Kembara Nusantara 4 in Brunei Darussalam

First of all i would like to thank all FTPSS teachers for making this trip a sucessful one. This is my firsty visit to Brunei Darussalam I was so excited that I could not sleep the night before. I did not know What to expect staying in Brunei for 5 days. On the first day before we took flight to Brunei, everyone gave farewell to their families before going into the departure hall. Majority of us feel dishearted to leave our family on the other hand, we are thrilled as we are going for an adventure of a lifetime.

When we have landed in Brunei Darussalam, we took a bus to our first stop which is Syarikat Songket Anika. The shop only sells kain Songket or in Brunei they call it kain Jong sarat. The price range is from$600 to $1200 for each kain Songket but the quality is good and it can last long but it can only be dry clean. The thread is coated with gold that makes the kain Songket so beautiful and special. After that we headed to Kampong Ayer. Kampong Ayer is locatedat Brunei Bandar Seri Bengawan. The locals ride speedboat to travel from water to land, each ride is only cost 50 cents. Some of them own cars and park it near the rivers to travel ounin land. The people who live in Kampong Ayer may not necessarily be poor; most of them also own houses on land. The facilities here in Kampong Ayer are no different from the city; there is a place for entertainment, mosque, nearby clinic, police and fire station. When there is a house burning, the fire fighters will pump water from the river and put out fire from the burning house.

The next day 29 may 2010, I went to Sayyidina Hassan Secondary school. It is the most disciplined school in Brunei. In fact First Toa Payoh Secondary is the first school out of Brunei to visit them. The school is big and the population of the students and teachers is growing. The students welcome us with the sound of kompang. I was overjoyed and felt touched by the hospitality that they showed to us, they welcomed us with open arms. The students there are friendly, easy going and kind hearted as they are willing to help anyone who needs it. Their mindset is different from the students in Singapore. My buddy is Suhaila from secondary 5B.

I joined her class for 2 periods which is their religious lesson. I had so much fun in class that I did not realise lesson had already ended. The religious teacher Mr. Azrul makes the lesson more interesting by sharing some of his experience. The students in Brunei are not afraid to ask questions even if their classmates laugh at it. Compared to Singapore teachers have to pick a name to answer the questions while in Brunei the students voluntarily answer them. They are more interactive in class and because of that it makes the lesson more interesting and wanting to learn more. The students cooperate with the teachers by keeping quiet and paying attention when the teacher is explaining. After visiting Sayyidina , my foster parent, Cikgu Shihah, who is a Math teacher in Sayyidina Secondary school fetched us. We went to her mother's place for dinner and we tried the ambuyat, a traditional dish in Brunei.

The third day: 30 may 2010, we went to Ulu Temborong. It is an eye opener visiting Ulu Temborong as I get up close with the trees and understand the reason to save the earth. Climbing up is mentally and physically challenging but I made it. It is 381 steps up on the steep ground. This activity shows how tolerant and disciplined can I be. Overall I had fun at Ulu Temborong and proud to say that I had ever climbed up 381 steps up on a steep ground.

The fourth day: 31 may 2010, we went to Batong Padi Field. The visit there makes me realise the importance of rice. Planting padi is not as easy as it takes alot of hard work. The padi field open officially on the 15 march 2010, it is 170 hectres and it used to be a jungle. The rice is called Laila. The advantage of having this padi field is to provide rice for local people. The disadvantage is that a large area of forest has to be cleared. Green revolution is to take a shorter time at growing padi at a higher yield. The advantage of it is the incresed output of rice in a shorter time. The disadvantage of it is that the traditional strain of rice is lowly becoming extinct. The difference between traditional methods and modern methods is that the traditional uses man power and water comes from the cannel while modern method used tractor for ploughing, braodcast seeding machine for sowing, transplanter is used for transplanting, combine harvesting is used harvesting and water comes from the pipe for irrigation.

After planting padi, we were told that we are having dinner with the minister in his house. What an honor I thought. I was so happy and in disbelief that First Toa Payoh was invited to his house. All of us quickly washed up and meet up later in the evening. The minister and his wife ( datin) is very down to earth and is not arrogant about their status. They make us feel very comfortable and its a privilage to even step into their home. The datin is a Singaporean herself. She used to be a teacher in Singapore. It is once in a lifetime to be invited by the minister to his house for dinner and I feel much honored.

The last day in Brunei 1 june 2010, we all gathered at Rimba Secondary school for our farewell ceremony. We had a performance by the Brunei Malay dancers and a silat performance by two students from First Toa Payoh Secondary. For the finale all of the First Toa Payoh students gather up on stage and sing along to a modified version of WE ARE THE WORLD. All of us had a good time and we enjoyed ourselves. After that we went to The Mall. The Mall is the biggest shopping centre in Brunei. We went there for shopping but there was not enough time because they took an effort to see me at the airport and did not want to leave them. I feel sad but also I belive that this is not the last time I' going to see them. We will still keep in touch through technology and I am very grateful for that. I had an enjoyable trip in Brunei Darussalam. I will surely treasure each and every moment in Brunei.

Nur Farisah :)
4N2