Anyone who dares to resist, will have to confront
the "centeng". Centeng is a bodyguard of the rich or the landlords.
They also took agricultural produce, cattles, from the locals, and some were given to
the Dutch government.
Pitung could not stand anymore. He wanted to stop their action. One day, he stopped
some Centengs who had just been robbing the local villager.

Pitung : Hey..return what you have taken from them.

Centeng : How dare you. . .hahahaha. Who are you young man huh?
Pitung : You don't need to know who I am. But I will stop you robbing the locals.

All Centengs attacked Pitung. He defended himself by practicing the moves taught by
Haji Naipin. Finally, he defeated all of them.
Pitung continued to fight against the cruelty of the rich landlords.
He wanted to take back what the landlords had taken from the villagers. So Pitung set
up a plan. He asked his friend Ji’ih to join him, to rob those cruel landlords, and give it
back to the poor locals. Pitung became known as a hero to the villagers. The rich
landlords did not like this situation. They reported this to the Dutch government. They
wanted Pitung to be arrested. Soon, the Dutch government assigned Schout Hinne to
find and arrest si Pitung. Schout Hinne with his men explored the village to find Pitung.
They asked the villagers about Pitung, but the villagers say nothing about it. It was
because they didn’t want Pitung get caught by Schout Hinne.
Pitung not only helped the local villagers. He also helped Chinese landlords that are
kind to the local villagers. Babah Acong and Babah Peng An are among of them. One
day, Pitung was visiting Babah Acong and a Dutch spy informed Schout Hinne. Schout
Hinne and his men immediately went to Babah Acong’s house.
Fortunately, Babah Acong’s daughter saw them coming, so she told Pitung to run.
Instead of running, Pitung was hiding in a big chest in Babah Acong’s house.

Schout Hinne : Babah Acong, is Pitung here?

Babah Acong : Haiyya Mr. Schout… Pitung is not here…

Schout Hinne did not believe Babah Acong just like that. He ordered his men to search
every corner of the house. Luckily, they didn’t find Pitung. Once again, Schout Hinne
felt very upset because he didn’t find Pitung.
Schout Hinne realized that local villagers were protecting Pitung. So then he changed
his tactics. He arrested or even tortured villagers that didn’t give information about
Pitung. Pitung felt guilty for them, and voluntarily went to the police station to give
himself up.
Pitung : Hey Hinne...you're such a coward. Why did you arrested and
tortured them? They are innocent.
Schout Hinne : Watch your mouth..you burglar ..!!
 Good thing you have the courage to come here...
Opas...arrest him..!!
Opas refers to a police assistant at that time.
Pitung : Okay Hinne, I surrender. But you have to release the villagers.

Schout Hinne agreed. Later, Pitung was arrested and put in prison. But somehow, he
managed to escape. Pitung continued his action with Ji’ih. Scout Hinne became more
furious.

Schout Hinne : Find and arrest Pitung…DEAD OR ALIVE…!!!

Soon, the Dutch soldiers patrolled all over Batavia to find Pitung. In 1893, an informant
reported to the Dutch government, that Pitung was seen somewhere in Kampung
Bambu. Schout Hinne and the Dutch soldiers were heading there immediately.
They ambushed Pitung. He had no way out. They were shooting each other. Pitung was
shot in the chest by Schout Hinne, and he died not long after. Although Pitung is dead,
his name will always be remembered by Batavian. Until now.

Moral of the story : We should always help people in need and we should dare to stand up
for the truth.

Thank you for listening to my story telling. Have a nice day everyone.
Wassalamu’alaikum wr wb