Visit Palembang the Capital of South Sumatra

The lost fortunes of Kemarau

Happy face: A corpulent, happy Golden Buddha suggests prosperity may lie on the island. Happy face: A corpulent, happy Golden Buddha suggests prosperity may lie on the island.

Tales about the island of Kemarau, located near Palembang along the 800-kilometer Musi River that meanders across South Sumatra, are abound, with two of the most recounted riches-to-rags stories involving Chinese ships sailing down the river.

Both regrettably tragic tales could easily pass for mythology rather than straight history. The most popular one about this low-level island — often described as “the island that floats the river” as it mysteriously never seems to flood despite heavy rainfall — recounts the story of a Chinese commercial ship sailing down the river after its captain earned a fortune trading goods in Palembang.

Inebriated from celebrating his success, the captain neglects his sailing duties, sinks his ship near the island and spills all his riches into the river there. Since then, people have been searching the river to recover the fortunes believed to have sunk around the island.

In the second tale, which claims to explain how the island came to exist, a Chinese man by the name of Tan Bu An comes to Palembang to study and falls in love with a local princess called Siti Fatimah.

He asks for her hand in marriage but her parents insist upon gifts to allow the wedding to go ahead.

Tan Bu An sends a messenger back to his father in China asking for such gifts to be provided. When the messenger returns with fruits and vegetables, Tan Bu An is so disgusted he throws the gifts into the river, not realizing his father had placed money inside the edible gifts.

Upon finding out about the subterfuge, the enamored Chinese man frantically jumps into the river to find the discarded treasures, but soon drowns. Siti Fatimah, who rushes to the river the instant she finds out her love is lost in the river, also sadly drowns.

It seems however she had a premonition about her fate, so before entering the river’s waters, she leaves a message saying land may form in the place she will die, and the tree that will grow will be one of love.

Spell of beauty: The tall pagoda is the most outstanding feature of the island. Spell of beauty: The tall pagoda is the most outstanding feature of the island.

The land that emerged is said to be Kemarau Island. It is also believed the spirit of Tan Bu An remains on the island and over the years, the local Chinese community has consequently come to see Kemarau as a special place.

Nowadays, the main attractions are a Chinese temple and pagoda, built as a result of those mythical stories.

The Taoist temple, dedicated to a deity that protects homes, villages and rural areas on the island, was erected in the 1960s and receives a fairly constant flow of worshippers. Those visitors usually brave the murky waters of the river by slow sampan (a flat-bottomed skiff usually propelled by two short oars) or fast speedboat to make offerings and say their prayers.

A tall Chinese pagoda erected in 2006 is now the most distinctive feature of this otherwise flat island.

Many Chinese figures are represented in relief or statues, with the most alluring of these being a huge venerable golden standing Buddha, seemingly laughing out loud looking across the river. The island tends to fill up during festival times such as the Chinese New Year, but otherwise remains a haven of peace the rest of the year.

A peaceful moment: Worshippers make their offerings and say their prayers at various locations around the island. A peaceful moment: Worshippers make their offerings and say their prayers at various locations around the island.

Pilgrims — local and sometimes from Singapore and Malaysia — who come to pay respect to their deities, leaving the sweet smell of their burning incense sticks to waft across the island.

How much truth there is to the tale of Tan Bu An and Siti Fatimah cannot really be said, but hopefuls can still be seen scouring the river looking some of the lost riches of that wedding gift.

With many believing the island is still haunted by the spirit of Siti Fatimah’s suitor, Kemarau remains a sleepy little outcrop of Indonesia, enveloped by the Musi River’s murky waters.

While much of the surroundings are industrial, the island remains a charming get away for those seeking quietness.

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North Korea vows to defend itself after sea clash

North Korea warned it will aggressively defend itself in disputed waters where a bloody naval clash with rival South Korea took place last week, though tempered its rhetoric by indicating it wants better relations with Seoul and Washington.

The exchange of fire off the western coast was the first in seven years and came ahead of a trip to Seoul by President Barack Obama. A senior South Korean military officer said one North Korean officer died and three others were wounded. South Korea suffered no casualties.

North Korea's warning Friday - issued by a high-ranking military officer - follows vows to punish South Korea carried in North Korean state newspapers Thursday. The military also repeated its demand that South Korea apologize for Tuesday's skirmish.

The divided Koreas have long been at odds over their western sea border and fought battles in the area in 1999 and 2002. The North insists a line imposed by the U.N. command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War be redrawn farther south, a demand rejected by South Korea.

North Korea's military also said it "will take merciless military measures to defend" its interpretation of the border "from this moment." It said South Korea would be forced to pay a heavy price for the firefight, though did not elaborate.

Despite those strong words, the message also indicated North Korea's wish to continue a thaw in relations with South Korea and the United States.

It blamed what it described as "conservative forces" in South Korea as well as its military for trying to spoil moves toward detente on the Korean peninsula.

According to the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the warning was sent to South Korea by a military officer who heads the military delegation that occasionally holds talks with South Korea's military.

Both Koreas have blamed the other for provoking the skirmish.

In Washington, the State Department told Pyongyang to avoid behavior that raises tensions.

"We would urge North Korea to refrain from that kind of bellicose rhetoric and, in general, avoid any kind of provocative actions that would further inflame the tension in the region," said spokesman Ian Kelly.

South Korean officials have largely shrugged off the North's threats, saying they can deter any military moves off the coast. The country's 680,000-member military has been on guard following the skirmish, though officials said they have seen no evidence of unusual North Korean moves.

Analysts have said that while North Korea craves the kind of attention that comes with such clashes, the chance of further conflict appears unlikely as it does not want to scuttle upcoming talks with the U.S.

"North Korea does not want to harm the atmosphere of dialogue with the United States," said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Seoul's Dongguk University.

Obama's special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, is scheduled to visit Pyongyang by year's end in a mission to secure North Korea's return to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations, which the North walked away from earlier this year.

Kelly, the State Department spokesman, said the trip will probably take place at the end of this month or early December.

Obama, meanwhile, is due to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday for talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, part of a regional tour that began Friday in Japan.

The two Koreas have remained technically at war since the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The U.S. stations 28,500 troops in South Korea to deter potential North Korean aggression.