Brunei's Kedayan Music and Its Culture

The Kedayan are an ethnic group living in Brunei, and in some parts of Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak among the islands of Borneo. Kedayans have a unique heritage and their culture is as uniquely important to Brunei as its language and music.

Kedayan music is indigenous to the Brunei Malays and is performed by its people especially during special occasions. The music is accompanied by different instruments such as percussions, drums, gongs, and stringed instruments of different forms. The music also goes with ethnic dancers wearing the traditional warrior's attire.

Kedayan music is both relaxing and fun at the same time. As it is passed from generation to generation, Kedayan music evolved into a more modern and aesthetic music to accommodate the taste of younger generation. Although time has seen its subtle change, it still maintains its original ethnic and traditional melody. Travelers visiting Brunei often come to see the Kedayans and experience their one-of-a-kind music ensembles. This has become one of the mainstream attractions of a visit to Brunei.

The Aduk-aduk dance is performed during special occasions such as weddings, harvest seasons, and other public holidays. It is an entertaining dance to watch, with the colorful attires and the lively music activities. There are dances where the women are grouped together dancing with the men but have a different dance routine altogether. The steps are very easy to follow and most often, tourists and visitors enjoy the rhythm so much that they tend to dance along.

The Kedayan music is indeed a very captivating music to listen to. With the dance and the music, it's really a captivating event to see in Brunei. Get to feel the Brunei experience when you hear the Bruneian's Kedayan music. It is more like an interpretative dance, where the natives can express their minds and beliefs through dance and music.

Although Kedayans are known to be a closely-knit community, travelers are always welcome to visit their town where they can learn and discover the life and culture of the Kedayan people by listening and witnessing their own native music. The dance routines and music activities are usually being held at the town's public parks where it is truly open for the public to see.

The Kedayans are really proud of their music which fascinated the interest of many travelers from around the world. Kedayan music is still being performed in the Kedayan community these days, and a trip here to get the chance on hearing their music would definitely complete a Brunei journey.

Brunei’s majestic royal heritage

A glittering example of Brunei’s majestic royal heritage, Istana Nurul Iman is the Sultan’s lavish home in the capital and is the largest residential palace in the world. Situated on the top of a hill overlooking the city, the palace is an enigmatic symbol of Brunei’s enduring monarchy and seat of the nation's government.

Nearby, the Mausoleum of Sultan Bolkiah pays tribute to one of Brunei’s greatest Sultans, who reigned at the height of Brunei’s sovereignty in the region. It is a peaceful area in a quiet alcove of greenery and exudes the deep respect of the Bruneian people for their rich heritage.


The capital also houses a number of royal museums highlighting the nation’s 600-year old monarchy and century-spanning history. Perhaps the most well-known is the Royal Regalia Museum, where visitors can glimpse the Sultan’s full royal regalia, including the crown and royal chariot, along with a vast collection of opulent treasures. A visit to the Brunei Museum is also a must, with its elaborate displays of antique cannons and intricate daggers, a large private collection of gilded Holy Korans, Borneo ethnographic displays and treasures unearthed from shipwrecks off Brunei’s coasts. Meanwhile, the Brunei History Centre contains genealogical records detailing the origins of the Royal Family and other historical documents significant to the nation.

Though Brunei has embraced Islam and its art, architecture and culture, relics of the colonial days are also integrated seamlessly into the nation’s landscape. The unique House of Twelve Roofs is a good example. This quaint piece of British architecture, once home to the British Resident, has since been transformed into a museum and venue for entertaining foreign dignitaries.

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.

Bruneian - culture name

Identification. Brunei Darussalam is a multiethnic society in which one ethnic group, the Barunay, has a monopoly of political power. Variations in tradition among other ethnic groups are not regional but cultural, social, and linguistic. Indigenous Muslims usually are referred to as Brunei Malays even if they are not native speakers of the Malay language.

Speculations about the etymology include derivations from the Malay (baru nah ("there!"), a Sanskrit form, and the Kelabit name for the Limbang River.

Location and Geography. The original home of Brunei culture is the area around the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. Settlements of Barunay and Kadayan also are found along the coasts of northern Sarawak and southwestern Sabah in Malaysia; Tutong and Belait settlements are found exclusively in Brunei. Bisaya, Iban, and Penan people also live in Sarawak and Dusun and Murut people in both Sarawak and Sabah.

Brunei Darussalam is 2,226 square miles (5,763 square kilometers), with a coastline of about 100 miles (161 kilometers) on the South China Sea coast of northwestern Borneo and along the western shores of the southernmost portion of Brunei Bay. Brunei is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The climate is equatorial with high temperatures, high humidity, and heavy rainfall, although there is no distinct wet season. The country is divided into three contiguous administrative districts—Brunei-Muara, Tutong, and Belait—with a fourth, Temburong, separated by the Limbang Valley of Sarawak. The names of the districts derive from their main rivers.

Approximately 75 percent of the country is forested, although the exportation of whole logs has been banned. The country is covered with a wide range of mangrove, heath, peat swamp, mixed dipterocarp, and montane forests. There are numerous rivers, whose broad valleys contain most of the country's settlements. The southern portion of Temburong is mountainous and sparsely populated.

Demography. The 1998 population estimate was 323,600. Malays constitute about 67 percent of the total; Chinese, 15 percent; other indigenous peoples (Iban, Dayak, and Kelabit, all mainly from Sarawak), 6 percent, and others, 12 percent. In the late 1980s, 24,500 immigrants worked primarily in the petroleum industry. The population has increased more than twelve-fold since the first decade of the twentieth century. The distribution of population is Brunei-Muara, 66 percent; Belait, 20 percent; Tutong, 11 percent; and Temburong, 3 percent.

Linguistic Affiliation. Malay is the official language, but English is widely used in commerce. The Brunei dialect of Malay has many unique lexical items and a distinctive syntax. Malay is in the Western Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family, which also includes the other languages spoken in Brunei. Various Chinese languages, English, and Philippine and mainland south Asian languages are spoken by guest workers. Many individuals are multilingual.

Symbolism. The national flag is a yellow field of two trapeziums with a white diagonal parallelogram stripe above a black diagonal parallelogram stripe, representing the offices of the first vizier (a Muslim official), the Pengiran Bendahara, and the third vizier, the Pengiran Pamancha. These were the only vizier offices occupied in 1906, when the first British resident took up occupancy. The flag is emblazoned in the center by the state crest in red, which was added in 1959. The crest is composed of a flag and royal umbrella; four feathers symbolizing the protection of justice, tranquillity, prosperity, and peace; two hands representing the government's pledge to promote welfare, peace, and prosperity; and a crescent symbolizing Islam and inscribed in Arabic "Always in service with God's guidance"; with a scroll inscribed in Arabic letters, Brunei Darussalam ("Brunei the Abode of Peace").