From Bandar Brunei to BSB 38 years ago
Sunday, October 12, 2008
THIRTY-EIGHT years ago, Brunei Town changed from being Brunei Town or Bandar Brunei to Bandar Seri Begawan. It was on October 4, 1970 that the change in name took place.
The change was mooted by then Chief Minister Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Setia Negara Pengiran Haji Mohamed Yusof bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahim. It was consented by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in honour of his father, Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien who then was titled Begawan Sultan when he abdicated in favour of his son in 1967.
The date chosen for the change in the name of Brunei's capital was the same as when Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien abdicated. In August 1970, Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Dipa Negara Pengiran Momin bin Pengiran Haji Ismail, the State Secretary announced the appointment of committees and other working groups for the event.
At the turn of the 20th century, Pekan Brunei — as it was then known — was a city on water. Peter Blundell in his 1923 book City of Many Waters said "the town was unique, the only one in the world built almost entirely over the water, and the Bruneis were justly proud of it. They were folks who live a semi aquatic life, and their methods of living, household arrangements, family life, and town government, adapted as they had been to life over the water".
Despite the first British Resident McArthur's efforts to move "the Bruneis" to dry land in 1906, not much progress had been made. In December 1941, 35 years after McArthur's efforts, the dry land in Brunei Town was merely a small town with one major road going through it with all the houses made out of wood with nipah roof and one wooden cinema built in 1923 for night entertainment. There was a wooden mosque named Masjid Marbut Pak Tunggal, sited not far from today's Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque. There was not much other than that.
It was Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien who worked hard to bring development to the capital city from a ruined city after the end of World War II. At the end of the war, after heavy aerial bombardment by the Allied Forces, Brunei Town lay in ruins. Even the wooden mosque was destroyed.
According to TS Monks, one of the first British administrators who came immediately after the war, there was "hardly a building left standing" in Brunei Town. "The main street was a mess of bomb craters and fallen telegraph poles — there was not a soul in sight anywhere. It was a shattered ghost town — so severe had been the bombing damage that it was difficult to imagine what the town had been like."
Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien ascended the throne in June 1950. By the mid-1950s, the Government had prepared the first five-year development plan which allotted about $100 million to build the government's infrastructure. The first National Development Plan was implemented in the early years of Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien's rule. Among the major items in the plan was the redevelopment of Brunei Town as a well-planned city, complete with asphalt roads and other modern amenities.
Most of the expenses were borne by the government. One of the first changes was the change of the wooden houses with concrete ones in the city centre. Other projects included the construction of schools, extension of medical services, agricultural development and the construction of roads. Most of these were able to be done successfully with the exception of the roads. There were delays and it was not until December 1958 that the road linking Brunei Town to Kuala Belait was completed with all the bridges crossing all the major rivers along the way.
By 1958, most of the bigger government buildings in Brunei Town were completed. These included the State Secretariat Building, Istana Darul Hana, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien College, the Customs Department at Brunei Wharf, the General Post Office, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and one first class hotel.
The Mosque obviously became the best-known landmark of not just Bandar Seri Begawan but also for Brunei Darussalam. It was officially opened on September 26, 1959.
The E-shaped Secretariat Building on Jalan Elizabeth II formed the nucleus of the government's machinery. Concrete shophouses along Jalan Sultan were built. A new hospital was built along Jalan Stoney (now replaced by the new Courts Building). A few British-owned companies also built their own buildings near the wharf. Two cinemas, the Boon Pang (now replaced by the BIBD building) and the Bolkiah were also built in the early 1950s. Even the HSBC bank built its first concrete building then.
In the 1960s, the town master plan was completed and executed.
Though many of the government offices were by then outgrowing their allocated spaces in the town centre. Some of the developments started to take place on the outskirts.
Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien was not only concerned with the physical development of the capital. Other development took place. The campaign to eradicate malaria was carried out in 1953. From an annual 3,875 cases, it dropped to 41 in 5 years. Malaria was eradicated in Brunei in a very short time.
In communication and transportation, Sultan Haji Omar Ali ordered that the wharf be enlarged so as to allow more ships to come in to bring food supplies. He also built a new airport out of the airfield strip left by the Japanese during WWII. These two projects were part of the Second National Development Plan carried out in 1962.
Even a museum was planned to keep records and artifacts of Brunei's past and built just outside Brunei Town.
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien also ordered for a true welfare system to be set up whereby allowances were paid out to the needy and handicapped. The Language and Literature Bureau was also started during his reign to help save Brunei's language and heritage.
In the 17 years that Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien sat on the throne, Brunei Town grew to become a beautiful city. In August last year, Bandar Seri Begawan grew 10 times to its present size of 100.36 square kilometers.
The majestic Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and imposing Legislative Council Chamber (Lapau) are a testament to the beauty of Bandar Brunei and the efforts that Sultan Omar Ali has taken to leave a fitting legacy of his — Bandar Seri Begawan.
