SI TANGGANG

Hi, my name is Iskandar. I am from 6 USM. Today, I will be telling you a story
untitled Si Tanggang.

In a tiny village by the sea, there lived a very poor family: father, Si Talang, mother Si
Deruma, and their son, Si Tanggang. Life was hard, and every day they struggled to
make a living.

Si Tanggang was unhappy with his impoverished life. It seemed to him that life was
unfair because no matter how hard they work, there was hardly enough food to eat,
let alone new clothes to wear. The tiny wooden shack they lived in was in disrepair
and at the brink of collapsing.

Si Tanggang wanted to help his parents. After thinking long and hard, Si Tanggang
finally found the solution.

And so one evening, he quietly spoke to her.

“Mother, you and Father have sacrificed so much to raise me. It is now my turn to
take care of you. I want to travel the world, hunt for valuable treasures and bring
back a lot of money. I ask for your permission and blessings to leave home.”

Si Deruma was saddened to hear this as she did not want to be apart from his only
child. However, she knew he deserved to be happy and have a better life. And so,
with a heavy heart, the old mother agreed.

The next day, Si Tanggang said goodbye to his parents and left the village.

Many, many years after he left his parents behind, Si Tanggang has now become a
successful and wealthy merchant. He has also married the daughter of a sultan and
lived in a beautiful mansion by the sea. He never thought of his parents anymore. He
never went back to look for them like he said he would.

As fate would have it, one fine day, Si Tanggang was sailing in his ship with his wife
when he chanced upon an old man and a woman rowing a small sampan. Si
Tanggang was shocked to see that it was his parents! Si Talang and Si Deruma had
earlier received word from the neighbours that their son’s ship was sailing nearby the
village. Upon hearing the good news, Si Deruma quickly prepared her son’s favourite
food and together with her husband, they went out to sea to welcome Si Tanggang
home.

When the sampan came close to the ship, Si Deruma called out to Si Tanggang:
“My son, do you not remember us anymore? It’s your mother! Your father and I
missed you very much!”.

Si Tanggang’s wife turned to her husband and asked, “Are they really your parents,
dear? But they looked so dirty, and the clothes they wear are all tattered and worn-
out…”

Immediately Si Tanggang’s face turned red with anger. “How dare they show
themselves like this!” Si Tanggang thought to himself. He then said aloud to his wife,
“Of course these two are NOT MY PARENTS! They are just old people who think I
am their son because I am rich!”

Si Tanggang simply shoved Si Deruma causing her to fall back into the sampan.

“GET AWAY FROM ME, OLD WOMAN!” Si Tanggang shouted. “I AM NOT YOUR
SON. I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I DON’T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU
TWO NEAR MY SHIP AGAIN!!”

Both Si Deruma and Si Talang were heart-broken to hear those harsh words. They
turned around the sampan and paddled slowly back to shore. After they landed, Si
Deruma fell to her knees and prayed to God: “Let there be retribution to my son for
he is arrogant. Let him not forget that it was I who had brought him into this world!”

Almost immediately after Si Deruma finished her prayers, the sky turned dark, the
wind blew strong as if a typhoon has come, and the waves swelled so high that Si
Tanggang’s ship was battered and nearly sank.

Si Tanggang became very frightened and felt a sudden rush of guilt for what he did
to his mother. He knew that the stormy sea was God’s punishment unto him for
being disloyal to his parents.

“Mother…I have wronged you and father! Forgive me, please…”, Si Tanggang cried
out, “Ask God to calm the sea once more for I don’t want to die….!!”

Si Deruma could only cry in hearing her son’s pleading, as God’s fury continued to
turn Si Tanggang, his wife and everyone on board the ship into boulders! The End.

The moral of the story, never disrespect your parents. Thank you.