Bruneians Asked To Safeguard Intangible Cultural Heritage
By Shafiyi Azahari

Tutong - The government has asked the Tutong District Arts and Culture Agency as well as other elements of the nation to safeguard and maintain the dignity of Brunei's cultural heritage not only to preserve its identity of Melayu Islam Beraja but also for the benefit of the young people.

Speaking at the closing of a cultural gathering at the Halim Plaza Hotel here yesterday, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (R) Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Mohammad Daud said the agency is now facing a great challenge in having to safeguard the country's intangible cultural heritage even as the onslaught of the globalisation continues to threaten its existence.

"The duty of the academy is even more challenging and great in the face of its own wish to dignify the culture and arts of Tutong so it moves toward the concept of Melayu Islam Beraja," Pehin Mohammad Daud told some 70 participants of the gathering.

"The leaders and staff of the agency should be more sensitive towards (creating programmes) that are systematic and (in line) with the Melayu Islam Beraja concept," he said, adding that efforts must be taken to prevent .misunderstanding among the end-product users of the programmes, namely the members of the public. "For instance, what do you mean by `dignifying the culture and ethnic arts' in this area that are in line with the concept of a Melayu Islam Beraja state? It becomes your core business to clarify cultural and ethnic artistic (expressions) that are in line with the state concept." The agency was set up, he said, to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage of Brunei Darussalam, according to the definition of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

Referring to the body's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the minister described steps that every nation has to take in order to maintain their heritage, including by documentation, research, preservation, protection and promotion through both formal or non formal education.

The ceremony was organised, by the ministry's culture division in cooperation with the agency whose main objective is preserve, and harmonise various cultural and artistic expressions available in Tutong District.

The agency was established in October 2004. The gathering yesterday and a related meet on December 1 discussed several working papers presented by several of the 70 participants.

One participant,- student Muhd Hafiz Shaiful Areef of the Sayyidina Othman Secondary School in Kampong Bukit Beruang, Tutong, said the gathering taught him about the many ethnic groups existing in the district.

"For example, the Ibans' way of supporting their life is by hunting and farming, which they still do until today," he said.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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