Kuala Belait and Seria

I have to go to Kuala Belait today for the Hari Perkhidmatan Awam there. A speech and then give out 92 certificates to retired civil servants. Despite Kuala Belait being only 60 odd miles away, a distance most other non-Bruneians would consider as spitting distance, I find it far. My grandfather was working in Kuala Belait when I was very young and we as a family goes down there every week or so if I remember and everytime we go there, it would take us well over an hour before we get there. I have always remembered KB as being really really far. Even now, when we get there under an hour, my brain still tells me that we are now in KB, very far away from Bandar Seri Begawan.

Here are two old photos of Seria and Kuala Belait in the early 1950s. Imagine the changes or non-changes of today:


Comments

Al-Qadr said…
BRo, if ever you have the chance to visit Seria on a Friday, please try to drop by and perform Solat Jumaat in Masjid Sungai Liang. Why? So you could see for yourself how the small mosque can't really cope with the increasing number of Muslim congregation praying there.

I hope the Mosque Affairs Dept in the Ministry of Religious Affairs has plans in the pipeline to do renovation or extension work on the Sungai Liang Masjid. The other alternative maybe is to build a new Masjid as part of the BEDB SPARK major projects since a lot of Muslim workers work there?
Saturday, November 15, 2008 8:50:00 AM
Unknown said…
i share your interesting story which is too important to ignore.Being a child i remembered what a long journey it was to seria/kb in the 60's. Unfortunately, the road condition and the travelling time is not much different till now. The old two single line road prior telisai bridge to sungai liang is a must in oder to reach kb. The commuting time perhaps is increasing if there are heavy vehicles in front. The snail pace requires patience. Not to mention driving at night which is quite dangerous with limited street lights. Just imagine we're in the millennium, our road development infrastructure is way backwards if you like. Changes are too slow.I trust as a high calibre & respected member of PS and x generation (perhaps like the new US elect president OBaMA) your Honour BR can make some changes & impact to our country's long term needs & vision. I believe its about time the govt consider a super highway for commuters from bandar to kb to bandar.Think of 15 to 20 years planning. With tourism as the next source of income to our nation, the reduction in commuting time can encourage and attract our neighours malaysian and indonesian to travel inland and use our country as a transit point between sabah and sarawak. (I've heard about PAN Borneo but not update so far)This can create and increase employment opprotunities in the service industry. Travelling along super highway must not be boring. Creativity is needed to make commuters alive. There must be a service center:fast food restaurant, fuel/service station, theme park entertainment, shopping malls etc,etc. Afterall, we dont want our money just gone overseas to finance their infrastructure funds. This is a reality & our country is top priority. Anyway, it's fair to say our major revenue is from those area. Just my 01 cent opinion.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 11:31:00 PM
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