Private company

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei

Logo: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei official Facebook page, Non-free logo, via Wikipedia3

Language authority and public libraries operator in Brunei

The Language and Literature Bureau (Malay: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, DBP) is the Bruneian language authority of the country's official language Malay. It is also the operator of public libraries in the country. It was established in 1960 and is now a government department under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.2 It is headquartered in Bandar Seri Begawan.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1960Founded1
BSB Library
Photo: Lord Mountbatten, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

The Language and Literature Bureau (Malay: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, DBP) is the Bruneian language authority of the country's official language Malay. It is also the operator of public libraries in the country. It was established in 1960 and is now a government department under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.2

The story

The establishment of the Lembaga Bahasa (Language Board) began with the approval of an usul (motion) during a Legislative Council meeting on 18 April 1960. The motion was to establish an independent body answerable to the government with the function of consolidating the status of Malay as the official language of Brunei, as enacted in the Constitution (Perlembagaan) which was promulgated in the previous year. However, it was later renamed to Bahagian Bahasa dan Pustaka (Language and Literature Section) in 1962. At the time it was established under the authority of Jabatan Pelajaran (Department of Education). On 1 January 1965, it was made into a separate department and eventually adopted the name Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Language and Literature Bureau). In 1984, the agency was subsumed under the authority of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

From Wikipedia’s article on Language and Literature Bureau, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1960Founded Founded1