Housing Projects 2007-2012

I just remembered I promised someone a couple of weeks ago to upload the RKN housing projects. Here is the list of housing projects. Unfortunately it is not as detailed as I would like it to be. But at least it gives an indication of approximately what is being done.

Brunei's Highest Value Miniature Sheet

In 1996 when His Majesty celebrated his 50th birthday, our Postal Services issued Brunei's highest face value stamps ever. Five stamps in a miniature sheet each with a face value of $50 per stamp was issued. The miniature sheet was sold at $250 in a framed cover. This remained the most expensive face value item that the Postal Services had issued in its entire history (though in 2006, the postal

Brunei's $1 note 1911

For those expecting daily postings, my apologies. I was away in Singapore and only arrived back. I managed to visit a number of philatelist and numismatist agencies in Singapore and managed to find a few gems on Brunei and the region. When I arrived back, there were also a number of items that arrived from ebay.One of them is the Straits Dollar $1 note of 1911. This is part of the 1906 to 1924

Rural Tutong, Brunei's Different Side

[Note: I published the following article for my Golden Legacy column on Brunei Times 10th February 2008.]TUTONG District with its capital Pekan Tutong or Tutong Town is sparsely populated compared to either Brunei/Muara or Belait Districts. Despite that, it is a unique district, so ethnically diverse that it presents, in fact, a completely different side of Brunei.Even though only a half hour's

During the weekend, I got into a conversation with one of my older brother in laws and he started telling me all sorts of things that happened when he was still living there. The conversation went around to the subject of fishing.He described a way of catching prawns called merigis. At that time I could not imagine it but he described as something that you go around in a boat making a noise using

Old Brunei Photographs

I got an e-mail with the following photographs taken of Brunei around 1970s and probably older. These are interesting as I have not seen these photographs before but they are good quality ones for a change.The bottom three are scenes from the old Tamu which used to be the triangular area immediately behind the Jardine Wharf Building. What do you mean you don't know the Jardine Wharf Building?

Brunei in Asia Magazine 1968

[Note: I am not in Brunei currently. I am recycling materials I posted on my Golden Legacy blogspot (not the newspaper Golden Legacy) where I did some of my writings when I stopped writing for BR last year.]Remember The Asia Magazine? You don't? I guess you are not old enough then.The Asia Magazine used to be given away with The Borneo Bulletin many years ago. Then the Borneo Bulletin was only a

Save Water - Save the Environment

According to Department of Water Services yesterday, we used about 450 litres of water a day for which we only get charged 5 cents (if you had to buy Sehat Water, that will be equal to $240). How do we use up 450 litres a day? On average, you used up about half that to take your bath and your shower; about 12% to flush the toilet, 5% to wash clothes, 5% for your plants, 5% for cleaning yourself

World Water Day

In Brunei, not many people realised just how much water we used that the possibility of running out of water is not an impossibility. I remembered sometime last year, the Minister of Development, now my Minister, stated in a speech that each of us Bruneians consumed almost 400 litres of water per day or the equivalent of about 300 bottles of SEHAT water every single day. What is that in

A Matter of Crowns

Someone asked on the comment box about the crown worn by HM Sultan Omar Ali and HM Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. I remembered our own Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah wearing an elaborate crown during his coronation in 1968. I remembered having that photograph somewhere in my hard disk. I had to search a bit to find HM Sultan Omar Ali's photograph during his coronation in 1951 (31st May). Here are

Maulidin Rasul 1429 Hijra

Last year I remembered describing that I was watching television the night before the Maulid when there was someone from the Religious Affairs Ministry talking about the history of Maulud Nabi or as we now call it Maulidin Rasul - the ceremony to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad SAW. I was quite intrigued as he was talking about how grand the first celebration was which was

National Car Workshop?

It's only three days into my mandatory leave and I am trying to get rid of all the stresses of my life. So, I am not into anything serious, no siree... Not even on the blog. Today is the not so serious stuff. I have time to go through my photographs collection - about 22 CDs full of old black and white Brunei photographs from a friend of mine who burned them from ... let's just say somewhere ...

Brunei's Beauty Queen Pageant

In the 1950s and 1960s, Brunei still have beauty queen pageants. In those days, I was told that the contestants did not wear bikinis or swimming suits but the much more modest baju kebaya. But even then those were the days. I don't know who these winners were. It would be interesting if they could tell us how it was like in those days.

