“No Tigers in Borneo” is an animal fable that features a traditional Indonesian/Malaysian folk character, the mouse deer named Sang Kanchil (or Kancil). In the tale, smart and quick-witted Kancil protects the island of Borneo from an invasion of tigers. This fable praises the power of a quick and agile mind, able to overcome a brute and superior force. It also teaches the importance of being clever and humble to maintain peace.
The Kancil character is based on an animal known as the lesser mouse deer, very popular across Southeast Asia. This animal is a little bigger than a cat and resembles a blend of a mouse and a deer. Its legs and tail are like those of a little deer, while the face and body are those of a mouse. The mouse deer is herbivorous and is a target for the large predators with which it shares its habitat. The tiger is a common antagonist of Kancil in the Sang Kanchil stories in part because the tales reflect relations between these animals found in nature. To survive, mouse deer evolved to be quick and smart.
In the fable Kancil uses his intelligence to fool the tiger and escape from the trouble. The fable communicates traditional meanings associated with both Malay and Indonesian cultures, where the tiger represents brute force and the mouse deer symbolizes cleverness and quick thinking.
Sang Kanchil stories originated in the oral traditions of diverse communities living in Malaysia and Indonesia. “No Tigers in Borneo” is popular in both cultures in part because Borneo—one of the three largest islands of the Indonesian archipelago along with Sumatra and Java—is home to both countries. At the same time some scholars find the origin of the Sang Kanchil tales in the traditional heritage of the Orang Asli indigenous peoples of Malaysia, specifically the Mah Meri, one of the eighteen Orang Asli indigenous communities. Kanchel from Mah Meri translates as “lesser mouse deer.” Other experts believe that the mouse deer is a genuine Malay cultural symbol. These scholars use language as evidence for their claims, pointing out the two common mouse deer Malay idioms. The first describes a very intelligent person by comparing it to a mouse deer. The second praises intelligence by calling a person’s clever thinking a mouse deer’s mind. In addition, Malaysians use the nickname Man Kancil to refer to men with the personality of a trickster.
Traditionally, storytelling was the main means of preserving Sang Kanchil tales. However, a few early records locate Kancil’s character in the time before print culture. The mouse deer features as a part of the creation stories of Indonesian communities. These stories were recorded in Batak characters on tree bark and bamboo tubes. The first printed accounts of Sang Kanchil tales appeared in the Malaysian peninsula in the eighteenth century and on Java in the nineteenth century. These accounts were often composed by foreigners; some were works by early scholars of Indonesia, which until 1949 was a Dutch colony. A few of these records, composed in Dutch, landed in Europe, becoming the first means of dissemination of the mouse deer tales outside of Southeast Asia. Today a foreign reader may enjoy Sang Kanchil tales in translations of Indonesian and Malaysian folktales, and also in comics and cartoons where the mouse deer remains a prominent character. To the American audience, Kancil tales came as a part of immigrant culture, with the first Indonesians coming to the United States as students in the mid-1950s. “No Tigers in Borneo,” now retold in English, is considered a part of Indonesian American cultural traditions.
Many versions of this folktale exist and some include additional characters not featured in the account presented here. A common simplified version of the tale begins with the setting: There exist three main islands in Indonesia, Borneo, Java, and Sumatra, and all three of these islands have jungles. Only in the jungles of Borneo are there no tigers. The story goes on to say that long ago, tigers on the other two main islands ate and ate and ate until there was no food left. So Rajah, the tiger king, sent his Messenger tiger to talk with the king of the animals of Borneo. Rajah pulled out a whisker from his beard and gave it to the Messenger, telling him, “Show the king of Borneo my whisker. Then he will know how strong I am.”
So the Messenger went to Borneo, ran into Kancil, and delivered Rajah’s message. At first Kancil was frightened, but then he began to think. He went to his friend the Porcupine, asked for one of his quills, and the Porcupine obliged. After retrieving the quill, Kancil returned to the Messenger and told him that the king of Borneo was out hunting but that he gave him one of his whiskers. Then Kancil told the Messenger that the king of Borneo was hungry for tiger and that he hoped they would come soon so that he could eat.
After the Messenger picked up the porcupine quill, he returned home to Rajah and told him what Kancil had said. Rajah became very scared and decided that it was not a good idea to go to Borneo. Instead he went to look for more food elsewhere. This is why there are no tigers in Borneo, but there are tigers in the rest of the world.
The story “No Tigers in Borneo” is a culturally significant part of Indonesian and Malaysian American folk tradition. The nonthreatening character Kancil symbolizes the values of humility, ingenuity, and peace. To the people historically facing domination by powerful, often foreign authorities, Kancil provided a mythic avenue to execute revenge fantasies against those who oppressed them. For children, Kancil sets a good example and teaches the power of imagination and courage. To immigrant minorities struggling to adapt to American culture and society, Kancil brings inspiration with his story representing their adjustment to the dangers of the new world with the help of resourceful and creative thinking.
Jeremy D. Selland and Ulia Popova
See also Folklore and Folktales; Malin Kundang; South Asian American Folklore and Folktales
Further Reading
Carpenter, Kathie. 1992. “Kancil: From Mischief to Moral Education.” Western Folklore 51 (2): 111–127.
Ling, Huping. 2009. Emerging Voices: Experiences of Underrepresented Asian Americans. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press
Terada, Alice M., and Charlene K. Smoyer. 1994. The Magic Crocodile and Other Folktales from Indonesia. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Yang, Eveline. 2015. “Indonesian Americans.” Countries and Their Cultures website. http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Indonesian-Americans.html. Accessed November 6, 2015.