His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam visited the Centre of Islamic Calligraphy and Arts Studies of Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (PPKKI-YSHHB) yesterday.
The visit was part of His Majesty’s work visit programme in conjunction with the presentation of temporary occupation Licence (TOL) under the TOL Land Grant Scheme for Brunei-Muara and Temburong districts, and the house key presentation for apartment units and land lots for the Brunei-Muara District under the Brunei-Muara District National Housing scheme.
On arrival, the monarch was greeted by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof in his capacity as the Chairman of the Yayasan Board of Directors, Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar in his capacity as the Deputy Chairman of the Yayasan Board of Directors, and Permanent Secretary (Planning, Land Use and Environment) at the Ministry of Development Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak in her capacity as Yayasan’s Acting Managing Director.
Throughout the visit, His Majesty was briefed on the functions, plans and activities, as well as achievements of PPKKI-YSHHB by Dr Nor Imtihan, starting with a visit to the Islamic Calligraphy and Arts Gallery that exhibits a collection of Islamic calligraphy and art artefacts from abroad as well as of local calligraphy works.
The gallery space also exhibits works, artefacts, and writing processes related to the history and development of Jawi writing and Islamic calligraphy across the era of the Sultans of Brunei.
His Majesty also signed a commemorative royal parchment to mark the royal visit, and later received a pesambah in the form of a calligraphy work from PPKKI-YSHHB calligraphers.
The monarch then witnessed study programmes and other activities carried out at the centre, and inspected the facilities.
The visit concluded with a group photo session with management and staff at the PPKKI-YSHHB.
The PPKKI-YSHHB is one of the initiatives of Yayasan to uphold His Majesty’s call to dignify Jawi writing as a great national treasure that needs to be protected and defended, especially in the Sultanate as a Malay country that has made Islam its official religion and Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) as its philosophy.
PPKKI-YSHHB was established by the order of His Majesty on January 13, 2013, and began operations at Rumah Semaun on July 22, 2013.
In line with the goal of dignifying Jawi writing, an Islamic Calligraphy and Arts Gallery was built and inaugurated by His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik, Chairman of the Committee of Governors of Yayasan, on March 5, 2020. – Izah Azahari
