Eleven Stories from the Southeast – “Prologue”

Pemenang, Past and Present

There had been almost no trace of history which could be used as a reference about Pemenang in Pemenang District. Later, I found out this reason from one of the religious leaders in Pemenang, Mr. Nengah Karuna, that it was impossible that Pemenang had no tradition and historical record. But where were those historical facts hidden?

According to the memory of Mr. Nengah Karuna, when the change of regime happened in the past, there was some sort of mending in the livelihood of the Muslims of Indonesia by the New Order regime. Various local religious activities which were deemed not in accordance with the religious law were removed completely. And it happened all across North Lombok region. Reportedly, all of our historical evidence was thrown away.

But actually, through some of the available evidence, it shows that there is a strong relation between people of Bayan, Sokong (Tanjung) and Pemenang because there is a discovery of the same lontar (papyrus) in these three locations. In addition, there are also lontar, which tell about the spread of Islam in North Lombok, which have similar stories and are stored at several sacred locations in each of those places.

Some people who try to discover the history of North Lombok say that for some places, the history is very clear. But for the history of Pemenang, it is still confusing. Perhaps, Pemenang has a relation with Sheikh Malaka who came to spread Islam in North Lombok. It might also have a relation with Bapuq Bayang, or might also have something to do with Gajah Mada expansion after conquering Bali, or maybe the fall of Majapahit ultimately made some Majapahit authorities escape, so that they arrived at this North Lombok. However, it is just a ‘story’ of a history, especially when we have no authentic evidence to prove the story. All could be true, depending on each version. If we want to really dig it, according to Mr. Karuna Nengah, we need to go to Leiden Museum, Netherlands.

The confusion about Pemenang history makes the chance for analysis and historical studies wide-open. Various opinions circulate among the community. It is alright. But the story is not necessarily true.

There are two versions that are commonly known to the public about the origin of the name of Pemenang. The first one is the version I hear from a young figure in Pemenang, Herman Zohdi, S.Pd.I. He had the opportunity to conduct a research on several villages in North Lombok. He explains that from his research findings about Pemenang which was performed around 1994, the word Pemenang comes from the legend of Bapuq Bayang. Bapuq in English means grandfather and Bayang (shadow) is a nickname given by the community to the figure because of his ability to replicate himself or to make a replica of him.

One time, a kingdom wanted to attack Pemenang. At that time, Pemenang’s ruler who had a relation with Karang Asem Kingdom in Cakra was upset. However Bapuq Bayang, who had been a security officer at Pemenang for a long time, was ready to counter the attack alone. When the attack from the enemy was coming, Bapuq Bayang duplicated himself. The enemy became afraid seeing so many soldiers were ready to fight them. Eventually, feeling outnumbered, the enemy retreated, and Pemenang won the battle. Because of that victory, Bapuq Bayang was called Pemenang, which eventually became the name of Pemenang District. (In Nengah Karuna’s version, Pemenang was not attacked, but Anak Agung who asked the troops—one of them was Bapuq Bayang—to attack).

The second story I get from a Mangku Ayu, in Jeliman Ireng, East Pemenang Village, Pemenang District. The name of the Mangku Ayu is Mr. Jenalip. He tells me that in Pemenang there was a magic gong which now is located in Jeliman Ireng. One day, an army would attack Pemenang. Pemenang residents who had already known about the enemy attack reported to the other Pemenang residents. Thus, the elder of Jeliman Ireng, who knew about the danger, hit the gong. Once the gong was hit, the ground where the soldiers who would attack the Pemenang stood instantly vibrated. The earthquake occurred and killed many of those soldiers. Finally, the leader of the soldiers ordered to retreat. He thought that the nature did not allow them to attack Pemenang. Since then the word Pemenang had been pinned to the location which bordered with the Gili Islands in the north and the Sinjong Hill in the south because the Pemenang citizens had already won before the battle.

Regardless of the confusion of Pemenang history, today Pemenang becomes a district. In the past, Pemenang was still a village and was part of Tanjung District. Currently Pemenang District has 5 villages: West Pemenang Village, East Pemenang Village, Malaka Village, Gili Indah Village and Persiapan Menggala Village. The center of Pemenang District is located in two villages, East Pemenang Village and West Pemenang Village. This downtown of Pemenang is later called Pemenang City.

Then, various activities in Pemenang are reflected in the Bangsal Harbor itself. Various activities of the local community enliven Bangsal. In the morning, we will meet a wide range of activity, from the workers, ticket sellers, souvenir sellers, the passengers, fishermen, cidomo drivers and various other activities. While in the afternoon, we will find children playing along the beach in Bangsal. Some of them play ball, swim, look for shells and the most impressive thing is how the residents come with their families to enjoy pelecing kangkung in Bangsal.

Since a long time ago, various activities of the citizens of Pemenang could be found in Bangsal, as well as the three religions in Pemenang. Not infrequently we see the activity of worship and religious rituals that are carried out there.

Based on Mr. Nengah Karuna’s memory, when he was a child and Bangsal’s condition was not like now, where the sand was still widespread and permanent buildings were not many, at full moon and even almost every night, they played at Bangsal. Mr. Nengah and his friends had a good time in Bangsal.

