Literatures of Southeast Asia: Cultural Exchange Field Trip

From 22-23 September 2025, faculty and students of the Literatures of Southeast Asian module hosted their Bruneian peers as part of a cultural exchange field trip in Singapore. They visited bookstores, and places of worship in Bras Basah, as well as attended two dialogues, hosted by Wardah Books and Ethos Books. NIE-NTU students visited Bandar Seri Begawan from 27-30 September 2025, and were generously hosted at visits to Qasrun Nafis Publishing House, the Dewan Pustaka dan Bahasa, and the Honey and the Chapters. They also participated in an outdoor ecopark reading hour organized by Senja dan Cerita, and visited the Balai Khazanah Islam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

Co-taught by Dr Ann Ang at NIE-NTU and Dr Kathrina Mohd Daud at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, the field trip is the highlight of this hybrid module, where students get to explore all aspects of Southeast Asian literary ecologies, from book production, to writers’ backgrounds and the distribution of Southeast Asian literary texts in both Singapore and Brunei.