The Origin of Brunei's Clock Tower

A couple of yesterday's photographs on Maulidur Rasul in the past were taken from my uncle's album. I borrowed his album sometime last year and it contained a treasure trove of photographs. Not only he has photographs of events which had him in it but also photographs of national events. I guess in those days, people like to keep those kind of photographs as well as I have seen this national event photographs in other people's albums. You buy them from the photo studios.

Anyway, one photograph which interested me very much was this particular photograph of our 'Achitect of Modern Brunei' Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien. This photograph showed him and Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the first Agung of Malaysia or rather Malaya in those days, sitting together. The site of this photograph will interest you. Look at the background, you can just make out the Secretariat Building on the right of the photograph and on the left you can just make out the old Police barracks that used to be in front of the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque.

So this photograph was taken somewhere near the Post Office and the Secretariat Building. In fact to be exact this site was in the middle of the cross roads of Jalan Sultan and Jalan Elizabeth II. Why?

What most people have forgotten is that, that blue clock tower was to commemorate the visit of Tuanku Abdul Rahman to Brunei Darussalam. The foundation stone was laid by Tuanku Abdul Rahman during his visit to Brunei in July 1959. It was on 11th July 1959 when this photograph was taken. That clock will be 50 years old this coming July.