Kusu Island

Kusu Island is located 5.6 km south-west of Singapore.¹ A Chinese temple and three Malay keramat (shrine) on the island attract thousands of pilgrims annually, especially in the 9th lunar month that falls between September and October. Kusu means “tortoise” or “turtle” in the Hokkien dialect. The island is also known as Pulau Tambakul (or Tembakul), Goa Island or Peak Island.²

History
According to some historical accounts, the earliest mention of Kusu reef was during the 17th century when Dom Jose de Silva, Spanish Governor of the Philippines, was believed to have run aground at Kusu reef in March 1616. The island then became known as “Governor's Island”.³

In 1806, the island was renamed "Goa Island"  by James Horsburgh, a hydrographer at the British East India Company. Soon after Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore in 1819, his hydrographer Daniel Ross selected the island as a reference point for ships entering the new port. In 1822, a signal station with a signal mast manned by the Harbour Master's Department was built on the island.⁴

Kusu Island was originally 1.2 ha, but landfill and reclamation in 1975 joined it with another coral outcrop, making it a 8.5 ha island resort.⁵ During the colonial era, the island served as the burial site for newly arrived immigrants who had died while in quarantine on St John's and Lazarus islands.⁶

Every year, on the 9th day of the 9th moon in the lunar calendar, a month-long festival stretching between September and November see more than 100,000 Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian pilgrims visit Kusu Island.⁷ The island houses a Chinese temple and three Malay keramat.⁸

According to the signboard located at the entrance of the Chinese temple, the temple was built in 1923 with donations from a wealthy businessman Chia Cheng Ho in honour of the Chinese deity Tua Pek Kong (or Da Bo Gong, which literally means “Grand Uncle”), the Merchant God or God of Prosperity. Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, is also prayed to at the temple.⁹

About 80 percent of the devotees are women, who mainly pray for prosperity, good husbands, healthy babies and obedient children.¹⁰ At least, five types of blessings are sought: longevity, wealth, tranquillity, love of virtue and a fulfilled destiny. Devotees also climb the 152 steps to reach the Malay shrines.¹¹ One of the shrines is dedicated to Syed Abdul Rahman while the other two are believed to belong to his mother, Nenek Ghalib, and his sister, Puteri Fatimah Shariffah.¹² Inscriptions at the shrines revealed that Nenek Ghalib had visited a Straits Chinese man, Hoe Beng Whatt, in his dreams in 1917, and requested for the shrines to be built. In return, she would grant the donors, success in their business.¹³

Legends
There are many legends surrounding the island, but they revolve mainly around the image of a giant turtle and of the friendship between two men, one Malay and the other Chinese.

• During the 9th lunar month, a huge turtle saved a group of sailors from the rough seas by turning itself into an island. The grateful sailors returned there the following year to make offerings of thanksgiving. Since then, the island has been treated as sacrosanct, and has become a place of worship.¹⁴
  
  
• Two fishermen had wrecked their boat while plying the waters near Kusu. Upon seeing their plight, a giant turtle transformed itself into an island to provide sanctuary for the shipwrecked fishermen to land on.¹⁵
  
  
• A sailing boat foundered near Kusu Island, and went down with the strong waves. Two survivors, a Chinese and a Malay, swam ashore. Stranded on the island, they lived on shrubs and wild shoots to survive. Their friendship lasted until they died. Years later, when a ship plagued by an epidemic dropped anchor near the island, the scourge miraculously disappeared, and the sick regained their health.¹⁶
  
  
• About 170 years ago, two holy men, Dato Syed Abdul Rahman, an Arab, and Yam, a Chinese, meditated and fasted on their pilgrimage to Kusu. Yam fell ill during the journey, and Syed prayed fervently for him. The sudden appearance of a boat with food and water saved both their lives. As time elapsed, the two men regularly visited Kusu to offer thanksgiving. When they died, they were buried next to each other on the island. Later, the Tua Pek Kong Temple and the Malay shrine were erected, and dedicated to their memory.¹⁷

Ferry services and amenities
Before ferry services to the island started in 1975, pilgrims had to travel in sampan and bumboats to reach the island. With the introduction of ferry services, pilgrims could take ferries from either Clifford Pier or the World Trade Centre to reach the island.¹⁸ Following the closure of Clifford Pier in 2006, all ferry services were relocated to Marina South Pier.¹⁹

Kusu Island is today a tourist attraction with its pristine beaches, lagoons, picnic tables and barbecue pits. However, camping overnight is not permitted on the island.²⁰

Variant names
Malay name: Pulau Tambakul (or Tembakul) after a type of fish.²¹
Other names: Goa Island; Peak Island.
Chinese name: Guiyu Dao (龟屿岛) in Mandarin.²²



Author
Vernon Cornelius-Takahama



References
1. “Turtle Island,” New Paper, 4 October 2002, 19. (From NewspaperSG)
2. Lu Caxia, “The Kusu Pilgrimage: An Enduring Myth,” Newsletter no. 59 (Spring 2012): 50–51; Jack Chia Meng-Tat, “Managing the Tortoise Island: Tua Pek Kong Temple, Pilgrimage, and Social Change in Pulau Kusu, 1965–2007,” 11, no, 2 (December 2009): 77.
3. Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 77–78.
4. Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 78.
5. Augustine Low, “Kusu: From Rocky Outcrop to Holiday Resort,” Straits Times, 5 October 1986, 3; “Kusu Gets a New Look,” Straits Times, 14 April 1977, 7. (From NewspaperSG)
6. Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 77.
7. Frances Dowsett, “Discovering Singapore,” New Nation, 13 November 1971, 7 (From NewspaperSG); Norman Edwards and Peter Keys, Singapore: A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places (Singapore: Times Books International, 1988), 481. (Call no. RSING 915.957 EDW-[TRA])
8. Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 77.
9. Chew Seng Kim, “Paying Homage on Kusu,” Straits Times, 29 October 1994, 16 (From NewspaperSG); Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 80; Lu, “The Kusu Pilgrimage: An Enduring Myth,” 50.
10. Dowsett, “Discovering Singapore.” 
11. Lu, “The Kusu Pilgrimage: An Enduring Myth,” 50; “200,000 Devotees for Annual Kusu Pilgrimage,” Straits Times, 12 October 1996, 33. (From NewspaperSG)
12. Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 77; Catherine Tan, “Annual Pilgrimage to Kusu Starts Today,” Straits Times, 6 October 1983, 9; Dowsett, “Discovering Singapore”; Lu, “The Kusu Pilgrimage: An Enduring Myth,” 50–51.
13. Lu, “The Kusu Pilgrimage: An Enduring Myth,” 50.
14. Dowsett, “Discovering Singapore.”
15. Lu, “The Kusu Pilgrimage: An Enduring Myth,” 50.
16. Dowsett, “Discovering Singapore.”
17. Lu, “The Kusu Pilgrimage: An Enduring Myth,” 50.
18. Low, “Kusu: From Rocky Outcrop to Holiday Resort”; Peter Ong, “Islands in the Sun,” New Nation, 5 June 1980, 10–11 (From NewspaperSG); Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 84.
19. “One Last Look at Clifford Pier,” Straits Times, 31 March 2006, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
20. “Kusu Island,” Singapore Tourism Promotion Board, accessed 10 September 2016.  
21. Sit Yin Fong, “Two Faiths Share Holy Island,” Straits Times, 24 October 1948, 4. (From NewspaperSG)
22. Chia, “Managing the Tortoise Island,” 72.



The information in this article is valid as of 10 September 2016 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.