Badang the Strongman: A Miracle-working Grave, A Folk Tale and a Nation’s Mythology
Coming in May
Many people know of the story of Badang the strongman, an aboriginal slave who gains supernatural strength after eating the vomit of a spirit. He throws a stone, which might or might not be the Singapore Stone, and his miracle-working grave is believed to be on Pulau Buru in the Riau Archipelago. However, independent scholar William Gibson tells us the tale of Badang (and the location of his grave) is much more complicated than is generally known.
Listen to the Full Episode
Available on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, melisten.
Subscribe to get notified when the next episode drops.
What William Talked About
00:00 – What a keramat is
01:13 – Legend of Badang the strongman
02:20 – William’s past research on keramat
03:07 – Badang as a national icon and his myth in the Malay Annals
04:43 – British interest and early translations of Badang’s story
06:26 – The rock-throwing legend and its transformation into a national
tale
08:26 – Origins of the Singapore Stone and colonial myth-making
11:00 – The three different rocks associated with Badang
13:02 – The search for the real burial site of Badang
18:08 – The shrine’s transformation into a government-designated cultural
site
20:40 – The Karimun inscription and its link to Badang folklore
22:00 – Other stones with footprints and mythical associations
24:00 – Theories of Badang’s burial sites
26:00 – Other folktales with vomit-eating as a power transfer motif
28:00 – Broader meaning and significance of keramat and nature
shrines
31:05 – Existing keramat in Singapore
35:10 – Stories of the keramat Habib Noh
39:01 – Challenges of preserving keramat in Singapore
42:00 – Fates of kermat in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia
44:07 – The heritage value of keramat
47:55 – Mythology is…
About the Guest
Dr William L. Gibson is an author and researcher based in Southeast Asia since 2005. A former Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow of the National Library Singapore, he is the author of Keramat, Sacred Relics and Forbidden Idols in Singapore (Routledge, 2024). His articles have appeared in Signal to Noise, PopMatters.com, The Mekong Review, Archipel, History and Anthropology, the Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient and BiblioAsia, among others.
Resources
William Gibson, “Uncovering the Origins of Badang the Strongman,” BiblioAsia 21, no. 1 (April–June 2025).
William Gibson, Keramat, Sacred Relics and Forbidden Idols in Singapore (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2025). (From National Library Singapore, call no. RSING 363.69095957 GIB)
Credits
This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to William for coming on the show.
About the Podcast
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.