No Water in Kampong Ayer

Throughout its existence Kampong Ayer residents only had the waters of the river but that water can be salty and normally water is taken from elsewhere.One of the interesting place names near Sungai Kebun is called Ayer Terkunci or Locked Water. This name was derived if I am not mistaken when the Americans or British mining for coal and oil had water tanks. The water tanks had taps which of

Our Young Ruler

I am starting my two week leave (my very first double digit leave in about 5 years, would you believe) from today. But today is also my son's birthday party, so I don't really have much time to update this blogsite from today onwards. Technically I have plenty of time but I rather spend it catching up at the museum and searching for hidden treasures at the tamu and elsewhere.I did a little bit of

Bunut - the 1st Perpindahan

Tomorrow's Golden Legacy column on Brunei Times will be my article on the history of public housing in Brunei. I wish I had more words but I am limited to about 1,000 words and that's not a lot. When I first started writing for BT, the column space I had was limited to 800 words (about 3 column space) but I regularly submitted about 1,200 words (now with one or two photographs, about half a page)

A Bruneian in Hiroshima in 1944

In 1944, when the Americans dropped the two atomic bombs over Nagasaki and Hiroshima during the Second World War, not many people know that, our elderly statesman Pengiran Haji Mohd Yussof was a student at the Hisroshima Bunrika Daigaku school Hiroshima. Pengiran Yusof survived the bombing and eventually became the State Secretary in 1964 and Menteri Besar in 1967. Along the way he was made a a

Economic Growth

This table is what my JPKE (Economic Planning and Development Department) colleagues love to highlight to me. During the last Leg Co, only one member if I am not mistaken raised this issue - the government's under capacity to spend despite the ability to have money. This problem I can assure you is what other countries love to have but a problem we don't need.Every year, all agencies are given a

The Leg Co Debates and the Environment

Today will be the end of the current session of the Leg Co. Members will be making their speeches and it's back to one speech per member in the main Council. Over the last few days, the Council sat as a Committee making a free for all and asking as many questions as the Speaker lets them. I have not been able to sit in all of them but the four members of the four districts compared to the other

Roads Galore...

There were many questions about roads yesterday at the Leg Co. So I thought why not post the entire list of RKN roads that will be built from April 2008 onwards for the next 5 years. I have been told that projects can be added on later. Here are pages 192 to 194 of the NDP including that bridge ........re

Seria History in Brief

Everytime I go to Seria, I remembered the Shell Wooden House at Lorong 2 - my aunty's house and my birthplace. I was born in that house and where today's birth certificates mostly say RIPAS or any of the major hospitals in Brunei, my birth certificate says "Wooden House, ****"But Seria is still a new town relatively speaking. Carved out of the swamps for the oil company. It was once known as

The Tobacco Smoking Tradition in Brunei

[Note: I wrote this for my Golden Legacy column on Brunei Times' Sunday 17th February 2008 edition. No wonder sometimes it is a uphill battle for the health authorities to eliminate smoking.]IN DAYS of yore, a Brunei man sat on the steps of his house on the Brunei River rolling a piece of leaf with tobacco, lighting it and inhaling the smoke without a care in the world. In those days, the scene

Leg Co - the old days

Nothing much today. I spent my Friday desperately trying to complete my Sunday article for the Golden Legacy column on Brunei Times about the history of the Brunei's Legislative Council. You have to buy tomorrow's Brunei Times if you do want to read it with the nice photographs.For those who don't want to wait till tomorrow to see the photos, attached are two of them. The first is a Legislative

Day 3 Leg Co

I can only talk about a bit of yesterday's Leg Co afternoon sessions. I was only able to attend for a couple of hours yesterday but I was told that a lot of the more interesting discussions took place in the morning. Currently the members are still in committee session and going through the individual ministries and departmental budgets and approving them one by one. Technically questions about

Day 2 Leg Co

It was an interesting day yesterday. After the pomp and ceremony on the first day of the Leg Co, yesterday the members got down to business. The first order of the day was the notified questions. This is the time when members ask question to the government members in advance. This allows the government members to prepare and when called upon the various ministers stood up to answer the questions.

The Leg Co Members

A few people asked me how to get in touch with the members of the Legislative Council and whether that can be done. I asked them whether they knew who the members were and most indicated the negative. So I thought I will do a service and put the members faces up which yesteday's opening session program has kindly provided. The full list I have made available since 2005 on my library website

A New Leg Co!

Today is the start of the Legislative Council since it reconvened in 2004. I won't say much but look forward to it. I wrote about it last year which you read here and I also wrote about it in 2006 which you can read here.The very first Council meeting took place on the 29th June 1907 with the following members in attendance i.e. the Sultan Muhammad Jemalul Alam, the Acting Resident H Chevallier,

Help me, please....

I read the attempted suicide on Leo and I blogsite about that guy off the Gadong overhead pass. In the first place, I am not even sure whether that guy wanted to commit suicide or otherwise. Whatever the merit of his case, it does raise to one big issue. We either in the government or among the NGOs do not have an outlet in whatever form for anyone to ask and be counseled. If there is, it sure is

Conservation versus Development

I was at the ICC yesterday for the opening of the ISB Borneo Global Issues Conference VI by Her Royal Highness Pengiran Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah. I was very impressed with her delivery. I was also impressed with the organisation of the whole affair bearing in mind I did not see a single Adat Istiadat people. Protocols were correct. But most importantly it was not a boring opening.We had Monty