Bandar Seri Begawan - The Malay Technology Museum, located at Jalan Kota Batu, which houses and displays the traditional technologies of Bruneians yesterday added its latest collection with the handing over of two large gongs from the family of the late Haji Ibrahim bin Muhd Tahir.
The two gongs each measuring 134cm in diameter was received by the Acting Director of Museums Department, Awg Bantong bin Antaran, which was presented by Haji Salleh bin Haji Ibrahim, the son of Haji Ibrahim.
According to Awg Bantong, the two gongs have been donated by the family of the late Hj Ibrahim to the Malay Technology Museum to be kept and displayed for public viewing. He said that the Museums Department welcomes anyone who wishes to contribute traditional artifacts for posterity in the museum`s collection. He expressed his gratitude to the family of Haji Ibrahim for their contribution and confirmed that the gongs are the largest ever that have been made in Brunei.
Meanwhile, Haji Salleh from Kampung Ujong Bukit explained that the gongs were hand-made by his late father, who was an expert coppersmith in Brunei in the 1970s, was also a coppersmith teacher at the Brunei Arts and Handicrafts Training Centre and was well-known among the local community as "Doktor Tembaga" or the `Copper Doctor` because of his unmatched expertise and skills in making and repairing various types of copper materials.
The two gongs are among many items made by his late father in the 1970s, which were built from pieces of copper using the `tatar` technique. He went on to say that one gong would normally take between one and two months to complete.
He said that his late father made three gongs - one of the gongs had been presented to the Brunei-Muara District Office, which was to be presented as a birthday gift for His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di -Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
"I really appreciate my late father for his creative work and if you go around the world you can only find these three pieces (gongs), which are hand-made," said Haji Salleh.
Besides being an expert in gong making, his late father also made other copper products such as small canons and was also a specialist in making the `Gulintangan` (a traditional musical instrument), which have been purchased by several ministries and departments, he said. By Achong Tanjong
Source: http://www.brudirect.com (October 30, 2008)
