Foreign Visitors Views on Nurul Iman Palace Hari Raya





WAQIUDDIN RAJAK
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

FIRST-TIME foreign visitors were in awe with Istana Nurul Iman as His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam opened his doors to celebrate Aidil Fitri with the public.

Timothy Lynch, an Australian senior lecturer at Monash University, said he was impressed with how the monarch was able to meet the public and offer food to any visitor at the palace.

“Being able to do such speaks volume about his disposition towards being a leader and a king,” he said.“To me, this is quite a unique situation in Brunei because in other countries, they may only be able to do that or perhaps, will only select a number of people to visit the palace,” he added on the first day when the palace was open to the public.

Lynch was transiting in the country with his wife, Effie Pollatos, and his three children before heading home after visiting his in-laws in the United Kingdom.

“Both me and my wife knew some people who toured here (Brunei) a few years ago and they told us how lovely the country is, so this is why we were eager to visit,” he said.“My wife also knew that during the (Hari Raya season), people would be able to see the monarch,” he added.

Lynch had planned to line up and greet the royal family, but had to miss out to take care of their children aged three, two and nine months.

“All the more, we also have to catch on our bus, so we will only be sitting here enjoying the mood and the food; and it is still quite a great experience for us.

“We would also like to wish the royal family especially the Sultan a “Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir dan Batin,” he added.

Ma Rosali Cielo from the Philippines also said she was impressed with how the Istana open house was carried out smoothly.

“Being able to open the palace to the public just shows how peaceful the country this, everything is in place and in order.

“Everything is also quite organised and overall, I am having quite a good time here,” she added.

Sim Chui Bee, who travelled with her entourage from Miri, said the atmosphere and experience was quite different compared to watching on television.

“The atmosphere here is very lively; the food is nice and fresh; plenty of our friends usually came here for the Hari Raya visit and this is quite a good experience for me actually.

“We plan to join the queue to see the Sultan and other royal family members, and hopefully we will be able to see them,” she added.

Courtesy of The Brunei Times

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brunei Royal Wedding 2015: Profile of Royal Bride Dayangku Raabi'atul Adawiyyah

Image
DAYANGKU RAABI'ATUL ADAWIYYAH BINTI PENGIRAN HAJI BOLKIAH Yang Mulia Dayangku Raabi'atul `Adawiyyah binti Pengiran Haji Bolkiah was born on the 27th October 1992. She is the second child of Pengiran Haji Bolkiah bin Pengiran Haji Jaluddin bin Pengiran Haji Tajuddin with Pengiran Hajah Noor'aismah binti Pengiran Haji Ismail bin Pengiran Haji Tengah. Her eldest brother, Awangku Abd. 'Aziz Hafizuddin bin Pengiran Haji Bolkiah, works at the Royal Brunei Airlines. Her other siblings are Awangku Mohd Ainul Yaqien; Dayangku Noor Batuul 'Afiqah; Dayangku Izzatul `Afifah; Dayangku Duratul Majeedah; Dayangku Nur Hidayatul Maheerah; Awangku Mohd Zainul ‘Ariffin; Awangku Mohd Irfan Hakeem; and Awangku Mohd Izzul Yamin @ Abdul Razeeq. (Note: Direct descendants of the Brunei Sultans carry the hereditary title of Pengiran. However as children and young adults, they are normally styled Awangku (for male) and Dayangku (for female) until they marry, when the title conver
Read more

Family Titles in Brunei

Image
On my recent blog on Brunei's Time Line , one commentator got carried away and she started to talk about events in the past before moving on to nicknames. I enjoyed what she wrote and I offered for her to write a whole blog about it and I will put it up. But up to now, I have not received anything from her. So, Hajah Yati, if you are reading, my offer still stands. And for the rest of you readers out there, if you don't have your own blogsite, I am most ready to offer my site for the occassional blogs that you want to write - just make sure the blogs are Brunei related. You can set up your own blogsite once you feel comfortable. As someone later on commented, it will be nice to read someone else's blogs too on this website. At least on this one, you get an instant 300+ readers a day. So, please, my e-mail is admin@bruneiresources.com. Do write. I don't have much on nicknames to write on as suggested by Hajah Yati. I remembered when I was at school (primary), I have fri
Read more

Pulau Cermin - Brunei's Historic Island

Image
Since I was already on the water visiting the Jong Batu at one end of the Brunei River, I thought I might as well go to the other end and visit the other historical site of Brunei, Pulau Cermin. Pulau Cermin as many Brunei historians know it is the site of the temporary palace of Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin, the 13th Sultan of Brunei and is the site of the only civil war in Brunei History. Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin took the throne after assasinating Sultan Muhammad Ali. It was quite a bloody time in Brunei history and I remembered one classic book written by Yura Halim entitled "Mahkota Berdarah" regarding the episode. Pulau Cermin - view from the River In a nutshell, Sultan Abdul Hakkul Mubin was the Bendahara when his son was killed by the son of Sultan Muhammad Ali. He requested that his son's death be avenged but Sultan Muhammad Ali denied him. So Bendahara Abdul Mubin went amok killing a few people at the palace and with his followers took the Sultan and killed him (No
Read more