BATU BERSURAT

HISTORICAL ROCK PANGKOR ISLAND There is a Dutch inscription stone (Tiger Rock) located near the beach of Kampung Teluk Gedung. What was carved on the stone was a picture of a tiger devouring a slave. Two leaf-shaped circles and also Dutch and English words that read \"If Carlo 1743\". The year was recorded as the year of the Dutch re-occupation of Pangkor Island after being expelled by the population led by Panglima Kulup around the 1690s. There are various stories behind the stone, Among the interesting stories, the Bugis and the Malays have kidnapped and killed the son of a Dutch nobleman to take revenge on the Dutch cruelty in treating the locals. When the Dutch soldiers searched for the boy, the locals made up a story by stating that they saw the tiger had run away from the boy. But other residents of Pangkor Island believe that it was not the tiger that ran away from the boy but the Malay dignitaries who were dissatisfied and wanted to free Pangkor from the Netherlands. That is why this Dutch soldier painted a picture of a tiger that symbolizes 'the Malays'. This rock is also known as ‘Tiger Rock’ because of the picture of the tiger. In the past this stone was smaller in size than it is now and this stone seems to be alive because it is able to grow from its original relatively small size. The length of this stone is now 10.7 meters, its width is 4.6 meters and its height is 4.3 meters. But recently discovered Dutch archival documents mention that \"no garrison should be placed on Pangkor, and a stone pillar should be erected having the emblems of the Dutch India Company (VOC) and Dutch United Province\". Upon close inspection, the 'tiger' image is actually a lion clutching arrows - The emblem of the Dutch United Province.