I still remember myself that I and my friends had a memorable time in Bangsal. The interesting events colored my childhood there. I still remember the moment when we were chased by a dog while passing the Hindus village in north of Pemenang intersection. The sound of a boat man who scolded us when we were jumping off the boat still rings in my ears. Also how our hands and feet sank into the sand while we were looking for shells. We also still felt the spicy taste of sambal pelecing kangkung on our tongues, while we were throwing our bodies into the sea.

When my father moved from West Lombok to North Lombok to perform his duty as a teacher around the late 60’s, the name Bangsal had already been used by the citizens. My father did not turn down either the possibility that the meaning of Bangsal which was embedded in the words Pelabuhan Bangsal had the same meaning as the meaning of ‘bangsal‘ used in mentioning a set of rooms in a hospital.

In KBBI, the word ‘bangsal’ can mean: 1. a wooden house (for warehouses, stables, etc.); 2. a shed without interior walls (in the market, etc.); 3. a big house (for meetings, exercising, playing, performing, etc.); 4.  a barrack; and 5. Plots (Kamus Bahasa Indonesia, 2008, p. 135). Bangsal Harbor itself has been used as a gathering location for a long time. In Bangsal Harbor, various trading activities take place.

According to my father, in Bangsal in the past, there were many huts built (a kind of fish auction location), where all types of fish that had been caught by local fishermen had been sold. Not only that, Bangsal also became a selling place for variety of crops from various regions around North Lombok, such as Tembobor, Nipah, Malimbu, Mentigi and Gili Ayer (now Gili Air). At that time, there had been no resident yet in Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan. The people used the boat because there had been no road access to Pemenang yet. “The road towards Sengigi was just constructed in 1982. I still remember, when the asphalting happened, I carried my bike to Nipah,” he said.

My father also remembers when he was at school, he was asked to memorize all small islands (Gili) in Lombok. For the three Gili in Pemenang District, in the Map of Lombok Island at the time they were written as: Gili Ayer, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan. Besides, also from my father’s description that we know that in North Lombok there were 4 Gili (small island). Another Gili that has not been mentioned above is Gili Cupek, which today is known as Sira Indah area. Because of the nature factor, the water between the Gili Cupek strait and its main island, in this case is the Lombok Island, receded.

But this phenomenon had happened long before my father was born. My father himself heard this story from his parents. Cupek is taken from the Balinese language. It means small. It was named Cupek because geographically of the four existing Gili at that time, Gili Cupek is the smallest Gili.

After the fish and other goods were taken to Pemenang through the Bangsal Harbor, they were sold in Peken Lauq (North Market). The market location was today’s Pemenang intersection, from BRI to the south and from the road to Bangsal to the alley towards Gubuk Bali (the name of a Hindu village). All the goods were sold there. Sometimes, the goods were brought to Teben (the term used by the North Lombok people to call the Mataram area).

So indeed, the Pemenang City area has been a place of business for the citizens around Pemenang District for a long time.

My father also tells me about a figure in Pemenang who was trusted to be the mediator between Japanese Army and Pemenang citizens. His name was Bapuq (grandpa) Maing. When I was a boy, my playmates and I were often gathered by Bapuq Maing to hear his stories. It was around the year of 1995. At that time I was still in elementary school. For us at the time, hearing the story of Bapuq Maing was an amazing experience. Bapuq Maing did not tell us the stories of his heroism, for example, fighting against the invaders. Instead, he told us his story as a native who had no power at the time, who was forced to obey the invaders, though his heart was eager to defend himself and his people. Those stories, by Bapuq Maing were packed with humor that was very entertaining, for example, about how he fooled the invaders by using North Lombok Sasak language. Occasionally, he spoke to the invaders with dirty words. It was a kind of way to channel his resentment. When the invaders asked him the meaning of the words, he immediately translated them into good sentence. Besides telling the story of the Netherlands and Japan, once in a while we were lined like the soldiers who were ready to fight. He issued a warning, as I remembered; the recall was frequently in Japanese. He taught us marching Nippon style. In addition, he taught us some Japanese vocabularies that he knew such as numbers and the objects that surrounded us. At that time, as we knew, he was like a history and language teachers who was very excellent and well known by the kids.

From my father’s story about Bapuq Maing, we know that Bangsal has also been used as a Liaison and Logistics Post for the Japanese army in Trawangan. Trawangan has once been used as a fortress by the Japanese Army. If we visit Trawangan today, on the hill in the west, we will find a cave that used to be the headquarters of the Japanese Army. There is still a place to put the cannon at the mouth of the cave. I had the opportunity to go there, watching the remains of a history. The cannon itself is stored in the Museum of NTB, Mataram.

The explanation from my father is the same as what is told by Nengah Karuna. He also explains why people of Pemenang called the harbor area Bangsal. It was because many people gathered there. Bangsal did not only become a location where the sellers and buyers of goods gathered, but various cultural activities were also held there by the citizens, for example, the various Hindu’s  religious activities in Pemenang was often held in Bangsal.

What appears today in Bangsal Harbor was the reflection of Bangsal in the past, although as the time goes by, there are many things that go missing in Bangsal. What are the things that go missing from Bangsal?