Topographical Writing by Bruneian Chinese Writers

Brunei Darussalam is a progressive Islamic country with an inclusive sociocultural policy ensuring the freedom of language use and formation of ethnic associations. Literary works in Chinese became visible in the 1950s after World War II, and the first Chinese literary association was established only decades later, in 1989, under the aegis of the Bruneian Taiwan Graduates Association. Compared to the corpora of Chinese literature produced in other Southeast Asian countries, Bruneian Chinese literature is much smaller in both circulation and readership. Themes explored in the works of talented writers like Teck-Ann Sng, Jong Ching Sheng, Lau Fah Ngin, Hai-Ting (Chong Yin Chee), and Yi Fan (Wang Shao Ying) on migration, resettlement, peaceful nation, local topography, and livelihood, have highlighted the identity of the Chinese community in their adopted land. In recent years, despite lacking manpower and resources, bold gestures by Bruneian Chinese writers in hosting international Chinese literary conferences have showcased their ardent search for their own cultural identity from within and a commitment to situating themselves among the bustling Chinese literary scene in the Nusantara or Malay Archipelago and marking their presence in the global Chinese literary network. This chapter provides a background to the formation, development, and achievements of the Chinese literary community in Brunei, supported by the agencies at play. Guided by a modified Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory employed in the 5-stage writers’ progression analysis by Taiwanese literary critic Chu Yu-hsun, this research provides the literary ecological context of Bruneian Chinese Literature for understanding the topographical writing of established Bruneian Chinese writers.