Plaiting

 

Plaiting is one of the most favourite local activities done by the female population in Brunei Darussalam. Although the purpose is only to kill the time, some of them do take plaiting seriously as a source of earning. There are numerous products of plaiting ranging from nyiru (basket) to tikar (mat).

          

Nyiru

It is an equipment to separate rice from paddy during rice cultivation. It is made from rotan (stem from a slender palm) and the frame is made from *salingkawang, *rotan peladis, *rotan manuk, or *tamanit.

*different types of rotan

Cloth Weaving (Tenunan)

Cloth weaving has been practiced by a number of generations already in Brunei Darussalam. It is actively done by the villagers of Lurong Sikuna, Sungai Kedayan, Burong Pingai Ayer and Bukit Salat (all located in Kampong Ayer). Some of them are even hired by government to work at Arts and Handicrafts Centre to display their work to the public especially tourists. Enjoy the clip. =)

p/s: I apologise for the poor quality of the video as I had to compress it to 1.6 from 7.6Mb (notice the big difference!) due to poor dial-up connection. =( But, if you have any doubts or questions, feel free to drop  a comment!

Ancient rhythm

Hello readers! It has been ages since I last posted something here. Anyway, let’s not waste any more time, why don’t you just sit back because in a few seconds or so, I am going to write about our famous Kampong Ayer, a part of our unique heritage =)




For almost 600 years, the capital’s sprawling water village, Kampong Ayer, has been the most important evidence proving the existence of Brunei for centuries. This village consists of scattering homes and various facilities such as mosques, schools, clinics and fire stations. Until this day, water taxis and boats are the most efficient and popular means of negotiating the Kampung’s labyrinthine waterways. From their prows, one could see the mosque’s glistening minarets rising above multi-hued garden-draped homes.


    

Kampong Ayer




facilities such as water boats, taxis and mosque.

Brunei is a modern and civilized country with its people practicing high technology and gadgets but beyond the cold blinking faces of computer screens and beneath the hum of modems, Kampung Ayer’s heart still dances to an ancient rhythm.

Apart from Kampong Ayer, the practice of making traditional handicrafts such as brass-smithing, silver-smithing and kain tenunan (cloth weaving) is part of our heritage too and being passed down from a generation to another. Brass-smithing and silver-smithing are mainly important for manufacturing our traditional musical instruments such as gulintangan and sometimes for the purpose of making jewelry where as pretty and colourful traditional clothings such as ‘baju kurong’, ‘kain jongsarat’ and ‘sinjang’ are produced in the end of cloth-weaving process.




'Jongsarat' , 'gulintangan' and 'meriam bedil'