Surprise Visit Puts DBP Under Royal Scrutiny
By M K Anwar & Rosli Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei's centre for language and literature came under close scrutiny by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei yesterday morning during a surprise visit.

His Majesty arrived at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) in Berakas at about 9.30am and spent the next two hours looking at the facilities and books published by DBP.

DBP is one of the government departments under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports whose responsibility includes development of language, literature, culture and local publications.

The Monarch first visited the administration and operation section and inspected the day-to-day operation of this section that includes finance, staff management and marketing.

His Majesty was briefed by respective heads of department as the ruler visited different sections. There are 13 sections under the DBP.

His Majesty also visited the Publication Section, which is responsible for the publication of books, magazines and journals.

More than 40 books written by local writers have been published by DBP. These range from literature, children's books, manuscripts, novels and cultural related works.

In its vision to promote and develop the use of the Malay language, DBP has also published magazines such as Mekar, Bahana, Juara Pelajar and Beriga.

In targeting young school children to make them learn more about the Malay language and literature, DBP prints Mekar and Bahana magazines and sells them to schools.

The youth literacy rate in Brunei is one of the highest in the world. Brunei is placed sixth in the world in youth literacy with 99.4 per cent of its youth population able to read and write.

His Majesty went through books published about the ruler during the visit to a bookshop located in the DBP building and queried about the quality of books published by the department.

The storeroom that houses some of DBP's published books and other related materials also came under royal scrutiny.

Later, His Majesty inspected some of the vehicles used by DBP, especially those that are used as a mobile library.

DBP first operated under the Ministry of Education. It was formerly known as the `Lembaga Bahasa' or Language Board back in 1961. Its name was changed to Language and Literary Section before being formally incorporated under the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports in January 1965, and became known as Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Present during His Majesty's visit were Pehin Dato Dr Hj Awg Hussein, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports; Dato Awg Hj Yakub, Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports; and Awg Hj Jemat bin Hj Ampal, Permanent Secretary. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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