Brunei's classic literary world at crossroads.
SAUDARA! Tangisanmu, adalah tangisan kami juga sama-samalah kita meneguk sedu. Kami tahu, Saudara-saudara adalah bangsa waja (bukan kembang yang mudah layu) walau dalam derita namun, tidak pernah menyerah. [ Brothers, your cries are ours too. Together we taste sadness. We know, you are steel-strong nation not a flower-nation that easily droops. Even in sorrow, you never surrender. ] The poem above was written after Tsunami had just hit Aceh and some part of North Sumatra, by Adi Rumi, a respected senior poet of Brunei Darussalam. He read it at a gathering of Indonesian and Bruneian writers. The poem was published, together with dozens of other Tsunami-related themes, in memorial volume entitled Episode Tsunami: Peringatan Ilahi , by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei. In Indonesia, the book is on sale for Rp 250,000 ($42) — a stiff price for a book of literature in Indonesia.From the lyrics above, it is clear to us that in terms of format, theme, and style, most Bruneian works of literat