# Imagining Brunei | Dr Kathrina Mohd Daud | TEDxUniversiti Brunei Darussalam

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZALULDrZE9M
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/ZALULDrZE9M
Generated: 2025-12-11T17:14:43.459+00:00

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## 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.

![Screenshot at 00:03: Dr Kathrina Mohd Daud is introduced on stage at TEDxUniversiti Brunei Darussalam with her talk title, "Imagining Brunei: From Jong Batu to Kampong Aver 2050," highlighting the focus on the nation's future and heritage.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/ZALULDrZE9M/00-00-03.png)

**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.

## Detailed Analysis

Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud begins by engaging the audience with a poll about reading novels set in Brunei, noting that far fewer hands went up for this than for novels set in America or Korea, suggesting a scarcity of local literary representation. She shares her background: growing up in a mixed-race household where English was the primary language of instruction and reading material, as local texts were not introduced until the 1990s. This meant that when she started writing her own stories, she lacked familiar models for depicting Bruneian life, culture, and settings, such as the specific context of a shopping mall being constructed or characters navigating religious conversion and nation-building. She recounts winning a literary award for her first novel, "Jong Batu to Kampong Aver 2050," which was published in 2019, many years after she began writing it because there was no readily accessible Bruneian novel in English when she was younger. She stresses that what we read shapes our collective imagination, and it is crucial for local writers to actively create narratives specific to their context, ensuring that the Bruneian world is represented accurately and richly, rather than relying on neutral or invisible depictions from outside sources.

### Audience Poll

- Raise your hand if you have ever read a novel set in Brunei, set in America/Korea, or blamed someone/shamed someone
- The audience participation showed far fewer hands for Bruneian novels compared to international settings.

### Personal Background and Motivation

- Speaker grew up in a mixed-race household where English was the primary language; primary reading materials were English (US/UK), leading to a lack of local representation
- She was motivated to write her own fiction because she lacked models to depict her own environment accurately.

### Literary Debut

- Speaker wrote her first Bruneian novel, "Jong Batu to Kampong Aver 2050," at age 29, published in 2019, 30 years after entering the English-medium education system
- The novel features characters like Dr. Siti Nur (returning from the UK) and a Malay policeman, Shukri, navigating religious conversion and nation-building.

### The Importance of Local Narrative

- The scarcity of Bruneian novels in English on shelves meant she had to draw her world from scratch
- Reading shapes our collective imagination, and conscious effort must be made to write about one's specific cultural context, avoiding neutral or invisible portrayals.

![Screenshot at 00:01: The TEDxUniversiti Brunei Darussalam event title slide with the theme "Tradition Forward: Bridging Heritage and Modernity."](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/ZALULDrZE9M/00-00-01.png)
![Screenshot at 00:04: Speaker Dr Kathrina Mohd Daud is introduced on stage against a backdrop featuring the event title and her portrait.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/ZALULDrZE9M/00-00-04.png)
![Screenshot at 00:32: The slide displays the prompt "Raise your hand if..." as Dr. Daud begins her interactive audience poll.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/ZALULDrZE9M/00-00-32.png)
![Screenshot at 00:51: A section of the audience raises their hands in response to one of the speaker's questions.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/ZALULDrZE9M/00-00-51.png)
![Screenshot at 02:47: Dr. Daud stands before the large, white 'Universiti Brunei Darussalam' stage letters while discussing her education and reading habits.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/ZALULDrZE9M/00-02-47.png)