Brunei small country with a long history

Damai

or

Kalinaw

or

Te-njo



or

HePing

Wow!

Those are some of the ways to say 'Peace' in the country of Brunei!

www.trylobyte.wordpress.com

The first is Malaysian for Peace:

Damai

The second is in the Bisaya language for peace:

Kalinaw

The third and fourth are in different dialects of Chinese for peace:

Te-njo

or

HePing

Brunei

Why this interest in the country of Brunei?

Well, I started to get readers from there.

I said to myself -

BRUNEI?

I never heard of that country!!!

Is that really a country?

Yep, it is.

Check out the map above. You can see it is a tiny country,

actually smaller than our state of Delaware!

and that's a small state...

Brunei Flag

So, what are the people of Brunei like?

Here are some quick and fun facts:

Last estimate was in July, 2012

and that was estimated at about 409,000 people.

I'm pretty sure Denver is bigger than that!

Brunei

The Bruneian people are from a wide diversity of national backgrounds.

There is about 15% Chinese,

about 18% indigenous and other

(don't you always want to know what 'other' means?!!!)

and just a reminder, indigenous means 'native peoples',

not emigrated from somewhere else.

There is a sizable Indian population, mostly minorities from Southern India.

Just in that section some of the different languages are

Tamil

Malayalam

Telugu

Hindi

http://www.en.loadtr.com/

Think we're done yet?

Nope.

Just in the Chinese sector there is

Hokkien

Cantonese

Hoisan

Fuchow

 and Hainanese

spoken!

button with official coat of arms heraldry of Brunei

http://www.zazzle.com/

AND

there are expatriate communities that include Filipino and Indonesian...

How do they ever communicate with each other?

(I'm thinking Tower of Babel from the Bible.....)

Well, English is widely used in business and the work force.

If you are in High School, or on to College,

all the instructions are in English!

BUT

the official language of Brunei is Melayu Brunei,

a form of Malaysian, but different.

Of course.

Melayu Brunei was made official in 1959

with the signing of the Brunei 1959 Constitution.

Brunei is a

constitutional sultanate

yep, I never heard of that either!

This is a photo taken at the wedding of Princess Hajah Majeedah Nurul Bulqiah,

daughter of the first wife Kebawah Duli Anak Hajah Saleha

binti His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'zzaddin Waddaulah

and

Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Khairul Khalil

bin Pengiran Syed Haji Jaafari

September, 2008

(I bet they hated learning how to spell their own names in grade school!)

As near as I can tell binti means daughter of?

so bin would be son of?

Royal Wedding

www.zimbio.com

I wanted to find more information on all that wonderful beading,

but never did find any.

boo hoo

:0(

Another fun fact:

The average age of Bruneians is

27 years old!

and the life expectancy is averaged at

male: 71 and female: 76 

photo cred: Anthony Asael

www.deviantart.com

Brunei History

now don't skip this just because you hate history!

It really can be quite fascinating!

Brunei is one of the oldest kingdoms in the world

as well as one of the youngest independent nations in Southeast Asia!

In 1888 Brunei became a British protectorate

and independence was achieved in 1982.

However

the same family has ruled Brunei for over 6 centuries.

stone boat in lagoon

Brunei Bandar Sei Begawan Omar Ali Saifudden Mosque

www.tropicalisland.de.com

The official name is

State of Brunei Darussalam

the capital is

Bandar Seri Begawan

 The last election was held in 1962, and the next election is NA.

The Sultanate is handed down through the family.

Sultan Hassanal Boliah was coronated in 1968.

Oil was discovered in 1929.

Some of the cars found in the Sultan of Brunei's Garage.

It holds over 7,000 vehicles worth over 5 billion $$.

What kind of religion do they practice?

woman of Brunei

http://www.worldwatchlist.us/.

The official religion is Muslim with 67% of the population practicing.

This is reflected in their legal system which is based on

English common law;

for Muslims, Islamic Shari'a law supersedes civil law in a number of areas.

