BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

SEVENTY-THREE per cent of youth surveyed in 2013 said they felt that knowledge of Brunei Malay culture among their peers was low, and this should serve as a “wake up call” to all agencies responsible for the preservation and dissemination of Bruneian culture, the Acting Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports said.

Datin Paduka Hjh Adina Othman said the survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) in cooperation with Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) had 2,000 respondents (aged 15 to 40) on Bruneian culture and arts.

“We need to be more proactive in thinking up new ways and methods to attract the attention of our youth and nation, so that we will be able to disseminate and promote our culture and noble values even more effectively,” she said.

The MCYS acting minister was speaking during a two-in-one ‘International Museums Day’ and ‘International Archives Day’ celebration organised by the Museums Department at the Airport Mall in Berakas yesterday.

The celebration was also held as part of activities to mark the Museums Department’s 50th anniversary this year.

Themed ‘Museums and Archives for a Sustainable Society’, the celebration saw different exhibition booths and activities set up by the various sections and museums under the Museums Department at the venue, which was open to the public from 11am to 9pm.

New posters and brochures for each of the Museums Department’s sections and museums also made their debut at the event, all of which bore the department’s new tagline of My Museum, My Heritage (or MuziumKu, WarisanKu).

Speaking at the event, Acting Director of Museums Department cum event chairman Pudarno Binchin said the My Museum, My Heritage tagline was designed in a way to “create a sense of belonging” among members of the department as well as the wider Bruneian community to have a deeper appreciation towards their heritage.

“The Bruneian community should be united in shouldering the burden of shaping and implementing responsibility towards the preservation, development and expansion of the nation’s heritage towards a much more resilient level,” Pudarno said.

Meanwhile, Datin Hjh Adina called for more cooperation between the public and district officials in mobilising local communities to assist in creating district museums in the future.

She also hoped that the Museums Department would continue to expand by utilising new methods to create modern museums and coming up with methods to popularise them, such as through the “living museums” concept.

Among those present at the celebration yesterday were Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Muda Omar Ali ibni Duli Yang Teramat Mulia Paduka Seri Pg Perdana Wazir Sahibul Himmah Wal-Waqar Pg Muda Mohamed Bolkiah; YAM Pg Anak Hj Abdul Quddus bin YAM Pg Lela Cheteria Sahibun Najabah Pg Anak Hj Abdul Aziz; and MCYS Senior Special Duties Officer Hj Amer Hamzah Pehin Orang Kaya Amar Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Awg Zakaria.

The Brunei Times