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Pulau Sekudu Is Not Frog Island?

Hi all,

Today I'd like to talk about the tiny rocky island off the coast of Chek Jawa called Pulau Sekudu or "Frog Island" - or should it really be called as such?

Pulau Sekudu at low-tide. Photo courtesy of Ria Tan

According to legends, Pulau Ubin was formed by three different animals - a pig, an elephant and a frog - who challenged one another in a race from mainland Singapore to the shores of Johor. The animals swore that if they were not successful, they would be turned into stone - and stones/islands they became.

The pig and the elephant struggled across the strait, eventually drowning and forming two separate islands which we know as Pulau Ubin today. While Pulau Ubin is undeniably just one single island, it was in fact historically two different islands separated by the Jelutong River. The two islands were eventually merged into one when prawn farmers and rearers built mud bunds across the river to catch on with the thriving prawn farming industry. As to which of the two islands were the elephant and the pig, that still remains a mystery till this very day.

However, it wasn't too difficult to know which island the frog turned into - there is even a boulder that resembles a frog on it. Thus Pulau Sekudu is widely accepted to be known today as "Frog Island".

The famous frog rock formation which gave Pulau Sekudu its name. Photo courtesy of Ria Tan

But here's the thing: it was only when I spoke with a lot of the Malay residents on Ubin, both former and current, where I realised the way they pronounced the island was very different from the way it was spelt. If read as it was, it should have been pronounced 'se-koo-doo', but nearly all the Malay residents pronounced it as 'se-ko-dok' with a very prominent 'k' at the end. It was as though it would have been called se-kodok with 'se' meaning 'a' or 'one' in Malay.

Kodok is actually the Malay word for toad.

Could it be possible that "Frog Island" should have been called "Toad Island"? Not only are toads and frogs extremely similar and difficult to differentiate from afar, even the Malay translation of the island would have suggested that it was a toad instead; as should it had been a frog, chances are Pulau Sekudu/Sekodok would have been called "Pulau Sekatak".

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

Furthermore, are the legends also suggesting that a frog - a webbed-feet amphibian which spends a huge majority of its life on water and a swimming move named after it - drowned? While it is true that certain toads can swim, they would prefer drier environments as compared to their amphibian cousin and are as likely to drown as a pig and an elephant would in deep waters. If you're interested, you may find out more about the basic differences between a frog and a toad in this short but informative YouTube video I found.

Yet again, this is all just folklore. Animals (and people) don't turn into stones or islands (at least anymore in this day and age). But you can't deny how interesting islands get their names and the legends that came with it.

May Pulau Ubin thrive again, with its people in its heart.

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