The writer runs a website on Brunei at bruneiresources.com.
The Brunei Times
The change was mooted by then Chief Minister Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Setia Negara Pengiran Haji Mohamed Yusof bin Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahim. It was consented by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in honour of his father, Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien who then was titled Begawan Sultan when he abdicated in favour of his son in 1967.
The date chosen for the change in the name of Brunei's capital was the same as when Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien abdicated. In August 1970, Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Dipa Negara Pengiran Momin bin Pengiran Haji Ismail, the State Secretary announced the appointment of committees and other working groups for the event.
At the turn of the 20th century, Pekan Brunei — as it was then known — was a city on water. Peter Blundell in his 1923 book City of Many Waters said "the town was unique, the only one in the world built almost entirely over the water, and the Bruneis were justly proud of it. They were folks who live a semi aquatic life, and their methods of living, household arrangements, family life, and town government, adapted as they had been to life over the water".
Despite the first British Resident McArthur's efforts to move "the Bruneis" to dry land in 1906, not much progress had been made. In December 1941, 35 years after McArthur's efforts, the dry land in Brunei Town was merely a small town with one major road going through it with all the houses made out of wood with nipah roof and one wooden cinema built in 1923 for night entertainment. There was a wooden mosque named Masjid Marbut Pak Tunggal, sited not far from today's Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque. There was not much other than that.
It was Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien who worked hard to bring development to the capital city from a ruined city after the end of World War II. At the end of the war, after heavy aerial bombardment by the Allied Forces, Brunei Town lay in ruins. Even the wooden mosque was destroyed.
According to TS Monks, one of the first British administrators who came immediately after the war, there was "hardly a building left standing" in Brunei Town. "The main street was a mess of bomb craters and fallen telegraph poles — there was not a soul in sight anywhere. It was a shattered ghost town — so severe had been the bombing damage that it was difficult to imagine what the town had been like."
Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien ascended the throne in June 1950. By the mid-1950s, the Government had prepared the first five-year development plan which allotted about $100 million to build the government's infrastructure. The first National Development Plan was implemented in the early years of Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien's rule. Among the major items in the plan was the redevelopment of Brunei Town as a well-planned city, complete with asphalt roads and other modern amenities.
Most of the expenses were borne by the government. One of the first changes was the change of the wooden houses with concrete ones in the city centre. Other projects included the construction of schools, extension of medical services, agricultural development and the construction of roads. Most of these were able to be done successfully with the exception of the roads. There were delays and it was not until December 1958 that the road linking Brunei Town to Kuala Belait was completed with all the bridges crossing all the major rivers along the way.
By 1958, most of the bigger government buildings in Brunei Town were completed. These included the State Secretariat Building, Istana Darul Hana, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien College, the Customs Department at Brunei Wharf, the General Post Office, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and one first class hotel.
The Mosque obviously became the best-known landmark of not just Bandar Seri Begawan but also for Brunei Darussalam. It was officially opened on September 26, 1959.
The E-shaped Secretariat Building on Jalan Elizabeth II formed the nucleus of the government's machinery. Concrete shophouses along Jalan Sultan were built. A new hospital was built along Jalan Stoney (now replaced by the new Courts Building). A few British-owned companies also built their own buildings near the wharf. Two cinemas, the Boon Pang (now replaced by the BIBD building) and the Bolkiah were also built in the early 1950s. Even the HSBC bank built its first concrete building then.
In the 1960s, the town master plan was completed and executed.
Though many of the government offices were by then outgrowing their allocated spaces in the town centre. Some of the developments started to take place on the outskirts.
Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien was not only concerned with the physical development of the capital. Other development took place. The campaign to eradicate malaria was carried out in 1953. From an annual 3,875 cases, it dropped to 41 in 5 years. Malaria was eradicated in Brunei in a very short time.
In communication and transportation, Sultan Haji Omar Ali ordered that the wharf be enlarged so as to allow more ships to come in to bring food supplies. He also built a new airport out of the airfield strip left by the Japanese during WWII. These two projects were part of the Second National Development Plan carried out in 1962.
Even a museum was planned to keep records and artifacts of Brunei's past and built just outside Brunei Town.
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien also ordered for a true welfare system to be set up whereby allowances were paid out to the needy and handicapped. The Language and Literature Bureau was also started during his reign to help save Brunei's language and heritage.
In the 17 years that Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien sat on the throne, Brunei Town grew to become a beautiful city. In August last year, Bandar Seri Begawan grew 10 times to its present size of 100.36 square kilometers.
The majestic Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and imposing Legislative Council Chamber (Lapau) are a testament to the beauty of Bandar Brunei and the efforts that Sultan Omar Ali has taken to leave a fitting legacy of his — Bandar Seri Begawan.
The writer runs a website on Brunei at bruneiresources.com.
The Brunei Times
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