Looking at the Past

I don't know how many of my blog readers know Tuan Haji Ahmad Arshad. As a small boy, Haji Ahmad regularly appears on television. I always remember him giving his enthuasistic report on the Legislative Council in the late 1970s and early 1980s before the Legislative Council was kept on hold. Somehow I don't remember anyone else. I remembered there was someone else but up to now, all I can remember his him.

Haji Ahmad started his career as a peon (today called Pembantu Pejabat) and worked his way up to be the Head of Current Affairs at RTB by the end of his career. He worked for a time as a Press Officer at MOE in the 1990s. He has written a number of articles and has published them in compilations of books.

However, the one that I remembered the most was his articles which he wrote for Pelita Brunei. From about November 2001 to October 2003, he wrote about 100 articles about Brunei. I would say that his writings were among the writings that I read that eventually inspired me to write for this blogsite and also for Brunei Times. He wrote short articles about 800 to 1000 words (same as my articles in BT) which he published in Pelita Brunei. Unlike yours truly, he wrote from his experiences. He was born in Kampong Peramu in Kampong Ayer in 1940. His childhood was in Kampong Ayer and he remembered the Brunei of the 1940s and 1950s very well.

If you read the first article of my book, The Golden Warisan Volume 2, I have an article entitled 'Berjanawari'. For many readers, that is the first time that they have read about this water festival in Brunei. For me, I first read it in Haji Ahmad's column on Pelita Brunei. There are many other things which Haji Ahmad touched and I unabashedly have been regurgitating his articles as articles for The Golden Legacy column. I indeed have a lot to thank him for.

His articles have been compiled into one book entitled "Melirik Masa Silam" which is published Dewan Bahasa. It was printed in 2005. This book is still available at Dewan Bahasa and if you don't want to read my books, The Golden Warisan series or you want to know the origins of many things Brunei, then I would suggest get Haji Ahmad's book. It only cost a measly $8.