This Arch was presented by Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Orang Kaya Di-Gadong Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Mohd. Yusuf to mark the coronation of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on 1st August 1968.
Apparently the original location of this arch was around Kg Sultan Lama area but moved a bit due to the construction of the Yayasan Shopping Complex Building in Oct 1993. I didn't know that :)
Facts taken from Pusat Sejarah Site
As I used to "hang-out" around this area .. I still remember the exact position of the arch .. or what have been known to the people back then ... "Garbang" .. so if one wants to got to Kampung Ayer ... one can be dropped off at the Tambing .. or at the Garbang ...
ReplyDeleteEh, I didn't know the Gerbang was accessible via tambang? Anyway during the construction of Yayasan, and indeed during the big fire that wiped out Kg. Sultan Lama and Pemancha Lama and surrounding areas, there were major upheavals to the livelihoods of the people around that area.
ReplyDeleteI only remember the phases at which the events took place: before the big fire, after the big fire, start of construction of Yayasan, and what it is now.
Before the fire, the area at which the water meets the land is still filled with hundreds more houses, the most memorable was the haircut place close to the Tambing. There people also have a small tamu, not unlike the current tamu at Kianggeh.
After the fire, sections, and indeed, entire Kampungs vanished, and the connecting pathways connecting to the main land was damaged. Some were rebuilt, some were rerouted such a way that the pathway snaked around the solitary green house left closest to the Yayasan complex now. A temporary water taxi terminal was built, and also a temp fish market.
At the start of the Yayasan construction, rumors of head hunters run rampant, which indeed scared us kids out of our wit. We oversaw the entire construction project as we were attending classes at the only school building left near the Yayasan complex.
The movement of the Gerbang, as I've finally come to my point, occured around after the start at the construction project. The bend at the road at that gerbang point actually was a dead end, with the closed off construction area encompassing the long road running in parallel to the edge of the water. The idea was the road leads into the pathway moat. I remember sitting on the Gerbang base waiting delivery of 'Sapits' or 'Karipaps' for my Aunt's clients.
I wonder if Mr. BR can provide us with a bit of modern history :D
Gferro & Souljah:
ReplyDeleteVery very very interesting information.. I actually can't remember much of how it looked like before the construction and reading both your stories makes me want to find out for any photos of back then and see the difference hehe..
Thanks to you both for sharing :)