Kusu Island, also know as “Tortoise Island” or “Turtle Island” in Chinese and “Peak Island” or “Pulau Tembakul” in Malay, is situated 5.6 kilometers south of the main island of Singapore, across the Straits of Singapore. Kusu Island is one of Singapore’s Southern Islands, and was only two small protrusions of reef before it was made into an 85,000 square meter holiday island resort.Legend has it that a magical tortoise transformed itself into the island to save two shipwrecked sailors. One sailor was Chinese while the other was Malay. The sailors returned to the island and showed their gratitude according to their beliefs. The Chinese sailor built a Taoist shrine, while the other built a Muslim kramat (kremat) (shrine). And before the island was reclaimed, people say that the island resembled the form of a turtle, with two ridges on the reef, one resembled the head while the other (where the hilltop now stands), resembled the back.
At present the island has three kremats (shrines of Malay saints), one honoring a virtuous man (Syed Abdul Rahman), his mother (Nenek Ghalib) and sister (Puteri Fatimah). The Da Bo Gong, the Chinese temple built by a wealthy businessman in 1923 houses the deities of Tua Pek Kong The Merchant God or God of Prosperity) and Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy).
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