{"id":4474,"date":"2017-11-28T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-12T15:07:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T19:07:01","slug":"so-your-character-is-from-brunei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victoriagracehowell.com\/staging\/6258\/so-your-character-is-from-brunei\/","title":{"rendered":"So Your Character is From Brunei … Featuring Iween @ Wendystrucked"},"content":{"rendered":"


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<\/span> It’s time for this week’s So Your Character is … Post! This is a weekly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country or having a disability. I’m hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven’t checked out last week’s  So Your Character is from Vietnam … be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!<\/span>
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<\/span>Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.<\/span><\/span>
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<\/span>(None of the Images are Mine)<\/span><\/span>
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\nAssalamualaikum (May Peace Be Upon You), hi! My name is Iween – I\u2019m a Brunei-based Muslimah, crochet enthusiast, aspiring psychologist, and the writer and dreamer behind Wendystrucked. I live in the Tutong district of Brunei Darussalam, and am currently studying Psychology in the Brisbane, Australia. And when I\u2019m not neck-deep in university work, I\u2019m busy missing home (and in this case, writing about it).<\/span>
\nBlog<\/a>\/\/Instagram<\/a><\/span>
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<\/span> What do you feel is unique to your country? Landmarks? Celebrations?<\/b><\/span>
\nA famous landmark commonly featured of Brunei, is the Sultan Omar \u2018Ali Saifuddien Mosque. And for a good reason. Look at that beauty!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Masjid Sultan Omar \u2018Ali Saifuddien.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

One of the unique things we have in Brunei is the Junjung Ziarah events. Every year on his birthday, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu\u2019izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar \u2018Ali Saifuddien Sa\u2019adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam visits the four districts of Brunei Darussalam \u2013 an annual meet-and-greet event called Junjung Ziarah where citizens, as well as tourists, get the chance to interact directly with His Majesty.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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The Monarch interacting with his citizens in this year\u2019s Junjung Ziarah to Tutong District, Brunei Darussalam. (Photo from the Borneo Bulletin).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tell me about your country’s environment. What are some of your favorite places?<\/b>
\nBrunei is known as the Abode of Peace, and that name in itself truly encompasses Brunei for what it is. A home and sanctuary of peace \u2013 from the vivid greens that it\u2019s immersed in down to the small (and cozy) number of its population and to the values and philosophies its citizens hold as a country of Malay Islamic Monarchy. <\/span>
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<\/span> Walking through Brunei, you\u2019ll see women in Hijabs just about everywhere. You\u2019ll find mosques in almost every village. And while most places around the world are packed with buildings and little nature, I would say that Brunei is actually more green than not, with highways lined with trees and jungles more often than buildings. <\/span>
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A little heart-shaped rock I encountered at Pantai Persiaran Pengkalan Pinang Penanjong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I love the beaches \u2013 specifically the ones to close to home, Pantai Persiaran Pengkalan Pinang Penanjong in Penanjong, Tutong and Pantai Seri Kenangan in Sengkarai, Tutong.<\/span>
\nI love them for the calm, and for the memories of beach visits there that stand out to me.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Penanjong, Tutong Beach<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tell me about your country’s food. What are some of your favorite dishes?<\/b>
\nOh, Brunei and its food! Always the part I miss dearly when I\u2019m away. Brunei thrives on traditional Malay food and one that Brunei is known for, and one that I love is Ambuyat.<\/span>
\n Best dipped in the Cecah, with side dishes like fried fish, curry beef and things of the like, Ambuyat is eaten like you would rice \u2013 in fact, it packs just as much energy as rice does. Although I don\u2019t eat it as often as I would actually eat rice, I love the times I get to sit down with family and have ambuyat \u2013 it\u2019s a true Bruneian experience. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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\nAmbuyat in the bowl on the top right, with its Cecah dip on the smaller bowl on the top left.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tell me about any different speech patterns in your country. Slang? Idioms? Words for things such as \u201cbiscuits\u201d instead of \u201ccookies\u201d?<\/b>
\nBrunei\u2019s official main language is Malay. A language we share with our neighbors in Malaysia and Indonesia, but with slight differences in the way that we speak it. <\/span>
\nWe also have slangs and idioms that are unique to Brunei. Like, \u201cinda\u201d as \u201cno\u201d instead of the standard Malay version which is \u201ctidak.” And other common slangs such as \u201cani\u201d to refer to \u201cthis thing\u201d, \u201catu\u201d to refer to something in the distance\/that thing, \u201cbisai\u201d which means \u201cgood\u201d, and one that I am guilty of saying quite often, \u201cberabis\u201d which, loosely translated, is something like \u201cseriously.\u201d There are also languages that are unique to some districts or Puak (tribes), such as Kedayan and Dusun language. <\/span>
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<\/span> Hailing from Tutong district, we have our own language that is unique to our district and it\u2019s Bahasa Tutong (Tutong Language). I actually don\u2019t speak Tutong language, and it has (unfortunately) grown quite uncommon among today\u2019s youths. But a few words that I do know are \u201cmian\u201d which means \u201ceat\u201d, \u201cmantuka\u201d which means car, and \u201cjaie\u201d which means \u201cI\u201d. The Tutong Language is spoken with its own unique dialect, and for (barely) a novice like myself, the dialect is hard to imitate. All in all, the majority of Bruneians speak Malay and are quite fluent in English.<\/span>
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