I left for Perth in early 1991, after getting a place at Curtin University. I was 21, which made me a somewhat mature student, and the route there had been an indirect one. I failed my A levels at 18 (a result of newfound freedom and too much fun!), so I went to a technical college instead, spent two years there, and did pretty well, if I may say so myself. My lecturers recommended that I go on to a degree, so I applied and got a place.
I arrived alone, but some family friends were already in Perth since the great migration in the 80’s (topic for another day), and they were kind enough to ease my entry. At 21 I was quite independent, but it was nice to have them there. It was my first time in Australia and my first time studying abroad.
Curtin was a young university at the time. It had only taken the name Curtin University of Technology in January 1987, after twenty years as the Western Australian Institute of Technology.
The early months were mostly about finding somewhere to live, first on campus and then off it. It turned out to be a great experience, because I made friends in those days who have stayed friends for life. Some of them have since gone on to become captains of industry and politicians in their home countries, and I still ping them from time to time. Eventually a group of us rented a house together in Bull Creek, three of us under one roof, and that was a great experience too.
Then came the matter of a car. My first was a Holden Kingswood, a 1975 if I remember rightly, bought for $600. It lasted about a month before it turned into a steam engine, which is the kindest way I can describe what was happening under the bonnet. Its replacement was a Holden Commodore, an 82 or 83, and it lasted far longer. It was my daily driver for a good stretch and I have long since forgiven the Kingswood.
After the Bull Creek house, we moved to a unit on Robert Street in Como. It was quite near the university, so getting to class was never a problem. The Bentley campus itself sits about six kilometres south east of the city centre, on the site of a former pine plantation. My brother joined me there in 92 or 93, I can’t say which, and the two of us shared the place.
I also found work, at Melville Superbowl, a bowling alley south of the river, where I did both front of house and back of house. It built up my business knowledge and, as a side effect, my knowledge of bowling. It was a very good experience.
On the academic side, I changed courses twice while I was there. I started in Business Information Systems, I think, moved to a business degree, and ended up with a degree in Social Sciences, majoring in Sociology. Being in Perth gave me the flexibility to do that, which I was grateful for. The degree turned out to be about a lot more than its title. Critical Thinking 101 was the unit I struggled with most, coming as I did from a system where everything was spoon fed (again, a tale for another day!).
It was also in Perth that I developed an interest in comparative religion. I did two semesters of Thai, and that is what took us on a field trip to a Buddhist monastery in Serpentine, which I later learned is quite well known. I enjoyed it enough that I kept going back long after the unit was done.
Most of those trips were on a motorcycle, which was another thing Perth gave me. I got my licence there and started on a Yamaha Virago 250, upgraded to a Kawasaki Vulcan 88, a 1500cc beast, and then for reasons I cannot fully defend, came back down to a Honda Magna 250 lol. Some of the best riding I have ever done was on those roads, covering quite big distances. The rides I remember most are the regular ones out to Serpentine, to sit with Ajahn Brahm and listen to him talk about life.
Campus had its own social life too. The Student Guild ran a tavern on site (the Tav, as it is known today), and a Guild president from 1993 recalls Curtin being seen at the time as the most fun campus in Perth, with big shows and lots of bands. Nights out were mostly at the “in” clubs of the day, in Northbridge. If you were there at the time, you’ll know EXIT and Mangoes straight away.
Getting out of the city was part of Perth life too. There were trips to Albany, roughly 400 kilometres south, the oldest settlement in Western Australia and home to the last whaling station in the country, which only closed in 1978. And there were picnics at Mandurah, about an hour’s drive south of the city, where the estuary is famous for its crabs.
Crabbing at Rockingham holds special memories, because that is where I learnt to cook ketam asam pedas, crab in a sour and spicy gravy, from a Malaysian buddy. It is also a story in itself, because Cockburn Sound off Rockingham was closed to crabbing from 2014 and only reopened to recreational fishers in December 2024. I have fond memories of fishing for yellowtail at Fremantle pier too, which was Mum’s favourite activity whenever she came to visit.
Perth gave me a good deal of warm Australian hospitality. It also gave me some bad apples, and I experienced racism and bigotry while I was there. I saw the harder side of the city too, including alcohol and drug problems among some of the Aboriginal people I came across.
When I came back to Brunei, I was one of the founding members of the Brunei Australia Alumni Association, the BAAA, which was formed in 2002, and I later served as its president. The blog has a few snapshots of those years. There was the annual dinner in 2007, where the lucky draw prizes included tickets to Perth, the Bru-OZ Games BBQ at Muara beach that December, which drew more than 60 Bruneian students, and a farewell dinner for the outgoing Australian High Commissioner in 2009. The BAAA’s president at the time was Dato Paduka Haji Idris Abas, the architect behind Arkitek Idris, whom I also profiled in my business icons series. Later came Brustralia, the BAAA’s foodie event. The first one was in December 2009, and the second, in 2011, was held at the Australian High Commissioner’s residence on Jalan Kota Batu and served more than a dozen Australian and Bruneian fusion dishes.
Looking back, there was the food, the cultural scene, and the learning that comes with university and outside of it. The friendships and the enjoyable experiences are what stay with me most, and a good number of those friendships are still going today.