Now it’s TWO dragons of Luang Mondou
MY ARTICLE “Believe it or not: The dragon of Luang Mondou” (which was also translated to Malay and posted in Facebook) attracted quite a number of reactions from a lot of people. So far there has been 605 shares and 711 likes - a record for me.
Additional information given through the comments is a lot, which added to the richness of this factual tale. It turned out that there wasn’t just one dragon, but two, the second being smaller than the one I wrote about, which left the hill sometime later.
Jenius Gubal said that the people of Manggatal, Inanam and Tuaran since a long time ago been talking about the existence of the dragon in Telipok.
Confirming that the sighting of the dragon departing from the hill was in 1951, he said that both dragons didn’t go directly to the sea but went to wallow at the nearby lake at the Lobou rubber state.
In those days the leaders were giving warnings to their children never ever to go anywhere near the lake. Reported to have a deep part, this lake still exists today near Tebobon where people around the area sometime go to fish.
“My uncle who was from Mansiang, Manggatal, himself had seen the dragon in the Labour estate lake. One Sharif we called Bapa Tua, a Dusun-speaking Javanese, who was a mandore in the estate advised people not to be too concerned with the dragons, saying “Kada kou kosuaiai dilo molohing mindada” (Don’t be too concerned with those elders taking taking a rest).
It’s a native tradition to respectfully call frightful creatures (including crocodiles) “odu” (grandma), “aki” (grandpa) or molohing (elder).
Darwis Abdullah reported that the dragons’ eyes were as big as eating plates according to his Dusun friend from Kg. Bantayan, Tamparuli.
Spencer Juman, after reading my article, sought information on it from his father who confirmed that he himself had seen the dragons crossing the Tuaran road at Lobou, leaving two trails, each wide enough for a lorry to pass over. “Even drivers of big lorries had to stop their vehicles until the dragons had finished crossing the road,” his father said.
Ready J. Kadau wrote that he had also heard this story from elders who told him that if the dragon scratched itself, the hills all the way to Gunung Emas (on the Penampang-Tambunan Road ) would be shaking. Villagers who went hunting had also seen huge trails on which tall grass were flattened.
Rocky Mabin, now a Wakil Ketua Anak Negeri in Telipok, commented that the caves of the Luang Mondou dragons were connected to the Botung Lalas river of Kg. Tolungan.
“It was said that if one were to throw in a sugar cane tree into the Luang Mondou cave, it will later be seen floating in that river. This suggests that the cave leads to the river,” he wrote.
“My elders in the village had also told stories of a dragon which, if it roared, it would be heard for miles around. And the roaring would be bad omen of natural calamities such as storms, typhoons, long draughts or pestilences.”
Lidi Stephen also had sought confirmation of the veracity of the dragon’s existence from her father who told her the beast had once gone to the sea near Papar. Cny Cnyora too had heard of this dragon from elders who said there is still a dragon in Ranau today where the creature is called “tombuakar.”
Angie Gims was told by her father-in-law that the dragon was as big as a tank (drum).
Razul Rafie Radz informed that his grandmother who is now 92 has seen the trail of the dragon, and his greatgrandmother (his grandmother’s mother) had personally witnessed the dragon passing over a road.
Janet Dusing called me to inform of a report that there is a dragon still residing in the jungles in Sandakan today and some people have even fenced off the path used by the dragon to go to sea quite often. Unfortunately she doesn’t know anyone who can confirm the report.
Esther Bernard, meanwhile, said a friend of hers (with the friend’s siblings and mother) had actually seen a dragon flying in Tambunan. “Their mother who was sick at that time was the first one to see the flying dragon,” Esther said.
Nurasmahwati Doyot said elders in her village in Kg. Serudung Laut, Tawau had also told stories of the Luang Mondou dragons, and in Tawau there was, or were, winged lions which devoured humans. Now only its cave is left and taken over by a huge snake which would hiss loudly if people passed near the cave’s mouth.
Karen Bayru meanwhile said that her father who was born and raised in the now abandoned Kg. Tobon, Kiulu, had often mentioned the dragon.
“The dragon often would move around the flat grounds of the area. When it laid itself acoss paths, vehicles couldn’t even pass through, and people couldn’t even see where its tail was, meaning the ‘snake’ was very long indeed,” Karen wrote. “Even my uncle used to go and medidate near the sleeping snake supposedly to gain magical power.”
One Joseph reported that in Beaufort there is one high hill called Monunduk Sirung, on which every night there is a light.
“I have seen the light myself,” he said. “I don’t know the source of this light but some people have heard very loud roaring sound from the direction of that hill.”
