Believe it or not: The ‘dragon’ of Luang Mondou
TODAY, permit me to go out on a limb and write about something truly out of the ordinary - about a dragon! This story was told to me several years ago but it took me that long to decide whether or not to retell it as a columnist, worried it might be too fantastic to be believed, hence could put a dent on my integrity as a professional writer!
But the story has been struggling inside me, demanding to be told, to such an extent that after years now, I feel the only way I can stop the urge is to release it, and allow the “dragon” inside me to find its way into our stock of true local folktales!
The story was told to me by my blood uncle, Augustine Lubit Juma, I think about four years ago. His late father, Juma Tanggalut, who later went by the traditional appellative (pongintamo) of Akin Julita (Grandfather of Julita), was travelling by bus to Tuaran from Penampang in the early 1950s when an unforgettable incident took place.
It was a period during which many residents of Penampang, including Juma, decided to migrate to a location in Tuaran which is now known as Penampang Baru.
The bus which Juma boarded was the small old model one which was half wooden. I believe a model of the bus was exhibited outside the Sabah Museum at one time.
As the bus reached somewhere in Telipok, it had to stop because a similar-model bus ahead of them had stopped and the passengers were running back to the side of Juma’s bus.
It was clear they were all extremely frightened, with fear showing on their ashen faces. When asked what was happening they couldn’t even say anything, and only managed to point to their backs as if to warn Juma and his fellow passengers of a very frightful, mortal danger.
It was only after a while that the frightened runners managed to collect themselves and were calm enough to tell Juma and the others what actually happened.
They said that their bus had to stop because a huge green “snake”, a very long one was crossing the road in the western direction - from the Kokol hills to the direction of the sea.
The torso of the snake was so huge that it was higher than their buses and the scales on the snake’s body were as large as dinner plates!
It has been confirmed by some residents in Telipok that prior to that incident, the top of the highest peak in the Kokol Hills now known as Lawa Mondou was often having a bright light shining on it at night, and visible to all the villagers in the area.
The light, of course, was believed to be the fire emitted by the dragon residing at the spot. By the way, “Lawa Mondou”is actually a corruption of the older and more accurate name of Luang Mondou (meaning ‘the hole of the dragon’). Apparently the road incident which involved Juma was the day the dragon decided to leave its hole in Luang Mondou to go to the sea and never to come back again. After that departure in the early 1950s the peak of Luang Mondou had never again had any shining light at night.
Now most readers may think this could be just a fairytale told by old folks from the distant past, but it took place in the early 1950s with witnesses.
But what other proofs can be used to corroborate the story? For one thing, the name “Luang Mondou” (dragon’s hole) is a strong indicator of the erstwhile existence of a dragon there. But if the name mentions a hole, where is the hole? Is there one?
My fellow villager in Tuaran, Raynold Roslee Dahar, told me that he, as a member of a geological team, once went to the peak of Lung Mondou to undertake a soil research - and there he himself saw a huge hole going vertically into the earth.
The opening of the hole, he said, “was about 20 feet in width. If you drop a stone into the hole, you will never hear a sound of it hitting the bottom.”
This seems to indicate that the hole indeed is immensely deep, and that any dragon living in it would possibly be 10 to 15 feet in its body’s cross section!
To me that’s indication enough. And let’s note that holes of dragons are found also in other parts of Sabah , such in Ranau. And “mondou” is a commonly-used word (to mean “dragon” although in Tuaran it seems to mean “lion”).
This seems to indicate that at one time they were quite a number of dragons around Sabah. Would anyone having “true” dragons stories of their districts message me on my Facebook page?
An interesting question can be asked from this story: What do dragons feed on? Such a huge body mass would need a lot of food to survive, but there seems to be no stories of people or livestock being devoured by dragons, fortunately.
It’s believe that some dragons are carnivorous (meat eating) while others are herbivorous (plant eating).
Another matter worth noting is that eastern dragons, mainly celebrated in China , are snakelike and are unable to fly, while European dragons, popularized in Hollywood movies, are bat-like fliers with huge wings.
So now that we have quite convincingly established the erstwhile existence of a dragon in Lawa Mondou can we now establish the site as a biologically historic site?
Would anyone with the means and interest like to develop the hill’s peak as a tourist attraction? Would any biologist or geologist want to create history by going into the deep mysterious hole up there to see what’s inside?
Or perhaps, because of the possible mortal dangers, why not just send an unmanned exploring vehicle to enter the hole’s deepest parts?
Will they find dragons scales and poops in there? With enough publicity and live telecast, such a venture would attract millions of audiences watching in real time worldwide. With such a potential amount of live audience the advertising sponsorship and revenue would rake in quite a lot millions of dollars!
The huge hole can be fenced up for security to visitors, the peak can be developed into a park and a Penang-like hill tram can be installed, and, walla! a new great tourist attraction comes into reality in currently boring Telipok!
With this potential, the indigenous people of Telipok should form a Luang Mondou Tourism Development Committee (LMTDC) group to claim right to the venture, so that the future tourism revenues can be channelled directly to the local folk instead of to some foreign interests.
And, please, let’s do something to change the name from Lawa Mondou to Luang Mondou, a name which has a hugely more meaningful and historic significance!