Brunei-Muara - A workshop on Dikir Brunei came to a close yesterday with the presentation of certificate to participants at the Mohamed Bolkiah Mosque in Serusop.
In his welcoming remarks, Hj Muslim Hj Abd Razak, the mosque‘s imam said that participants had shown great determination and put in alot of efforts to learn and memorise the tunes of the dikir. "There was too little time but it did not hinder the participants from learning the dikir well," said Hj Muslim.
Present as the guest of honour was the Deputy Minister of Education, Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Mohammad Pengiran Hj Abd Rahman. Also present were the deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education and other senior officers.
Some 123 participants, comprise of religious teachers and government officers attended the ten-day workshop. It was conducted by imam from four mosques in the Brunei-Muara district.s.
One of the participants, Faridah Hj Abang, 32, an Islamic Religious Knowledge and Arabic Language teacher from Sayyidina Husain Secondary School said that she wished they had more time to learn more. "It is different from the Dikir Syarafil Anam that I was used to back in primary and secondary schools."
Despite being a new comer Faridah did not give up easily. "By our own initiative, some of us brought in recorders and even shared the cost to buy the CD set of eight so that we could practice," she said.
"Dikir Brunei has a different tune," remarked Zeti Hj Abu Bakar, 33, from Pusat Tingkatan Enam Berakas. "It is quite distinctively Bruneian," she added.
For 30-year-old Hjh Juraine Hj Shamsuddin from Pengiran Anak Puteri Hjh Masna Secondary School, she expected the workshop to be difficult as it was the first time they have heard of Dikir Brunei but found it to be fun after the first day.
According to her, practice is important. "If we do not practice what we learned, we can forget as quickly as the next day."
A teacher from Sekolah Tinggi Perempuan Raja Isteri (STPRI), Hastinney Md Zain, 26, suggested that future workshops should include more younger participants.
There were also dikir presentation by men and women participants before being presented with certificates by the guest of honour. The men presented the Khairuman Udana Laila, while the women performed the Bisyahri Udana Laila, two of the five dikir they learned during the workshop. The other three were Khairuman Udana Laila, Bisyahri Udana Laila, Tanaqal Maulai, Alham Allah and Badat Kupi.
The Mohamed Bolkiah Mosque was officially established as the centre for Dikir Brunei studies since 2005 during its jubilee celebration. Similar workshops have been conducted at the mosque since 2003 which involved teachers and government officers. To date, more than 700 people have participated in the Dikir Brunei workshops.
Source: www.bruneitimes.com (25 Juli 2007)