About 13% are Buddhist,

10% have indigenous beliefs, and that mysterious 'other',

and about 10% are Christian.

According to www.worldwatchlist.us

there are approx. 39,500 Christians.

In 2011 monitoring of Christian meetings increased.

Only non-Malays can choose any religion other than Islam.

If a Malay converts they are scheduled for

're-education into Islam'

and charged with

'Disturbs peace and harmony'.

There are restrictions on importing Christian materials, Bibles and literature

making them difficult to obtain.

Brunei forests of Temburong

Brunei culture draws from the Old Malay World,

including the Malay Archipelago

and stemmed from the Malay Civilization.

Influences include animism, Hinduism, Islam and the West.

traditional clothing of Brunei



Misc. Fun Facts:

 A large portion of the labor force are from

Philippines

Indonesia

Thailand

India

 and Bangladesh.

Water taxis are a common form of transportation.

www.thetravelword.com

The country has made a serious effort in encouraging native crafts,

including the traditional arts of

boat making

silver smithing

bronze tooling

cloth weaving

mat and basket weaving

wood carving and wood working.

traditional silver work

www.bruneiresources.com

basket weaving at a raft Show in the Brunei Darussalam Pavilion

http://www.hellomandarin.com/

Silver work, Brass ware and wood working were already a flourishing business

by the 15th century!!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this very brief armchair overview of

Brunei!

map of Brunei, Malaysia and the South China Sea

A last little fun fact:

Korea established diplomatic relations right after the 1982 independence of Brunei from the United Kingdom.

Many Bruneians have become increasingly attracted to Korean

popular soap operas

movies

and songs!

The capital of Brunei, northern bank, Bandar Sei Begawan

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/

It looks like it has many beautiful places.

Shall we go?

I gleaned information from many different sites.

Here are most of them:

http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/brunei.htm

 http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcbrunei.htm

www.encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com

www.worldwatchlist.us

www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bx.html

www.yynr.org - an article by Safarozi

www.koreatimes.co.kr - an article written by Na Jeong-ju

http://www.bruneiresources.com/bruneihandicrafts.html

until next time

:0)

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

www.

Old Mother Hubbard Nursery Rhyme Time

Amaithi

'Peace' in the Tamil language

spoken in Singapore

India

Sri Lanka

Malaysia

Mauritius

Tamil language literature from 300 BC has been found in

Egypt

Sri Lanka

Thailand

Wow!

The International Peace Choir founded in Long Beach, CA 1987

www.internationalpeacechoir.org

www.zazzle.com

Today's blog is all about an old woman, who may or may not have had children,

but

did have one incredible dog

and

was a little careless about keeping her cupboard filled.

vintage illustration

A neighbor of Mother Hubbard's (presumably) had quite a talent for rhyming.

Being a nosy neighbor,

she spent a lot of time in her front room peeking through the curtains

the better to see what was going on in the neighborhood.

Especially that suspicious old lady across the street

that people insisted on calling 'Mother'

 although no children have been reported seen.

Just that irritating dog.

Mother Hubbard spends way too much time doting on that mangy thing.

Why, just wait until you hear about all the

outrageous antics going on over there.....

you can find this book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Comic-Adventures-Mother-Hubbard/dp/0152195424/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337016943&sr=1-1

Old Mother Hubbard

Went to the cupboard

To get her poor dog a bone;

But when she got there

The cupboard was bare.

And so the poor dog had none.

vintage illustration

The lyrics to this nursery rhyme were first published in 1805,

and have remained mostly unchanged.

The first publication was

The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog

by J. Harris of London

June 1, 1805

vintage illustration

She went to the baker

To buy him some bread,

But when she got back

The poor dog was dead.

(I think this was probably hopeful wishing on the neighbor's part.)

www.nurseryrhymesonline.com

I'm using verses from The Little Mother Goose published in 1912

with illustrations by

Jessie Willcox Smith.

