Old Bandar Seri Begawan

Jewelle commented that she loved to see old photographs and a few others commented the same. So I thought I will share some of my old Brunei photographs with you all today.

On the left is a photo of a procession along Jalan Sultan. I don't know when this was taken. I am guessing around late 1940s or early 1950s. You can see the old HSBC building in the background. Use that as a focal point and you would know roughly where everything was then as compared to now.

This used to be the old General Hospital serving everyone in Brunei. I thought this building was very friendly as there was no stairs to walk up and harder for you to get lost.

I remembered when my father had to be admitted in the 1970s, he was told to rest. He was then a senior officer at the State Secretariat which is not very far from this hospital and every couple of hours, an officeboy would come and bring files for him to work on. In those days, they don't allow you to rest. Anyway, this site is currently where the new Syariah Court is now.

Slightly more modern but still old Bandar. This is the central wet market currently where the Municipal Council building is now. I remembered when I was about 8 or 9, my uncle used to take me to the pasar - not to accompany him - but for me to sit in the driver's chair while he goes and buy fish.

The theory was that it's ok for the car to be by the roadside as long as someone was sitting there regardless it is an 8 year old boy who can't drive does not matter. There were also a number of 'kereta rosak' - that are cars with the engine bonnet up parked alongside the market which is a favourite ruse by market goers.

This is the Sungai Kianggeh - I didn't realise how wide the river was in those days. The number of boats along the river banks are plentiful. If I am not mistaken the river got narrower when they built the tamu on the righthand side. Anyway, the building under renovation or construction is the Government Rest House. You can also just make out the old but tall PGGMB Building a couple of blocks away from the main building in the photograph.

If you look closely towards the middle of the right hand side - you can see a small hut on the river. That small hut is where they used to slaughter pigs. And no, I am not kidding.

This is an interesting aerial photo of the left bank of the Sungai Kianggeh. That interesting looking building that you can see in the foreground had already been demolished.

You can make out the wet market in the centre of the photo and several shophouses. With the exception of that block on the upper hand hand, most of the shops have changed appearance from 2 floors to a shop to about 4 to 5 floors per shop.

This is the mystery photo of the day. Name the buildings in this photo and described what changes have been made to this area.