| Lyna Mohamad |
MINISTER of Religious Affairs Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman officially launched the Oman Publications Corner at the Religious Teachers University College of Seri Begawan (KUPU SB) Library yesterday.
The ceremony commenced with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and Doa Selamat.
Welcoming remarks were delivered by KUPU SB Acting Ra’es Dr Haji Adanan bin Haji Basar and Oman Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Sheikh Ahmed bin Hashel bin Rashed bin Hashel Al-Maskari, before the launch.
The corner is part of efforts to promote the Omani culture in Brunei Darussalam, while further strengthening people-to-people links, which are important components of the existing strong ties between the Sultanate of Oman and Brunei Darussalam.
The publications corner contains over 280 books, highlighting the contributions made by prominent Omani scholars on various branches of knowledge – specifically the history, geography, culture, tradition, literature and heritage of the Sultanate of Oman, and other academic disciplines such as Arabic literary and linguistics studies, Islamic jurisprudence, doctrines and other forms of Islamic studies.
Dr Haji Adanan disclosed that the library has approximately 115,000 library materials in its collections acquired through purchase, gifts and exchanges.
“This proves to be very useful to our students, especially those pursuing postgraduate studies, and our reseachers who deal with various fields of learning at the university,” he added.
Although it is quite small, the KUPU SB Library can be described as having the best and most collections in Islamic education, especially in the fields of teaching.
The library is honoured to have been selected to receive yet another prominent collection from the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in Brunei Darussalam. These books will enable readers to appreciate Omani perspectives of the human condition, through writings on adventure, morality, belief systems, and many more themes, Dr Haji Adanan said.