A one-day lecture on Kesusateraan Bandingan or Comparative Literature, presented by Prof Dr Abdul Hadi WM of Indonesia, was held yesterday at Dewan Sermayuda of the Language and Literature Building, Old Airport Complex in Berakas.
Present at the event as the guest of honour was Dato Paduka Dr Awg Hj Ismail bin Hj Duraman, Deputy Chancellor of Universiti Brunei Darussalam.
Also present were recipients of the SEAsia Write Award, participants, writers, activists and the literature enthusiasts, as well as officers of the Language and Literature Bureau.
In the guest of honour`s speech, he mentioned that Kesusateraan Bandingan is suitable and relevant to the university`s community, especially those that are in the stream of sastra bandingan as the study is seen as important between cultures for it now has an interdisciplinary nature on culture, literature and international level.
This effort is greatly beneficial to local literature, especially in their effort to centralise Brunei Malay literature globally. Through the Malay Literature Department, Literature faculty and Social Science, the university has taken initiative offering the literature courses as one of the main course for undergraduate students.
Dato Dr Awg Hj Ismail also urged all graduates to study as much as possible on literature through the lectures held, which will help sharpen the minds of writers to be more creative and with quality.
The event also saw the guest of honour being presented with a token of appreciation by the Director of the language and Literature Bureau, Dr Mataim bin Bakar.
Source: www.brunei-online.com (31 Juli 2007)
