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Last Updated on Monday, 24 August 2009 08:14Written by Ubaidillah Masli & Fitri ShahminanMonday, 24 August 2009 08:09
Bandar Seri Begawan -The Kg Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery will serve to provide tourists with a more reliable and consistent background on the origins of the water village, rather than the sometimes variant versions of the story told by tourists' guides, boat operators and other locals that tourists may interact with.
This was the view of several visitors interviewed yesterday in the capital.
"It's good to have a Kg Ayer Centre because everyone will tell you a different story about the water village, but at the centre, you get the (true story)," said an individual who has been recently based at the army camp in Seria.
Nick, who had just completed a tour of Kg Ayer with his family, said that they had learned about the history of the water village from their boat driver as well as the locals within the village itself.
He found that the water village was a point of interest, but had not yet found a chance to visit the Kg Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery to learn more about the village on stilts, since the gallery was only opened recently.
A couple from New Zealand was also of the opinion that the gallery was an appropriate facility to have for tourists. Although they too did not get the chance to visit the new gallery, they were fortunate enough to take a river cruise around the water village and witness the life of the community there.
Bill and Margaret Newell were interested in finding out more on Kg Ayer's history and how it has developed over the years, especially the establishment of amenities such as schools on stilts.
Bill pointed out that when it came to general knowledge, tourists guides were sufficient. However, they wanted to find out the water village's past in greater detail, such as the specific dates when events occurred in Kg Ayer.
Most information received by the tour guides is from word-of-mouth, Bill said, adding that it would be more convenient to have written information.
Although, Bill noted, the information given by the tour boat operators was fairly consistent with what he has researched about Brunei before coming here.
As a tourist, it's nice to know about these things," he said.
The couple was here for two days and expressed their intention to return to the Sultanate. They favoured the "fairly relaxed" atmosphere, which they found suitable for holidays.
"It (the cultural centre) sounds like a very good idea said an expatriate who wished to be known as Collin, explaining that the centre would help in disseminating information and knowledge to tourists.
An employee of the Brunei Methanol Company, Collin shared that he had only been in Brunei for a month and had yet to visit the water village since he spent most of his time in Belait District. Originally from Australia, Collin said that he would definitely come back to the capital on his day offs and take the opportunity to learn more about Bandar Seri Begawan as well as Kg Ayer.
Tint, a group tour leader from China, felt that Kg Ayer was the "most advanced village on water in East Asia".
He had seen similar villages in countries such as Cambodia, but he was impressed with the level of modernisation Kg Ayer has experienced, especially in its infrastructure and other amenities. He said that because of this achievement, the water village deserved the title "Venice of the East".
In supporting Kg Ayer, Tim felt that the gallery was a "fantastic" idea. He said that it would play particular benefit to tourists who travel by themselves, or FITs (free independent travellers).
"They don't have their own tour guides," he said, noting that these FITs would be at a disadvantage since the tour guides are the ones that impart a lot of information about the country. In this regard, he believed that the gallery would be quite useful to FITs and other tourists as well.
-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
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