More descendants of princess emerge

KAMALA: After the naming of the Yayee family of Kamala as the descendants of the legendary Princess Mahsuri of Langkawi, five more families in the village have claimed blood connections to the princess. The five families– the Doomlak, the Sangthong, the Sariya, the Sooksrisin and the Sungwarn – say they want nothing; they just want the public to know that the Yayees are not the only descendants. Saard Sooksrisin, 58, told the Gazette that his great-grandfather, Toh Arkem, was the only son of Princess Mahsuri. After she was killed, Toh moved to Kamala where he later had four sons and two daughters. Before he died, Toh gave each of his children a dagger, which all six of the families still possess as proof of their lineage. In response, Chern Yayee, patriarch of the Yayee family, said, “I have known since the beginning that we are not the only living descendants of the princess. I knew that there were five other families. “What’s important is that [my granddaughter Sirintra] is the first seventh-generation descendant of the Princess, and the Malaysian government wants her to be in Langkawi to end the curse.” Mahsuri was a Siamese Muslim princess put to death in Langkawi after being falsely accused of adultery. As she died, she placed a curse on the island, saying that it would not prosper for seven generations.