RICH TEENAGER

Saving Money

Musa worked very hard and he got paid very well. He saved half of his daily income and spent the rest for foods and drinks and shelter. He rented a small room behind the company's hardware and stock buildings. The room was constructed by himself with the company's materials. 

I was told by grandpa that Musa had been saving lot of money for his future investment. He intended to invest not in Singapore but in some other places in Malaya.

Musa was also a faithful Muslim. With lot of money in hands, Musa was not drifted away with such immoral activities and leisures living which probably or usually enjoyed by other teenagers at his age. He has got no girl friends and have not visited pubs or night clubs, what more a whore.

His daily working hours ended at 5.00 pm and he extended it up to 7.00pm everyday as an overtime. He had been working everyday without a leave. His every night time ended at as early as 9.30pm when he went to sleep. As early as 5.00am he already woke up and ready for business. At 6.00am he already in the dockyard loaded or unloaded merchandises.

He had his breakfast together with lunch at 11.00am where he took his daily half an hour break. He had another break for another half an hour for Zuhr prayer (noon) and another half an hour for Asr prayer (afternoon prayer).

His way of life had been the talk of the place where he'd been working. Some admired him and some not. But he was the darling of the company. Should he had an English education he would surely had been appointed as a supervisor or higher rank or better post in the company. So, he remained as a laborer in the company...for couple of years there.

My grandpa wasn't really sure about the company that his father (Musa) had been working with. He could not remember the company's name but he knew his father had been working in Singapore with an English company.

THE SURVIVAL

Temasek, 1885

The fleet of 3 Pinisis had left Temasek heading towards Makassar without Musa on board. They did not even bother about Musa's disappearance from their ship. They were confident that Musa will survive in any where he lived in this world because he was a though hard working boy with good visions to success in future life.

That was true indeed.

Musa was easily taken by a company in the Temasek harbor to work as its laborer. Musa has no problem to find a place to stay because he had his own saving. He was all right financially. He was being paid for jobs or works done on board of the ship from Makassar to Singapore several weeks before that. He did not choose or seek good jobs. So long as the jobs or works were paid in cash, that will do for him. In just a matter of few days in Temasek, Musa had established himself as a good servant to the company.

That Temasek was known as Singapura during Musa's ocupancy in the island. Since the date Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles opened and established Singapura as a British port in 1819, the island had vastly expanded from a dull Malay fishing village into a very important port connecting China in the east and India in the west for the East India Company.

Although in Musa's time the East India Company was no longer in existence, the port of Singapura continued to be the most important port in South East Asia. The port grew rapidly as the place of trade exchanging markets between the Pacific in the east and the Hindi in the west.

At the age of 16 in 1885, Musa had been an important person who contributed to the development of modern Singapura which was later on renowned by the world as Singapore.

Singapore today...

THE ESCAPE 5

The Fleet

Sailing along with Musa's ship were the other two Pinisi making the fleet of 3 Pinisis altogether. All ships were equipped with canons and armed with weapons to defend them from the attack of pirates in Java Sea and South China Sea. They might encounter with pirates in Karimata Straits before they can reach Temasek or Singapura (Singapore). Then they might encounter other pirates in the Straits of Malacca before they can anchor safely in the Malacca harbor as their final destination.

So, the fleet was considered as strong, reliable and safe for the passengers, the sailors and the goods/merchandises on board. The should be able to sail without any attack from the pirates..., the strongest one was the South China Pirates and the Pirates Lords of the South China Seas of the 18th Centuries.

The fleet however managed to sail to Temasek safely without encountering any single disturbance from the pirates. The fleet unloaded some of the goods/merchandises in Temasek harbor before continuing their journey to Malacca harbor.

And, when they continued to sail, they found out that Musa was missing. He wasn't on board of the three Punisis. The decided to proceed the journey to Malacca harbor and will stop again in Temasek on the way back to search for Musa.

They believed that Musa had escaped while they were busy unloading the merchandises in the Temasek harbor. They will just take a look whether Musa was arround. They will not go far into the Island of Temasek if Musa was not spotted in the harbor. They will not concern so much about Musa. They will not stop again and anchor the ship at Temasek if it was not for taking some goods/merchandises to bring home for sale. So, seeking Musa was not really great things to do.

