Memories of Brunei Hostel in Singapore

On 30th March 1976, a group of ten twelve year old boys went on an almost empty RBA flight to Singapore. There were 13 passengers on board the brand new RBA Boeing 737, 10 boys and 3 fire services personnel. The fire services personnel were on route to be attached to the fire services in Singapore. While the 10 boys were continuing a government scholarship program that had started in the 1950s. One of the 10 boys was yours truly.

The month before we were all called to the old Education Department Building (behind the Secretariat Building, now demolished) from various schools throughout the country. At that time, Science School was still in the planning stage. We were supposedly the best 10 boys who passed the PCE (Primary Certificate of Education) that is excluding all the girls and the non-Bruneians. This was part of the government's efforts to provide better education, a policy that was laid down in the early 1950s. 'A' Level students went to UK until the late 1970s when PTE (today's Maktab Duli) was formed whereas us, pre 'O' level students went to Singapore also until the Science School was established.

[Illustration - photo during a Hari Raya celebration if I am not mistaken around 1977 or 1978. Mr. BR is in third row second from left].

It was a different era unlike today. Going abroad was a scary experience. Living in a hostel. Home sickness and tears can only be shed in the privacy of night. Our allowance was $30 a month then. Remember too there was no mobile phone. Telephone calls were costly. Any communication would have to be by letters. Thankfully a few months before that RBA started its operation. Otherwise we would have to rely on foreign airlines. When we arrived in Singapore, we were taken to Tanglin Hill which is off Tanglin Road and a few bus stops away from Orchard Road. The hostel I remember had no name but over time AKBS (Asrama Kerajaan Brunei di Singapura) became its name. But that hostel was not the first, it was probably the third hostel that Brunei Government had used for sending students to Singapore since 1950.

Many students went to Singapore from 1950 to 1982. In those 30 odd years, many senior officials formerly studied in Singapore. Ministers and even in the ranks of today's PSs, we have our alumni at PMO, MOF, MFA, MRA, MIPR and MOD. Were we different? In some sense, yes. We went to Singapore during its formative years. We went to government schools and obviously we studied what Singaporeans studied and went through what the Singaporeans went through. I have trudged along many streets in Singapore selling flags collecting donations for charities. I have painted old homes. Some of the Brunei students were so good that sometimes whole school teams were made up of Bruneians. One was at Teluk Kurau Secondary when the goalkeeper was the only non-Bruneian. MIPR PS was so good at soccer that he was chosen to represent Singapore boys. He played for the Brunei national team for a while. (On that note, another PS have also played in the national football team - guess who?]

Anyway, memories.... Those memories are now captured in a book written by another alumni, Dr Muhammad Hadi, the deputy director at the history centre. The book full of the history of the AKBS (or rather various AKBSs), the Brunei students who studied there and what happened to those places. The book cost $50 and will probably be bought by all the ex-students. If your parents or elderly ones were formerly students in Singapore, the book would come as a a very timely Hari Raya present for them.