She went to the joiner (the undertaker's)

To buy him a coffin,

But when she came back

The poor dog was laughing.

great for scherensnitte!

While many have suggested that the Old Mother Hubbard rhyme

is popular because it is a political satire,

nowhere can it be found if this is true,

or what the satire is about.

She took a clean dish

To get him some tripe*;

When she came back

He was smoking his pipe.

vintage illustration

* tripe

I don't know how many of you know what tripe is, but let me tell you

it is some nasty kind of animal body part (brains?).

My brother-in-law loves menudo, a kind of a breakfast soup

popular in Mexico, and perhaps other places too.

Now, he is a super fantastic cook

so when he says this is the best menudo you will ever eat

I believe him.

What he didn't tell me is that no matter how wonderful his menudo is

it is still a soup made from nasty animal body parts.

ick.

I think it is the only thing he has ever cooked

that I hated.

Truly, scrape-the-tongue hated.

Oh well. Maybe you'll like it....

and maybe Old Mother Hubbard's dog liked it....

www.Reading-With-Kids.com

unknown source

She went to the ale house

To get him some beer;

When she came back

The dog sat in a chair.

www.androidzoom.com

unknown source

She went to the tavern

For white wine and red;

When she came back

He was riding a goat.

vintage illustration book cover

She went to the hatter's

To buy him a hat,

But when she came back

He was feeding the (her) cat.

I have found two slightly different versions, published in different years.

So, when I can, I add the 'different' word(s) for your perusal.

Ooooohhhh,

I've been waiting for just the right time to use that word!

:0)

www.increasemyvocabulary.com

She went to the barber

To buy him a wig,

But when she came back

He was dancing a jig.

I guess you can't wear a wig if you are dancing a jig?

unknown source

vintage illustration, unknown source

She went to the cobbler's

To buy him some shoes;

When she came back

He was reading the news.

Traditional Nursery Songs of England with Pictures by Eminent Modern Artists

c. 1843

edited by F. Summerly

I just love that title, don't you?

from The Little Mother Goose, c.1912

illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith

found at Mama Lisa's House of English Rhymes

partial of painting Old Mother Hubbard by one of my all-time favorites:

Scott Gustafson

http://www.scottgustafson.com/

The next two verses are found in some versions

but not in all:

She went to the fruiter (fruiterer's)

To buy him some fruit,

But when she came back

He was playing the flute.

She went to the tailor

To buy him a coat,

But when she came back

He was riding a goat.

vintage illustration, unknown source

I love her fingerless lace mitts!

She went to the sempstress (sic)

To buy him some linen;

When she came back

The dog was spinning.

vintage illustration

So, did you ever wonder what that little (sic) meant?

It means that is the original spelling, it has not been changed

to the correct spelling.

The 'sempstress' is found in the 1912 version.

c. 1917



She went to the hosier

To buy him some hose,

But when she came back

He was dressed in his clothes.

A Batchelder tile, c. 1909

She went to the fish-shop

To buy him some fish,

And when she came back

He was washing the dish.

The original 1805 edition

courtesy Dover books

The dame made a courtsy,

The dog made a bow,

The dame said, "Your servant,"

The dog said, "Bow-wow."

Mother Hubbard costume

www.abc.net.au

c.1889

This wonderful dog

Was Dame Hubbard's delight,

He could read, he could dance,

He could sing, he could write;

She gave him rich dainties

Whenever he fed,

And erected this monument

When he was dead.

vintage 1935 movie poster

http://www.moviepostershop.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Hubbard-Retold-Russell-Reading/dp/1409533093/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337022874&sr=1-1 

...and thus ends

the saga of an old woman (who may or may not have been a mother)

and her incredible

(and very irritating according to close sources)

dog.

a John Lawson illustration, 1888

www.onprogram.blogspot.com

enjoy the day!

oh,

and don't forget to stop by the grocery store....

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com/

http://www.myinkspired.com/

http://www.collagepaperpainting.com/