Raden Mas Ayu

Puteri Raden Mas Ayu (Princess Mas Ayu) was a 16th Century Javanese princess. She was the child of Kanjen Gusti Adipati Agung Raden Kusomowijoyo Diningrat (also known as Raden Mas) and Mas Ayu, a Javanese Court Dancer whose beauty was renowned throughout Java. They were married in the early 1500s. Raden Mas' parents- Raden Manosekoro and Raden Mas Ratu objected to this union because of the differences in status. They vouched to have this union dissolved. Under the pretext of a hunting expedition requested by his father, Raden Mas was made to leave his wife alone in the palace. Upon his return Raden Mas found his palace had been destroyed by a big fire. His beloved wife was killed along with it. Broken hearted, he left Java with his child Puteri Raden Mas Ayu who was still a baby. They resettled in Singapore as commoners.

Prior to their resettlement in Singapore, Raden Mas and Puteri Mas Ayu were Hindus. Through the tutelage and guidance of an "ulama" (Muslim Religious Scholar) by the name of Mawlana Shaikh Ismail both father and daughter embraced Islam. Raden Mas took the name Iskandar Shah (not to be confused with Sultan Iskandar Shah). His daughter Puteri Mas Ayu was given the name Siti Faridah.

One day, while still a young child, Puteri Raden Mas Ayu met Tengku Halijah, the daughter of the Sultan of Singapore. Some kind of altercation occurred between these two women which led to the discovery of these two settlers’ royal lineage. Upon this discovery, the Sultan of Singapore decided to marry his daughter Tengku Halijah to Raden Mas. The marriage between Raden Mas and his new wife Tengku Halijah was, however, beset with problems. Amongst the many issues, the new wife of Raden Mas was jealous of the closeness of the father-daughter relationship between Raden Mas and Puteri Raden Mas Ayu. It didn’t help that Puteri Raden Mas Ayu inherited the exceptional beauty of her mother. Soon after his marriage, Raden Mas was attacked by Tengku Bagus, a member of the Sultan of Singapore's family. His daughter Puteri Mas Ayu tried to defend him and was stabbed by Tengku's keris. She died from her wounds. The year was 1511. Her tomb, draped in golden yellow as a sign of her royal lineage, lies at the foot of Mount Faber in Singapore.

Quotation
ALMARHUM MAULANA SYED AHMAD BIN ABDULLAH ALJUWAINI or more renown as ‘MAULANA SYED SHEIKH ISMAIL BUKIT TIMAH ’.

He was a famous missionary from India. He migrated to Singapore to seek knowledge from Maulana Ishak. In his hands, a princess Raden Mas Ayu and her father embrace Islam.Syed Sheikh Ismail, return to the grace of ALlah in the year 1516 AD. He was interred at the foot of Bukit Timah, now it has been moved to Pusara Abadi Block G.