Imagining Brunei | Dr Kathrina Mohd Daud | TEDxUniversiti Brunei Darussalam

Quick Overview

Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud argues that the scarcity of Bruneian literary works written in English and accessible locally, coupled with her personal background in a mixed-race household where English was the primary language, created a unique imaginative landscape that compelled her to write a novel set in Brunei, which she later realized was a powerful way to contribute to the representation of her country's culture and history.

Key Points: Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud wrote her first Bruneian novel, "Jong Batu to Kampong Aver 2050," at age 29, which was published in 2019, 30 years after she entered an English-medium education system. The lack of readily available Bruneian fiction in English on local bookshelves or in bookstores around 2009 made her writing experience difficult, as she had no models for depicting her cultural context. The speaker grew up in a mixed-race household where English was the primary language of instruction and reading materials, leading to a disconnect with local narratives. Two main factors—language (English as primary) and access (lack of local literature)—shaped her imaginative life, leading her to write from scratch about the Bruneian world she knew. The novel she wrote centers on religious conversion and nation-building, featuring characters like Dr. Siti Nur, a doctor returning from the UK, and a Malay policeman named Shukri. She emphasizes that reading material shapes our collective imagination, and creators must make conscious efforts to write stories specific to their context, like Brunei's. The speaker encourages the audience to actively seek out and support local literature to help shape a richer, more diverse national narrative.

Context: This TEDx talk, delivered by Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud at TEDxUniversiti Brunei Darussalam, centers on the theme of bridging heritage and modernity through literature. Dr. Daud discusses her personal journey as a Bruneian writer navigating an education system heavily favoring English, which resulted in a scarcity of local literary works reflecting her environment. She details the challenges she faced in trying to write fiction rooted in Brunei without existing models, ultimately leading her to create her own work to fill that imaginative gap.