The legend of Mahsuri is well known in Malaysia.

She was a young woman who lived on the island of Langkawi in the early 19th century, the most beautiful woman on that island. She was married to Wan Darus, a warrior. One day, he had to go away on military duties and she was left alone. During that time, she became an acquaintance of Deraman, a young man. Later Mahsuri was accused of committing adultery, tied to a tree and stabbed to death. It’s then that the story took on a paranormal tone. Instead of red blood, white blood supposedly flowed out – proving her innocence. Before she died, she cursed Langkawi bad luck lasting seven generations.

A portrait of Mahsuri

And did bad luck befall Langkawi – the Siamese invaded the island in 1821 and crops failed for decades.

The curse apparently ended at the tail-end of the 20th century when Langkawi prospered as a tourist attraction – that includes her tomb (Makan Mahsuri) of course.

The first seventh-generation descendant of Mahsuri, and certainly the most famous, is Sirintra Yayee (Wan Aishah Wan Nawawi), born 1985, who’s said to have inherited Mahsuri’s legendary beauty.

In fact there are some rival claimants to the title of “the first seventh-generation descendant of Mahsuri” that one could make slideshows out of all of them.

Sirintra lives in Phuket and is a Thai citizen.

She visited Kedah (where Langkawi is) in May 2000 to mark the lifting of the curse.

She got married to Alee Tongyun in April 2010

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