The name of Syarifah Sembilan is immortalized as the name of a park in the Sungai Apit sub-district. The park in the Green Open Space (RTH) program was recently inaugurated by the Regent of Siak Alfedri.
After the inauguration, many people were surprised by the appearance of the name Syarifah Sembilan. This is because the name is completely unfamiliar to the Siak community in general.
Many also think that Siak Regency Government is wrong with the naming of the park so that it gives the name with a legendary name that is not popular. Some even doubt that Syarifah Sembilan is just an imaginary character in the Malay Siak folk tales.
Head of Sungai Apit sub-district, Wahyudi said, Syarifah Sembilan is an important figure in the history of the Siak kingdom. He admitted that the name was not generally known by the public. Because of that, the Siak Regency Government wants to raise the name of the female figure so that it is widely known.
Wahyudi explained, Syarifah Sembilan was the heroine of the Siak kingdom during the era of King Kecik. He guards the entrance to the Siak River in Tanjung Kuras village.
From various literature, this heroine expels invaders in a unique way, namely the Zapin dance. This Zapin Syarifah Sembilan dance was once performed at the 2010 Siak Bermadah Festival, which was performed by participants from the Sungai Apit sub-district.
“This means that in the Sungai Apit, people actually already know the story of Syarifah Sembilan. We just need to raise the story so that we all know more about our history,” he said.
In his statement, Syarifah Sembilan has listed in the Siak Education and Culture Office as one of the historical sites in Siak district. Syarifah Sembilan is one of the heroes of the Srikandi circles in the era of Raja Kecik.
Syarifah Sembilan is on duty at the fort located at Tanjung Kuras (now the village of Tanjung Kuras) to guard the cauldron of Siak entrance.
Syarifah nine also fought against the Portuguese army. Syarifah Sembilan is on a warship at Kualo Siak. He entered the Portuguese warship as a Zapin dancer to entertain Portuguese soldiers.
In the Siak kingdom, Syarifah has a very important and strategic role. He managed to play multiple roles to overthrow opponents.
The tomb of Syarifah Sembilan is located in Tanjung Kuras Village. The plan is that the night of the Siak woman legend will be used as a cultural heritage in the Siak district.
“This park has been visited by many people, even to the point of beating Disney Land,” joked Wahyudi on the sidelines of the park’s inauguration.
His party has proposed that the tomb be entered into a cultural heritage site, and it has been traced to Tanjung Kuras. Historical evidence is that there are three graves in the village, the first is the tomb of Syarifah Sembilan, the Tomb of Guru Ngaji, and the tomb of Empang Kualo.
“I think let’s raise this name so that many people are curious about its struggle. This park called Syarifah Sembilan is very good and its name is very unique,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Regent of Siak Alfedri said that the Apit River was part of his life. He will not forget all his memories at the Apit River. This is because Alfedri started his career from the sub-district which is directly adjacent to the Melaka Strait.
“When I first served as an employee, I learned to write letters for the first time at Sungai Apit,” said Alfedri.
He said that he had learned many things at Sungai Apit, such as community service practices and was even a sub-district MTQ judge in the speech branch.
“We learned a lot in this Apit River,” he said.
Regarding parks or public open spaces, Alfedri explained that the benefits are to provide comfort and beauty of the environment (aesthetics) as well as a means of recreation for the community.
“Hopefully one day the Apit River will become an urban area that we are proud of, or a city in the future which of course has to be prepared from now on,” he explained.
The former head of the Sungai Apit sub-district office said that the construction of the park would have cost Rp. 1.5 billion.
The location of the park is in the former old district head office. Before the park was built, there was debate and finally it was agreed to build a city park.
At the end of the event, the Regent of Siak Alfedri opened the cloth covering the nameplate, accompanied by members of the Siak DPRD, Secretary of PU Tarukim, Secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Head of Health Office, Lurah Sungai Apit and a number of river leaders and community leaders of Sungai Apit.
