Ethnic Bisaya handicraft

The seven indigenous group of Brunei as stated in the Brunei
Constitution 1959 of which consists of :
Brunei Malays, Tutongs, Belait, Kedayans, Murut,Dusuns, Bisaya

THE ethnic Bisaya community in Kampong Bebuloh is the one and only ethnic group that remains proactive in the production of handicraft items.
The community favours different types of plants as the raw material for their handicraft and they are well known for being experts in making `Tikar’, `Takiding’, `Nyiru’, `Bubu’ and many other household items. The plants used are mainly `Daun Mengkuang’, `Bamban’, `Rotan’ , `Buluh’ and others.

Due to popular demand, the village head in collaboration with the Kg Bebuloh Consultative Council has agreed to organise the workshop every weekend.

Led by Awg Manang bin Silai and supported by a few other members, the workshop is located at the reconstructed building area of Kg Bebuloh.
The main purpose of the workshop is to maintain the identity of the ethnic Bisaya in the Brunei Darussalam Constitution.

Both the women and their elders have joined together to teach the younger generation the skills and techniques of making these handicrafts, in order to prevent these skills from being lost and forgotten by the future generation.

Their wish is to first have the support from certain agencies to promote their activities as a source of income for the village, and perhaps one day act as a source of income for the country itself and to line up the activity along with the rice and tourism industry – which the ethnic Bisaya community are also active in.

Other than the handicraft workshop, the Bisaya have also formed a cultural traditional organisation in the form of Gendang’ and Tarian’, as well as musical instruments such as `Biola’. These are items which are frequently used during weddings and formal visits by VIP’s.

Finally, to maintain the identity of the ethnic group, this activity is also hoped to attract their younger generations to join together and take an interest in producing the different types of handicraft items, which used to be made by their proud ancestors, and showcase them to the public and to foreign visitors.