Bubungan Dua Belas

I am in Temburong today having arrived here yesterday afternoon together with the rest of the MOD team to prepare for today's ceremony. His Majesty will be awarding land titles and also government's assistance to flood victims. What was interesting is that all of us are staying at Teratak Cendana run by the District Office which used to be the residence of the District Officer in the 1970s. My father was the DO then and I used to live in this house. In fact I am even sleeping in my own old bedroom! For today, I am reposting an old post from my other blog.

Sometime last year, the Post Office issued stamps and first day cover to commemorate the 100 years of Bubungan Duabelas. Bubungan Duabelas is the oldest building in Brunei today and used to be official residence of the British Resident (based in Brunei beginning 1906) and in the mid 1950s, the official residence of the British High Commissioner. The British surrendered the house to Brunei Government sometime in the 1980s and today it is maintained by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports to become an exhibition hall.

The interesting thing about the stamps is that the old house on the $1 stamp is not that of Bubungan Duabelas. I am not sure whether it is deliberate of the Post Office or pure ignorance on their part. The house on the $1 stamp is that of the British Counsul General's and was actually built in the late 1890s at the foot of the hill and is actually on water. It was in 1907 that the Bubungan Duabelas was built further up the hill. The site for the Bubungan Duabelas used to site another old house built by the British Counsul General as far back as the 1850s.