This 3 Thing You have to Know about Simeulue Island in 2023

Simeulue Regency is one of the regencies in Aceh, Indonesia. Located approximately 150 km off the west coast of Aceh, Simeulue stands tall in the Indonesian Ocean. Simeulue Regency was expanded from West Aceh Regency in 1999, with the hope that development would be further enhanced in the region.

The capital of Simeulue Regency is Sinabang, pronounced in the regional accent is Si navang which comes from the legend of Navang. Navang is an old salt maker in the Babang area (the entrance to Sinabang Bay). Navang used to make salt by damming sea water that entered the Babang beach, then dried it and made salt. Navang salt gradually became known around Ujung Panarusan all the way to Lugu. If people needed salt, they would go to Navang, which gradually changed the consonant ‘V’ in Navang to Nabang. While Sibigo, the capital of West Simeulue sub-district, comes from the words CV and Co because during the colonial era, Sibigo was the location of a company processing Rasak wood – a type of very hard wood equivalent to Teak – which was sent to the Netherlands by sea.

About Simeulue Island

The improvement of Simeulue’s status as a Regency has been pioneered for a long time and was born from the noble desire of the Simeulue people themselves, namely through the initiative of a number of figures and all components of society. The milestone of this struggle began with the Simeulue Rakjat Congress which was originally held in 1956, but was constrained at that time and was only held in 1957. One of the historical evidence that still exists today is the document of the Decision of the Simeulue Regional Congress (Dok Rasmal Kahar) and an old banner of the congress that has been worn out by age. At that time the Governor of Aceh, Prof. Ali Hasjmi visited Simeulue in 1957 as a form of his support for the contents of the Simeulue Rakjat Congress statement in an effort to improve the status of Simeulue.

Then in 1963 the Luan Balu deliberation was held again and continued by the Simeulue People’s Consultation and 1980, where the results of all these meetings were only one word and one determination that Simeulue must change its status to become an Autonomous Regency. Along with the passage of time, the struggle was continued by Simeulue community leaders, so that for such a persistent and tireless struggle, we obtained support from various parties, namely from the Aceh Level I DPRD and the West Aceh Level II DPRD.

Subsequent developments after Drs. H. Muhammad Amin was appointed as Assistant Regent of Simeulue, this effort continued to be rolled out in earnest and it was proven that in 1995 the Governor of Aceh sent a data updating team to Simeulue which was followed by the arrival of the Director General of Bangda to Simeulue on December 12, 1995.

At the end of this journey, the Director General of PUOD, DPODS, and Commission II of the House of Representatives came on March 30, 1996 and held a public meeting in front of the pavilion of the Assistant Regent of Simeulue. At that time, J. Sondakh as Chairman of Commission II DPR-RI said that today’s meeting was like a DPR-RI session outside the building because it was fully attended by four factions, namely: Golkar, PPP, PDI and Regional Representative factions and he promised that in the not too distant future Simeulue would be upgraded.

Alhamdulillah, thanks to the Grace of Allah SWT, finally the result of all these visits and the sincere intentions and prayers of all the people of Simeulue, the President of the Republic of Indonesia Mr. H. Mohammad Soeharto on August 13, 1996 signed PP 53 of 1996 concerning the increase in the status of the Simeulue Regent Assistant area to become the Simeulue Administrative Regency. Furthermore, on September 27, 1996 at the Aceh Special Region Provincial Parliament, the Administrative Regency of Simeulue was inaugurated by the Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Yogie S. Memet as well as inaugurating Drs. H. Muhammad Amin as the Regent of the Administrative Regency of Simeulue.

Simeulue has changed its status even though it is still administrative, the whole community welcomed the joy and gratitude echoed from Ujung Batu Belayar to Batu Si Ambung-Ambung. The district that was considered a dream by some people so far has become a real presence in the lives of the people of Simeulue. This new status has added to the high spirit to strive to reach one more stage, namely the autonomous region.

To achieve this endeavor, all potentials were mobilized, thoughts and energy were poured out, sweat poured out where all the children of the island worked hand in hand and accompanied by prayers that were always prayed for the sake of an ideal. Finally, Allah SWT granted what was desired, so that through Law No. 48 of 1999 Simeulue Regency and Bireun Regency were born as Autonomous Regencies in the treasures of the Indonesian Government.

Then on October 12, 1999 the Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Ad Interim Faisal Tanjung inaugurated the birth of Simeulue Regency and this date is used as the anniversary of Simeulue Regency which is celebrated annually.

Simeulue Regency is divided into 10 sub-districts, namely:

• Alafan
• Salang
• Simeulue Barat
• Simeulue Tengah
• Simeulue Timur
• Simeulue Cut
• Teupah Barat
• Teupah Tengah
• Teupah Selatan
• Teluk Dalam

The language in Simeulue Island

There are three main languages that are dominant in daily life: Devayan, Sigulai and Leukon. Devayan language is commonly spoken by people living in East Simeulue, South Teupah, West Teupah, Central Simeulue and Teluk Dalam sub-districts. Sigulai is commonly used by people in West Simeulue, Alafan and Salang sub-districts. The Leukon language is used especially by residents of Langi and Lafakha villages in Alafan sub-district. In addition, there is also an introductory language (lingua franca) used as an intermediary language between people with different languages in Simeulue, namely Jamu or Jamee (guest) language, originally brought by commercial migrants from Minangkabau and Mandailing.

The culture in Simeulue Island

The people of Simeulue have their own customs and culture different from their brothers and sisters in mainland Aceh, one of which is the art of Nandong, an art of singing accompanied by tetabuhan drums and violins which is performed all night long on certain and special occasions. There is also an art that is very popular with most people, the art of Debus, which is a martial art of immunity, especially from stabbing swords, rencong, smoldering iron chains, bamboo, and other sharp objects, and from this art the Simeulue warriors are often invited to foreign countries.

The government in Simeulue Island

During the period since the proclamation of independence, the Administrative Regency and Autonomous Regency of Simeulue were led by several wedana, Assistant Regent and Regent as follows:

Period of the Regent and Assistant Regent

• Teuku Raja Mahmud (1945-1950)
• Muhammad Hasan Basri (1950-1955)
• Hasbi Usman (1955-1958)
• Tjoet Mamad (1958-1962)
• Teuku Raja Mahmud (1962-1964)
• Teuku Banta Bugis (1964-1965)
• Tgk. Muhammad Rasyidin (1965-1969)
• Letkol Ali Hasan (1969-1972)
• Mayor Juliadin (1972-1977)
• Mayor Kassah (1977-1984)
• Drs. H. Adriman Kimat (1984-1994)
• Drs. H. Muhammad Amin (1994-1996).

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