So, it was another escape by Musa and this time he was no longer on the ship. He was on the shore of new land to start a brand new life in a new circumstances for his survival. He had been in Temasek Island which was thosands of miles away from his homeland, the South Sulawesi...

THE ESCAPE 4

The Family of Musa

Why Musa sailed?

I don't really know why Musa left his family. I was told by my late Allahyarham Grandfather (Musa's youngest son) that Musa came from a big and respectable Bugis family in downtown of Makassar, South Sulawesi. His father was the village chief and the Imam of the Mosque. His parents taught Qur'an for the villagers and were renowned as among the best Qur'an reciters.

Musa's entire young life was filled in with religious, customs and traditions of Bugis. He was trained by his parents to obey and follow the religious and respect the elders. He was not allowed to leave the village save and except accompanied by his parents or other relatives in his family circle. He was sent to religious school in his village to recite and study Qur'an and other religious syllabus. The school's headmaster was his father. Musa was well controlled by his father and under full disciplinary observation. He had lost his freedom as a child and as a teenager.

When his age entering 15 years old he started to dream about escaping from his family. He heard and learned about the Dutch and Holland, British, Spanish and other races like Arabs, Chinese and Indians. His vision was to sail to those countries away from home, to learn something new and ran away from his parents' control. He had a very wide outlook on his life and his future.

So, that was probably the main reason why Musa escaped from his family. No one from his village knew where he had gone. After several months then his parents concluded and accepted the facts that Musa was disappeared and vanished into the world of Bunians. The search for Musa was stopped accordingly.

THE ESCAPE 3

Phinisi/Pinisi, the Ship

modern Pinisi, the two masted scooner/yacht

The ship which Musa was on board was a wooden two masted yacht constructed in the famous Bugis harbor called Paotere in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The ship was well known as the Phunisi/Punisi and became the proud of the nation of Indonesia.

the beautiful modern Pinisi schooner anchoring

Further details about the yacht can be obtained by clicking Pinisi now.

THE ESCAPE 2

The Hideout


Musa struggled for his life, for his survival. He did not want to die at the age of 16. He wanted to do many things in his life. He must not let himself drowned. He was a young boy with such a wide outlook on life.

He swam and swam with difficulties. He fought against big waves, under sea current and strong wind with beads of rain striking his face. Suddenly there came a big wave and the water splashed onto his face.

Musa woke up from his long sleep. Someone has found his hiding box inside the ship. That fellow splashed a bucket of water onto his face after failing to wake up Musa.

Musa had sneaked into the ship 1 day before the ship started sailing, leaving the harbor of Paotere in Makassar (Ujung Pandang). He brought along some breads and two pots of water for his survival during his hiding in the ship.

The ship was a proud traditional two masted wooden yacht constructed by the Bugis known as the Phinisi/Pinisi. It became the proud of the Indonesia for hundreds of years ago till today and considered as one of toughest wooden boats in production today.

photo of modern 2 masted Phinisi yacht

The ship along with 2 other Phinisi were on its own scheduled trip to Malacca in the Malay Peninsula, carrying local spices such as cloves, peppers and other products from Maluku (onions and garlics).

When they found Musa about 1 week later the fleet were about half way through its journey. It was impossible to turn back to send Musa home. So, they have to let him in and sailed towards Temasik, Singapura (Singapore) before entering the Straits of Malacca. But, with his matured and tough physical appearance, it was not difficult for Musa to gain the confidence from the Captain of the ship. Soon after that, Musa had became a familiar and important living robot doing everything asked or ordered by the sailors and the passengers of the ship. Poor Musa was a very helpful teenager.

a sailing Phinisi yacht

Traveling by sea at that time was dangerous and always exposed to the pirates attacks and  treacherous waters. That was the main reason young boys and kids were not allowed to board the ship and sail together.

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THE ESCAPE 1

Young MUSA

The name was MUSA BIN ABDULLAH. A male 16 years old Bugis boy from unknown family of a fishermen's village in isolated part of Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Like other young Bugis of his age Musa loved the sea very much. His entire young life was spent on the sea activities as a fisherman.

One day he went to fishing in open sea with his 2 cousins with a small wooden boat. The boat was equipped with one mast for small cloth sail and 2 paddles for rowing purposes.

The luck was not in their favor when suddenly they were hit by a storm. The small boat turned upside down after being hit by a huge wave. The three youngsters hung to the wooden boat. But the wave was too strong. One after another lost their grips to the boat and vanished...