Nobilities of Brunei

I was doing a bit of research for the Civil Service Day article which was published yesterday on Brunei Times. I am sure most readers by now know that the title of the Cheterias and Pehins are like today's Minister. If you are appointed as Pengiran Cheteria or Pehin so and so, you are being appointed as a Minister for a particular portfolio. For instance, Pengiran Derma Wangsa would be the head

Raya Blues

During Hari Raya or any other festivities, when we are with our families and close friends, we often forget that there are people out there with no one to talk to, no one to visit or no one to care about them. Hari Raya can be the most poignant to many people out there. If you were formerly a student overseas, you would know it. It is so sad to be away from families. Luckily nowadays many Brunei

Selamat Hari Raya

Today's question - do you know when was the first Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebrations?In 624 CE, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) with his companions and relatives celebrated Eid ul-Fitr for the first time ever after winning the Battle of Badr. The Battle of Badr was a key battle in the early days of Islam and marked a turning point in the Muslims' struggle against the Quraish in Makkah. This

Zakat Fitrah

I brought my 9 year old boy yesterday to the mosque to see the paying of the fitrah for the first time. I told him that if the fitrah is not paid, then our pahala for the fasting will not be delivered. He kept a copy of the receipt and told me that it is proof that it has been paid.I went to the mosque at about 12 noon and was the only one seen paying for it. The other imams were sitting there

Brunei's National Flower?

[Photograph of Simpur taken from trek earth]Someone ask whether I can post about the national flower, simpur? This is interesting. I am not sure when simpur became our national flower. But definitely during the APEC Summit which Brunei hosted in 2000, simpur was part of the official APEC 2000 design and simpur by then if you don't know it already was definitely on its way to becoming Brunei's

Unattainable Wish

If someone was to ask me what is it that you want? There are many things that many of us want and I too have my own wants. But I am pretty much satisfied with the Al-Mighty's gifts.However philatelically, there is something I want the most. That one is this Brunei's stamp during the Japanese Occupation in the second World War. During the War, the Japanese overprinted Brunei's stamps with their

Happy Families II

Yesterday, many happy families received their houses. By the afternoon, today and for the next few days, many of them will be rushing in to move into their houses in Lumapas and Rimba. Many of them too will be rushing to the shops to stock up their houses for the upcoming Hari Raya.A few other families will be happy today. I have already wrote about the Majlis Ugama Islam Brunei funding houses

Happy Families

[Model of Class A house at Rimba - price $92,000]Today some 223 families would be ballotting for their houses. They will get their keys and they will be able to move in by later today if they can clear all the paperwork.The Housing Development Department has two housing areas completed recently, about 200 over houses at Lumapas and more than 320 houses in Rimba. Out of the 200+ houses in Lumapas,

Modern But Gone Kampong Ayer

Apologies to those who visit my blog in the early morning. Today, the posting is late. You see, I start my leave today. A few weeks ago, I realised that I have not taken leave for Hari Raya for about 20 years. I remembered the first few years before I got married, I did take Raya leave to join my parents when they were posted to Singapore but that was in the 1980s. Anyway for this leave, I

First Arch

You must be thinking, what is extraordinary about this arch? We all know where this is. This is the traditional arch on Jalan Sultan in between the Secretariat Building and the General Post Office Building. You cannot imagine His Majesty's birthday without an arch in that location.This photo is actually a postcard which is part of my collection. I collect old Brunei postcards as part of my

Gula Anau

Many people know about gula melaka or gula anau. They are not quite the same thing and sometimes mistake gula melaka is gula anau. Honestly I did until I had to do tomorrow's articles about Brunei cakes for Hari Raya (as usual will be published in Brunei Times Sunday Edition).This sugar was and continued to be a very important ingredient for local delicacies. For those who loved cindul temburong,

Looking at the Past

I don't know how many of my blog readers know Tuan Haji Ahmad Arshad. As a small boy, Haji Ahmad regularly appears on television. I always remember him giving his enthuasistic report on the Legislative Council in the late 1970s and early 1980s before the Legislative Council was kept on hold. Somehow I don't remember anyone else. I remembered there was someone else but up to now, all I can

Socioeconomic Histroy of Brunei

On the subject of Malay books, this one is interesting. I bought this a number of years ago but from time to time I refer to this book for some of my Golden Legacy articles. This book was published in 1995, so it is a bit old. But I saw one the other day at Mega and sometimes during the books show, this book is still around. It cost me $14.40 but I don't know what the price is now.Anyway, this

Gaplah

I saw the news, I read the news and a few blogsites have reported it. But I have not seen the book till yesterday. I came, I saw, I conquer or rather I bought it.Gaplah is a Brunei dialect comic book currently in the markets for the last few months. The book itled: "Gaplah" - was officially launched by my colleague at the PMO Haji Omar bin Haji Abdul Rahman. It's the fourth comic by Malai Yunus

Brunei Star Athlete?

I was trawling the news looking for Brunei news. One photograph from Associated Press (AP) popped up. This photograph had this writeup "Brunei's Yusuf Saad Kamel celebrates winning the gold medal ahead of Ethiopia's Deresse Mekonnen, right, in the final of the Men's 1500m during the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)"Wow! I didn't hear

Aerial Seria

This postcard came up on ebay the other day. I tried to win it but apparently there are other people out there willing to pay the earth for it. I couldn't figure out why.This aerial photograph of Shell's housing at Seria with Seria itself in the background. I am not very familiar when this is but the houses looked as if this photograph belonged to sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Seria

Sarawak Stamps Used in Brunei

Look at the stamp on the left. What do you see?For the uninitiated, you will see a Sarawak stamp. But not realising that this Sarawak stamp was postmarked in Brunei. Brooketon was the former name for today's Muara. Unfortunately the year is not very clear, it was 96 (1896). In those days, Rajah Brooke was the concessionary holder for the coal in Muara (what do you mean you did not there was coal

The Churchill Museum

Remember this? I have posted several photographs from this defunct museum. The most memorable was this statute in front of the museum.If you go in to the museum, there was a button which when you press, you will hear the late Sir Winston Churchill speaking in the British Parliament: "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the

Brunei in London Papers in 19th Century

I wrote this for my "The Golden Legacy" column on Brunei Times published about three weeks ago.+++++Brunei in the Illustrated London NewsONE interesting source for those interested in Brunei’s history is found in the pages of a London newspaper “The Illustrated London News” (ILN). The ILN has often been described as the world’s first illustrated newspaper.It published its first issue on 14 May

Weddings in the past

I have always wondered what a Brunei wedding in the past looked like. This postcard unfortunately is not a Brunei Malay wedding but a wedding somewhere in Malaya in 1908. I wish someone would have taken a photograph of a Brunei wedding then.Wedding practises changed. I remembered not that long ago, for a wedding ceremony, you need a lot of help. One is to get all the bamboos from the nearby