Old Manuscripts are Brunei’s Cultural Identity and History

Bandar Seri Begawan: The International Conference on Islamic Manuscript 2025 continued with a presentation titled ‘Islamic Writing Traditions of Brunei Darussalam: On Stone, Metal and Paper’. Held in conjunction with the Brunei Mid-Year Conference Exhibition, MYCE 2025, the conference aimed to raise awareness on the importance of Islamic manuscripts. The function took place at Balai Khazanah Islam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, on the morning of June 22nd.

According to Radio Television Brunei, present at the event was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Nazmi bin Haji Awang Mohamad, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. The presentation, delivered by Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Dr Annabel Teh Gallop, Head of the Southeast Asia Division at the British Library, London, outlined that the Jawi and Arabic writings carved on tombstones, letters, and old manuscripts are integral to Brunei’s cultural and historical identity.

In the afternoon session, the conference featured a presentation titled ‘Manuskrip Nusantara (Adi Karya)’. Attending this session was Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Sufian bin Haji Sabtu, Deputy Minister for Security and Law at the Prime Minister’s Office. The presentation was delivered by Dr Noriah @ Jariah binti Mohamed, a textual researcher from Yayasan Karyawan Malaysia, who emphasized that Malay culture is intertwined with Islam, with religious knowledge being documented in heritage texts written in Jawi script.