Story of "two elephants"

According to popular local folklore, the name "SITIAWAN" is derived from a well-known story of "two elephant"- a common wild animal in the malaysian jungle.Apparently, one of the elephants, while crossing a tributary of the Dindings River at low tide, was caught in the mud.The other elephant made some desperate attempts to rescue the mate, but all efforts failed.Instead of abandoning the mate to save its own life, the "faithful" elephant stood by its mate to the last, and both elephants perished in the high tide.To the amusement at frist, and later horror of the village folks who had gathered on the banks to witness the tragedy, the river was aptly named "Sungai Gajah Mati" and the adjoining village "Kampong Gajah Mati". These names would have been perpetuated had it not been for a tragic event which occured at this village soon after. In 1886, an un known disease (later identified as smallpox) struck this settlement and a considerable number of people perished. The superstitious villagers believed that the name "Gajah Mati" had not been a good omen for them and therefore, under penghulu Haji Mohd.Ali , they petitioned to the British Resident of Perak, Sir Hugh Low, to remove "Gajah Mati" , hoping to prevent another deadly outbreak. In its place, the name " Sungai Setia Kawan " was suggested and hence the village was called "Kampong Setia Kawan" meaning "faithful friend". It was then shortened to "Kampong Setia-wan" and the river "Sungai Sitiawan" and the settlement- "kampong sitiawan".