REVISITING MY KOPI TALK SHOP
I found this long forgotten little booklet when I was
ransacking my filing cabinet for some important documents this morning. It made
me smile when I found it. Sweet memories during my time with the Borneo
Bulletin as full time journalist came rushing back as I flipped through the
pages.
This booklet is a compilation of my articles published by
the Borneo Bulletin. I was then the News Editor of the daily paper.
My Editor-in-Chief, Mr Rex de Silva created a special column
in the newspaper’s weekend edition. He named it Kopi Shop Politics.
The column was introduced in late 1999. Info-communication technology in Brunei was at its infant stage. We didn’t have the luxury of interacting and socialising through Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Skype and so on and so forth. Social media was beyond our imagination. Smart phone…? No way! It was something we only learned from a futuristic movie. However, there was this so-called chat room application but it never appealed to me.
So with all these new technologies beyond our reach, we
introduced this Kopi Shop Politics column.
Through this column we shared with readers the daily gossips,
conversation, discussion, comments and debates on anything and everything that
took place at what we called ‘coffee shop parliament’.
This was how the column was introduced…
The world would certainly be a peaceful, well-organized place
if the people who thought they knew how to run things were in charge. However,
these people are currently busy driving taxis and sitting in coffee shop
drinking cups of ‘teh’ or ‘kopi tarik’.
A quick peek into a popular coffee shop in Brunei will
reveal the absolute truth of all that.
The coffee shops in Bandar, Tutong, Gadong and Muara are the
favoured hangout of office workers, retirees and many others who usually get together
for breakfast or high tea.
Heated political discussions are always a part of
the menu although it is always just a lot of hot air without any action.
Anyone who feels that free speech and freedom of expression
is needed in Brunei should spend some time in a local coffee shop.
Over several cups of ‘teh tarik’ and ‘kopi tarik’ or ‘teh c’
and ‘kopi c’, with serving of ‘cucur pisang panas’ and other malay ‘kueh’, many
Bruneians spend hours talking, arguing, debating, commenting on and criticizing
anything under the sun. These serious discussions are always spiced with
sprinkling of gossip.
Usually, the discussions evolve around the most current
happenings in the country and generally the conversations are filled with a
great deal of criticism. If these discussions are to be believed, the
authorities never get anything right and there is always a lot to be desired.
The coffee shop parliament never runs short of issues to be
discussed. Everything comes under the microscopes, from religion, politics and
business to crime, sex and housekeeping, no topic is sacred.
(With permission and if time permits, I will share some of
the articles here soon)
