ASEAN-ARTS & BOOKS: Bandar Seri Begawan – Asean literature on show at Brunei Book Fair and Carnival

THE 10-day Brunei Book Fair and Carnival kicked off yesterday at the Indoor Stadium in Berakas.

The event is an annual project of the Language and Literature Bureau (DBP) of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports held to mark Brunei’s 34th National Day celebrations and to foster a reading culture among Bruneians.

Present to officiate the event was Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof, the Minister of Communications, who is also the Acting Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Also in attendance was Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, the Minister of Religious Affairs, who also received a copy of ‘Calak Bangsa’, a book he authored, at the fair.

Hajah Sariani binti Haji Ishak, the Acting Director of the DBP, said the book fair and carnival is held annually to promote and put up for sale the latest and bestseller books, as well as showcase the latest educational kits to stimulate the psychomotor and cognitive learning skills of specific target groups within the population.

Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, the Minister of Religious Affairs; Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof, the Minister of Communications, who is also the Acting Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports; and Sheikh Ahmed bin Hashel bin Rashed bin Hashel Al-Maskari, the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to Brunei Darussalam, during the Brunei Book Fair and Carnival..

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All these serve to create a reading culture among the community in conformation with Vision 2035’s aspirations of producing a knowledge generation.

Some 78 booths have been set up at the fair, which began yesterday and will run until March 8. Participating exhibitors include the bureau, government and private book publishers, as well as local and overseas-based bookstores.

The foreign exhibitors are from Asean and Asean Plus Three (Asean +3) member countries, and will be showcasing and selling items of Asean and Asean +3 culture, art and heritage such as books, brochures and pamphlets in honour of Bandar Seri Begawan being Asean City of Culture for 2016-2017.

This promotion of Asean culture at the Brunei Book Fair and Carnival is a result of the declaration of Bandar Seri Begawan as Asean City of Culture during the 13th Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Culture and the Arts  (SOMCA) meeting in the country recently.

Thirty-eight new books were launched at the opening of the carnival yesterday, of which three are knowledge-based, three under general category, 12 under the adult literature category, and 18 on children literature.

Other books launched include a people’s book entitled ‘Pulau Labi-Labi’, which was published and translated into Dusun, English, Filipino languages, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, French and German by the DBP and Language Centre of Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Notable countries participating in the fair include the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Singapore, Malaysia and Egypt.

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Sheikh Ahmed bin Hashel bin Rashed bin Hashel Al-Maskari, the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to Brunei Darussalam, told the media at the event that Oman is participating in the fair for the fifth consecutive year, adding that it is a great chance to showcase Omani and Arabic literature.

“We are keen to spread the Arabic language to Bruneians. Arabic is the language of Al-Quran and we are sharing such language for common benefit,” he said. “Although this is an Asean book fair, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports still gave us an opportunity to be involved in this event, and it is an honour to keep up the momentum of Omani participation in the book fair.” / Borneo Bulletin / February 28, 2018  |     Azlan Othman     |