Bangar December 1962 Memorial

December 1962 was a sad period of Brunei's modern history. If I can quote His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed in his book 'Remember, Remember, the 8th of December' who said "bad things happened. Very bad things." People were killed and the only memorial of that event is this memorial at Bangar, Temburong. Eight names are inscribed, those of government servants killed during the period.

In my recent visit to Bangar, I visited the memorial and it is indeed a sad testament to that period. The memorial is right by the bank of the Bangar River and is on the right hand side of the bridge crossing the river. For those wanting to visit it, once you arrived at the jetty, continue walking towards the bridge and go under it and you will be able to almost see it.

Comments

Al-Qadr said…
Speaking of that "Black December 1962" history of Negara Brunei Darussalam, it is much sadder still that school students in this country, including ourselves when we were in Darjah 1 - 4 and Prep 1 - 3 (after which you were sent to Singapore for your secondary school years together with nine other cream of the crop Bruneian students) had not studied anything about it. I do not recall having been taught about it even in Forms 1 - 3 History subject either...

Or maybe I should double-check with my daughter who is in Primary 4 and my son in Form 3 now whether they have heard of such important historical facts as to what really happened in Brunei - December 1962.
Saturday, April 19, 2008 12:29:00 PM
View from NY said…
Thank you for drawing my attention to the existence of that monument in Bangar. There is another monument in Limbang Town by the river slightly upriver from the town commemorating the (British SAS) casualties from the assult on Limbang.
Until the publish of the book by HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, that incident was a blind spot in Brunei history. I learn only from what my parents and elder relatives told me. They also said not to mention it in "polite company" because not people do not want to be reminded.
Despite the official ambivalence, it is an important event in Brunei history and efforts should be made to learn about the facts before people - and memory - dies out.
Monday, June 30, 2008 10:59:00 AM
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