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Showing posts from February, 2017

The Smong - an unheeded tale

While visiting Banda Aceh over Chinese New Year, we (my family and I) were taken on board a 2,600 ton floating power plant that the force of the 2004 Tsunami pushed 5 km inland, crushing everything in its path. The power plant is too heavy to be shipped back to sea, so the Indonesian Government just converted into a museum. One exhibit was a 200 year old poem by the people of Simeulue Island about Smong; Enggel mon sao curito (Listen to this story) Inang maso semonan (Of a time long ago) Manoknop sao fano (a village was drowned) Uwi lah da sesewan (So the story goes) Unen ne alek linon (Preceded by a quake) Fesang bakat ne mali (Then a wave so high) Manoknop sao hampong (all the land was engulfed) Tibo-tibo mawi (all of a sudden) Anga linon ne mali (If the quake is strong) uwek suruik sahuli (and the sea ebbs) Maheya mihawali (at once seek) Fano me singa tenggi (your place on higher grounds ) Ede smong kahanne (That is Smong) Turiang da nenekta (Hist