Mukim Bokok is a

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English language, English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay language, Malay from the Arabic word ...

Temburong District Temburong District (; Jawi script, Jawi: دائيره تمبوروڠ) or simply known as Temburong ('; ), is the second largest and least populated districts of Brunei, district in Brunei. It has an area of and the population of 9,444 as of 20 ...

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

. It has an area of ; as of 2021, the population was 3,812.

Etymology

The mukim could be named after a village it encompasses, Kampong Bokok. Mukim Bokok's historical name is the reason it is known as "Bokok." There are two tales concerning how the name "Bokok" came to be, according to the village elders. The first comes from ''Sungai Bokok'' (Bokok River), a little

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

that empties into the Rataie River. Second, it originates from ''takuyung'' ( Potamides cerithium) known as ''takuyung bakak'' in Murut. Due to its form, which resembles a human bending over,

Malaysians Malaysians (Malay language, Malay: ''Orang Malaysia'') are citizens who are identified with the country of Malaysia. Although citizens make up the majority of Malaysians, non-citizen residents may also claim a Malaysian identity. The countr ...

commonly refer to it as Bokok.

Geography

The mukim is located in the west of the

to the south, bordering

Mukim Bangar Mukim Bangar (') is a mukim within Temburong District exclave, in Brunei Darussalam. It has a total area of ; the population was 2,112 in 2021. The mukim encompasses Bangar, the district's sole town and administrative centre. Etymology The ...

to the north-east, Mukim Amo to the east, and the Malaysian state of

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

to the south and west.

Demographics

As of 2021 census, the population was 3,812 with males and females. The mukim had 797 households occupying 767 dwellings. The entire population lived in

rural areas In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically descri ...

. According to statistical statistics provided by the

penghulu ( Jawi: ; also ) is the headman or chief of a region in traditional societies in the Malay Archipelago. The term is currently used in Brunei and Malaysia as the community leader of the smaller country subdivision or settlement. Etymology The wor ...

in 2018, the total population by race as a whole consists of the Malay race totaling 2,746 people, the Murut tribe 55 people, the Iban tribe 688 people, the

Chinese race ''Zhonghua minzu'' () is a political term in modern Chinese nationalism related to the concepts of nation-building, ethnicity, and race in the Chinese nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, de ...

20 people and followed by other races/tribes which are 68 people.

Administration

As of 2021, the mukim comprised the following

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

Villages

Kampong Bokok

The late Pengiran Bendahara Pengiran Muda Haji Hashim gave the first Kampong Bokok

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

its formal opening on 21 June 1957. The land for this mosque was given to the Kampong Bokok locals by Awang Aji bin Dollah and Awang Ahmad bin Haji Malik. Additionally, the village has a primary school named Bokok Primary School. In 2008, the village was one of the most affected settlements by the sudden

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

, with 55 homes ruined. Kampong Bokok produces

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and Dish (food), dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national ...

with various flavors such as ''kuih bahulu'' and various types of ''Sapit''. In addition, the residents of Kampong Bokok also have ''Kemajuan Pertanian Luar Bandar'' (KPLB) by producing several types of local

fruit trees A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans. All trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, the te ...

Kampong Belais and Buda-Buda

Early in the new

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

caused a section of road in Temburong, inside the obscure Kampong Belais and Buda-Buda, to give way to the

Pandaruan River The Pandaruan River () is a river that forms an international border on the island of Borneo, between Temburong, Brunei and Limbang, Malaysia. It is located at the river mouth of the Brunei Bay. History On 4 May 1968, the 67 Gurkha Independ ...

. The government constructed a sizable

retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...

along the

river bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

to remedy the issue, which soon had the village's few hundreds of people wondering whether they might construct some form of cottages atop the wall to engage in one of their favorite past times:

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. Kampong Belais and Buda-Buda produce enterprises such as

handicrafts A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

from

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

, broiler farming, mushroom cultivation, cluster farms, yam/

potato chips Potato chips (North American English and Australian English; often just chip) or crisp (British English and Hiberno-English) are thin slices of potato (or a thin deposit of potato paste) that has been deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, ...

bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...

, fried onions and Heritage Park

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

as well as fishing and

leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...

lodges. Together with the other villagers, a member of the Belais and Buda-Buda Consultative Council proposed to the Temburong District Office to construct the huts, which would also be a tourism attraction. Fishing for ''udang galah'', often known as the big river prawn, was at the heart of their original presentation. The objective of the simple, bamboo or wood houses was to give cover from the sun or rain while fishing. For the public's usage, the villages levied a rent of $1 to $2 per hour. However, the lack of young individuals presents a problem for the little village's hopes of expanding the business. Belais and Buda-Buda's

hiking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Howe ...

and heritage park, have mostly gone ignored in recent years due to the customary preference for youngsters growing up in Temburong to pursue jobs in the capital.

Kampong Lepong

The origin of the name of the village drives from the clam waters of the Peraduran River during the

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

season, which is called "Lepong" in Iban language. Part of the residents of Kampong Lepong Lama relocated to a new area now called Kampong Lepong Baru. The Yayasan Kampong Lepong Baru donated a 12-doored

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from lumber, timber and ...

and 2 stand-alone houses. Kampong Lepong Baru, which has a population of 353 people, also produces a number of handicraft enterprises from

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

, sumboi-sumboi and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

, making

swords A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

and

knives A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

and also produces fish cakes. In the ecotourism sector, this village also provides two

longhouses A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often re ...

, the Home Stay Taman Sri Kenangan which is not only for tourists but also for the public who are interested. One of the other projects managed by the villagers under MPK Lepong Baru is the ''Projek Pertanian Sekampung'' (Village Agriculture Project). The project was carried out in response to the call of the Sultan of Brunei for the people and residents of this country to be active in the field of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. The project focuses on local fruit crops in addition to side crops as needed, with the aim, among other things, for the villagers to get involved in the field of agriculture, especially in cultivating local fruit crops. With an area of 40 hectares, the project has the objective of giving encouragement and awareness to the villagers, especially the youth, to be active in the field of agriculture, in addition to being one of the successful producers of agricultural products for the Temburong District. Indirectly, the results of the operation of the project will definitely be one of the sources of income for the villagers involved. The participation and involvement of the villagers in managing and working on the projects under the 1K1P Program certainly has an impact and benefits the community. By being involved in making these projects a success, it has succeeded in bringing about a change in attitude towards self-reliance and working as a team. In addition, the residents, especially single mothers and the elderly, also have the opportunity to increase their income even in small amounts. The agreement between them also succeeded in improving the image of the village.

Kampong Temada

The name of the village came from the name of a fruit "Temedak" ( cempedak) according to village's folktale, where a forested island with cempedak fruits.

Economy

Mukim Bokok residents work and raise the standard of their lives by engaging in various economic and ecotourism activities such as agricultural enterprises,

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

, catering companies, handicrafts, running homestays and fishing lodges, in addition to serving the government. These efforts and activities indirectly open job opportunities for village children and can also help the government in overcoming the unemployment problem in this country. This is proven when several villages in Mukim Bokok through the ''Majlis Perundingan Mukim'' (MPM) and the ''Majlis Perundingan Kampung'' (MPK) each successfully run and manage several enterprises including producing One Village One Product (1K1P) and the tourism sector.

Notes

References

{{Mukims of Brunei Bokok Temburong District