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Showing posts from July, 2013

Brunei's Only Gold Pitis (Coin)

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As someone who is interested in the history of Brunei, I have bought a number of coins especially pitis which were issued during the past by the various Sultans of Brunei. I have also purchased coins from our neighbouring countries. The Brunei pitis which I have found so far and from what I have seen from the collection of other people who are into coins, are mostly made of from iron. From the other countries, most of them were also made from iron. However I have also found a number of gold and silver coins especially from the Acheh Sultanate. I have always wondered why is it that there has not been any gold coins from the Brunei Sultanate in the past. The answer to that is that apparently there is. Today, members of the online Brunei Numismatic Club or Kelab Numis Brunei went to visit Dato Suny Idris, a well renowned local coin collector. He probably is the longest coin collector in Brunei and his vast collection include many fine examples of the coins and notes that Brunei and it

Libraries in Brunei - what the public wants

I received an email from Rinni Amran about libraries and the importance of reading. While we at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports are currently taking a very proactive role in addressing many of the issues raised here, clearly we are not doing it as fast as the public wanted due to a number of factors. For instance, upgrading works at the main library in Bandar Seri Begawan is currently halted because of the need to determine building lines as is required by PWD. Anyway, take a good read at the many good ideas by Rinni Amran: +++++ I just wanted to comment on the government's emphasis this year on the importance of literacy and encouraging good reading habits. It appears to me that books in general suffer from a lack of good publicity in the nation. I don't think it right to say that there's a lack of enthusiasm for reading among the population - there are a couple of book swap events, for example, that can be found to be going around lately, and of course, there is

Mega Bridges in Brunei

The Oxford Business Guide had this report on 12 July 2013: +++++ Brunei Darussalam: Questions on ‘mega-bridges’ financing  Asia | 12 Jul 2013 As plans for three new ‘mega-bridges’ take shape, the government intends to impose stringent environmental assessments for the vast structures. However, critics say equal emphasis should also be placed on identifying financing options to avoid construction delays. On June 20, the Ministry of Development signed a $138.9m deal with domestic firm Swee Sdn and South Korea’s Daelim Industrial to build the Sungai Brunei Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge, which, at 607 metres in length, will connect Kampung Sungai Kebun to Jalan Residency. Daelim will assume responsibility from design to construction and have a 67% stake in the venture. Set to be complete in 2016, the bridge will cut the journey time for local residents, who currently have to travel around 30 km via Jalan Bengkurong-Masin and Jalan Tutong to reach the capital. The new bridge will