A Bridge Too Clear

On my first day when I reported for duty at my new ministry, after paying courtesy calls to both the Minister and the Deputy Minister, it was time for me to see my new office. After getting out of the lift on the 5th floor, my officers told me that my office is across this glass bridge. Horrors! I looked at the bridge and did a quick calculation whether a 180 kg person can walk across safely.At

Chinese New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all the people celebrating it today and the celebrations for the next 15 days. According to Chinese legends, the first celebration of the new year was the scaring away of an man eating dragon called the Nian. This dragon comes out every 12 months and to scare it away, the Chinese used explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the colour red.Because of the problems of keeping

Old KB and Seria Photographs

My friends in KB and Seria sometimes complained I don't write enough about Kuala Belait and Seria. Despite the fact that I was born in Seria, I have to admit that I don't write enough about my birthplace. You have to remember Seria did not exactly exist prior to 1929 and most of its history is actually Shell's. Kuala Belait was also a tiny fishing village and it is Kuala Balai which used to be

Foreign Stamps in Brunei

The above is a Sarawak stamp complete with a portrait of Charles Vyner Brooke. Look closely and you will see the word Brunei handstamped onto the stamp and dated sometime 2nd March 1946. For those of you who are both history challenged and postal knowledge challenged would wonder when we used Sarawak stamps in our country? And if that surprised you, look at the stamp below.This is a North Borneo

Brunei Blogs Worth Visiting

I was checking on who had been linking back to dailybr ever since I went back daily. Obviously the crowd that linked here last year was no longer there apart from a few who never updated their links. For the new links, I am quite surprised to see who they are. So I thought I will spend a bit of time on some of the more unusual sites that linked to the dailybr and returned the favour for their

Brunei's Water

Sometimes we take things for granted that we don't really know how to value it anymore. Yesterday, we were discussing about water usage in Brunei and how much we have to prepare in order to ensure that Bruneians have enough water and that we do not have water shortages. There is a huge cost involved and not to mention building any reservoirs or dams would also affect our environment. So it is not

The Tales of the Pancurs

There are 3 kampongs in Brunei with the Pancur, one in Brunei/Muara District and the other 2 in Tutong. Last year I made the mistake of identifying Pancur Murai as in Tutong, it is in fact in Brunei/Muara District.According to the older folks, Kampung Pancur Murai was originally known as Pangkalan Imang. In those days, people especially local traders (called pengalu) come from the capital to the