The first female recipient of Southeast Asia (SEA) Write Award for Brunei Darussalam in 23 years, Hjh Norsiah Hj Abd Ghafar or Norsiah, left for Bangkok, Thailand yesterday evening to receive the award with recipients from other countries in the region.
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports cum Chairman of Judging Committee for SEA Write Award 2008-2010 Dato Paduka Awang Hj Jemat bin Hj Ampal; Acting Director of Language and Literature Bureau (DBP) cum Deputy Chairman Judging Committee for SEA Write Award 2008-2010 Hajah Aminah Hj Momin; past recipients of SEA Write Award; and staff of DBP were present at the airport to bid farewell to Norsiah.
She is receiving the award based on her collection of short stories "Tsunami Di Hatinya" published by DBP this year.
The DBP director in an interview said she was happy to see Norsiah as the first female recipient of SEA Write Award, which had been dominated by male recipients since Brunei sent its first writer - Dato Paduka Hj Muslim - to accept the award in 1986.
"I am very happy because female writers in Brunei can now share the stage with the best writers of the country.
"I hope it will inspire other female writers to do the same in future," she said.
She said writers are important to a society as they usually incorporate the local culture and lifestyle in their writings, so foreign readers may find this interesting.
She added writers advertise their country, its philosophy and vision through their writings.
"The young generation of this country will not know about the culture and lifestyle of their ancestors decades ago without writers describing them in their books.
"I hope from now on reasons associated with (lack of) female writers such as child-bearing and looking after their families could be erased as they should try to find free time to write and be on par with male writers here," she said.
While in Bangkok, Hjh Norsiah will be busy attending various events and activities related with SEA Write Award - entitled SEA Write Week - culminating in a Gala Night where she and recipients from other countries in the Asean region will accept their awards from a member of Thailand royalty at the Royal Banquet Hall, Oriental Hotel.
Born on April 24, 1952 in Seria, Hjh Norsiah holds BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from University of Surrey in 1978 and MSc in Clinical Chemistry, University of London in 1997.
She has written various books including "Pengabdian", which is being used as literature textbook in secondary schools in Brunei. The novel also won her first prize in the Novel Writing Competition to commemorate Brunei's Independence.
She said she was happy to break into the male bastion and hoped her effort would inspire other budding female writers in the country.
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports cum Chairman of Judging Committee for SEA Write Award 2008-2010 Dato Paduka Awang Hj Jemat bin Hj Ampal; Acting Director of Language and Literature Bureau (DBP) cum Deputy Chairman Judging Committee for SEA Write Award 2008-2010 Hajah Aminah Hj Momin; past recipients of SEA Write Award; and staff of DBP were present at the airport to bid farewell to Norsiah.
She is receiving the award based on her collection of short stories "Tsunami Di Hatinya" published by DBP this year.
The DBP director in an interview said she was happy to see Norsiah as the first female recipient of SEA Write Award, which had been dominated by male recipients since Brunei sent its first writer - Dato Paduka Hj Muslim - to accept the award in 1986.
"I am very happy because female writers in Brunei can now share the stage with the best writers of the country.
"I hope it will inspire other female writers to do the same in future," she said.
She said writers are important to a society as they usually incorporate the local culture and lifestyle in their writings, so foreign readers may find this interesting.
She added writers advertise their country, its philosophy and vision through their writings.
"The young generation of this country will not know about the culture and lifestyle of their ancestors decades ago without writers describing them in their books.
"I hope from now on reasons associated with (lack of) female writers such as child-bearing and looking after their families could be erased as they should try to find free time to write and be on par with male writers here," she said.
While in Bangkok, Hjh Norsiah will be busy attending various events and activities related with SEA Write Award - entitled SEA Write Week - culminating in a Gala Night where she and recipients from other countries in the Asean region will accept their awards from a member of Thailand royalty at the Royal Banquet Hall, Oriental Hotel.
Born on April 24, 1952 in Seria, Hjh Norsiah holds BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from University of Surrey in 1978 and MSc in Clinical Chemistry, University of London in 1997.
She has written various books including "Pengabdian", which is being used as literature textbook in secondary schools in Brunei. The novel also won her first prize in the Novel Writing Competition to commemorate Brunei's Independence.
She said she was happy to break into the male bastion and hoped her effort would inspire other budding female writers in the country.
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