Brunei Schools' Houses by Hajah Yati
Each year, schools across Brunei organise annual sports meet among their students. The students and teachers are divided into four houses. These houses are assigned a colour and a name. The colours are usually red, blue, yellow and orange. So I guess that makes Jerudong Arabic School and MD (Maktab Duli Al-Muhtadee Billah) unusual, as they have colours other than the usual four. Whats really interesting is the names itself.The houses of St. Andrew's School are Hollis (red), Cornwall (blue), Danson (yellow) and McDougall (green). I represented Hollis and am proud to have contributed a few golds and silvers for my house. *smiles*
Then in MS ie. Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan, the houses are Hulubalang (yellow), Panglima (red), Pahlawan (green) and Laksamana (blue). These are the different ranks of malay warriors. I was a Hulubalang. Not to carry basket, but again, I collected a few medals for my house. If I remember correctly, Hulubalang was the champion house for two years or maybe more then.
When I left school life, I thought I had said farewell to sports competitions as well. Tsk-tsk. At the agency where I worked (note past tense), the houses were Deuchmark (yellow), Sterling (blue), Yen (red) and US Dollars (green). Coincidentally I was in the yellow house again. Did I also make my house proud? Maybe. Haha. I have since left the agency, and Deuchmark is no more. Just as the Euro dollar has replaced the european currencies, the forex houses too, has been replaced by names of fruits instead.
For your reading pleasure, after much prodding and whining, I have gathered names of houses for several schools and institutions in Brunei from the people around me (thank you all!).
| Schools & Institutions | Red House | Yellow House | Blue House | Green House |
| BES Berakas English School | Seri Laila | Seri Setia | Seri Ratna | Seri Utama |
| ITB Institut Teknologi Brunei | Maju | Membangun | Bersatu | Mufakat |
| MSPSBS | Panglima | Hulubalang | Laksamana | Pahlawan |
| PDS | Red Dragon | Yellow Flame | Blue Eagle | Greencredible |
| SM Rimba | Pemuras | Sinaga | Sinipit | Tampilan |
| SOAS Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin College | Bendahara | Maharajalela | Pemancha | Kerma Indera |
| St. Andrew’s School | Hollis | Danson | Cornwall | McDougall |
| STPRI Sekolah Tinggi Perempuan Raja Isteri | Ruby | Amber | Sapphire | Jade |
P/S: As always I have managed to stray away from the topic, writing instead of anecdotes in my personal life. So I have had to delete the first three paragraphs. Boo-Hoo.
[Today's entry is written by guest blogger, Hajah Yati HMA]
Comments
hehe yeah MD ada warna hitam and putih and apa kah lagi.. I forgot.. sigh.. I missed MD
I think you meant green instead of orange Mr BR (1st paragraph)
keep the interesting posts coming
xoxo
I finished my A's in 98. Nice post by guest blogger - Hjh Yati. Have a nice day. *smiles*
Yes! Thanks for correcting me. Now how did green become orange? Hehe
To kediaku:
My colleague also went to BES when the houses were names of birds. Like you, he couldn't remember all four. He thinks there was kenyalang, punai, tekukur and merbuk. But there's a high chance he's not 100% right, as he's not 100% sure. " )
I actually have more input, but they're not complete as my "sources" have low memory! *laughs*
Pahlawan - Merah
Perwira - hijau
Satria - yellow
thats for Sekolah Menengah Sayyidina Hasan... ;)
di MD..
ok i cant remember haha.. and i taught there for two years! aiyaa... i know i was in the 'Putera Negara' group hihi warna merah!
will update once i can find the handbook...
I was Amber back in STRPI..huhuhu...
TINTING (Yellow)
CONGKAK (Red)
PASANG (Green)
Then, when i was in the UK i found out that schools equivalent to our secondary schools have boarding houses for boarders and day houses for day boys and the boarders/dayboys of these houses would often compete with each other in sports, debates, etc.
Thats when i assumed that when the British system of education was implemented in Brunei many years back, they must have brought over this concept to have such competitions
I could be wrong, as I have never checked with anyone else.
I'm in Bersatu but I never took part in anything :p
Yes, i was in the Pahlawan house but unfortunately i only contributed two medals back in 93 when i was number 3 in the men's marathon in my age group and number 7 overall.They took the Top Ten back then. Alas, now i am not as fit as i was back then.
In 95, i was also in charge of the Pahlawan's sports marching team during the sports meet and we won a gold medal in 'berbaris'(kononnya paling disiplin lah tu). I don't know how we won. Maybe at that time my voice at it's purer virginal state hadn't matured as it has now and my high-pitched voice was easier to comprehend than the other deep-voiced marching leaders.
Not to sound like we were kings back then, i can say in no uncertain terms that PAHLAWAN RULES!
Oh and Panglima, Laksmana and Hulubalang didn't do too bad either.
In all my years at MS, PAHLAWAN RULED!!! Still Rules? hahahhah.. The whole five years I was there Pahlawan was the reigning champion. Unfortunately though my contributions were mostly academic hahaha
Ultraman, Spiderman, Superman & Batman!
Too bad there's no Barbies. I pity the little girls...kwang3x
Name of houses are Red Lion, Yellow Horse, Blue Eagle and Green Dragon. =) Somehow I think they're some odd combination, but who cares, what's important is the time we enjoy the games. =)