Would anyone dare to go and investigate? Aaron Teddy wrote that the sound emited by the Luang Mondou dragons were so loud, like the sound of a gong, that they could be heard all the way to Kg. Buli.
“The villagers believe that if that gong-like sounds were heard, it meant someone had suffered kempunan (having misfortune for missing the partaking of certain foods).
Idimin Gurumong wrote that in Kota Belud there is a story of two heroes who killed a ferocious dragon which devoured livestock in the villages. The hide of the dragon was used in making drums.
Meanwhile, Eto Matulai said that their manager told of a story that in 2001, their access to their logging camp was blocked by a dragon, which rested on the bypass connecting Mendulung, Sipitang and Kemabong, Tenom.
“This was witnessed by the driver of the stalled lorry and the logging workers,” he wrote. “A weak-spirited worker became sick immediately after the encounter.”
Jesreccy Jelis Clare reported that there is another Luang Mondou cave in Kg. Talungan, Kiulu, once occupied by lions. The entrance is enough for a moderate-sized man.
“Anyone entering the cave must bring ropes and threads because one can get lost inside as the cave has many branches,” she wrote. “There is a story of a man who entered it without a tracking thread and it took him seven days to find his way out.”
Barnabas Laudi who originated from Kg. Bambangan Lama in Tuaran heard stories from elders that in an uphill region in Tuaran there is a cave going down into the earth into which someone was feeding chickens regularly for the benefit of a large creature looking like a monitor lizard.
“According to stories the cave leads underground all the way to Tambunan,” he said.
Koulong Kojiun shared a story that his father told of a story when the river in his village was dammed overnight by some unknown force.
Huge trees some as large as two arm stretches in circumferences, from both sides of the river were broken off to be made into the dam, with the addition of huge rocks. “What kind of power could achieve such a feat?” he asked.
“After a week the villagers became very worried that the dam would burst and cause devastation. So they conducted a traditional ritual to seek the power behind the dam’s creation to dismantle the dam. The spirit then told the villagers through a medium that, on such day and time, it would come out.
And it warned that no one should be near the river bank then. The day the dam was dismantled the people saw in the floating debris and splashing water two eyes shining like the burning coals. What creature could that be?”
Many Facebookers, surprisingly, reported that they themselves had entered the dragons’ cave at Luang Mondou, including Anthony Kasang, Rocky Mabin (entering it in the mid-1970s), Singkudut Meris (entered in the 1960s), Ah Tet (in 1992), James Kapok (entered from Kg. Togung several times, the last time in 1996), Max Well, Ju Hanz (when he was a Primary 6 pupil), Gan Emma (1980s with many friends), Salinia Marcus La’soul (many times, the last time in 2002), Roy Mt (1980s), Singkudut Meris (1960s), and many others.
All readers are supportive of reverting to the hill’s old name of Luang Mondou except for Salinia Marcus La’soul who said the name Lawa Mondou was officially adopted to make the name sound more attractive.
But Usdy AG feels that without using “luang” (cave) the historical background of the place would be lost, and “lawa” according to Kamus Dewan means “denai” or animal tracks in the jungle.
And all who mentioned my suggestion that the hill be made a tourist attraction are excitedly supporting it. But the most enterprising respondent to the story is Robert Sopining who recently actually went to explore the cave with friends.
As someone who had experienced cave exploring in Australia , he is knowledgeable about safety equipments (incuding walkie talkies) and precautions for such activity.
He responded to my private message that the cave is “70 percent vertival.”
Thanking me for stimulating his interest in the site, he said they went down to about 30 feet but couldn’t proceed because the path was blocked by a rock. “We will go again next Sunday (today) to try to remove the blocking rock and exlore further in,” he said.
“The protem committee to implement the Lawa Mondow tourism committee has already been setup, and I have been contacted by several parties, including a geologist.”
Many have also reported that the mouth of the cave has become smaller due to earth collapse, and after the building of the RTM broadcast-relay tower there is now a security checkpoint (according to Wahid Awie) to discourage people from going to the cave due to safety reasons. Sikinor Gunu suggest perhaps a different approach route should be created.
Rocky Mabin said when he went inside in the 1970s there were lots of small bats (pungit) and he saw a back-striped snake.
Many people have thanked me heartily for having brought up this story of a local dragon, for which as Sailon Tipai said I am now ‘famous.’ “Yes, I said, a dragon celebrity!”
The locals around Telipok have undeniably been stimulated into becoming a dragon-andtourism-thinking people and have seen the high potential of converting Luang Mondou Hill into a highly popular tourist attraction, having a funicular train, somewhat like the fame and popularity of Penang Hill.
The promise for stunning panoramas from the top of the hill should be a driving force for its future development.