Qualla: Panaga

Panaga: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chongkian, CC BY-SA 4.0. On the morning of December 8, 1962, residents of Panaga woke to gunfire. Rebels from the Brunei People's Party had launched coordinated attacks across the Belait coast, and Panaga's police station -- built just six years earlier -- was under assault. Some Indian community members were seized and used as human shields in the attack. Families barricaded themselves inside their homes while rumors spread through the settlement. The police station held. It was never occupied by the rebels, though the terror of those hours left a mark on the village that no amount of postwar prosperity could fully erase.

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Image: Chongkian | CC BY-SA 4.0

Panaga: The Golf Course Airstrip

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit DeltaSquad833, CC BY-SA 4.0. Panaga's role in the 1962 revolt extended well beyond the besieged police station. Eight kilometers west of Anduki Airfield, the Panaga Golf Course became an improvised landing site for five RAF Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneers. The short-takeoff aircraft touched down on fairways ...

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Image: DeltaSquad833 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Panaga: Shell's Company Town

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Panaga exists because of oil. The headquarters of Brunei Shell Petroleum -- the joint venture between the Brunei government and Royal Dutch Shell that operates the country's petroleum industry -- sits at the village's center, making Panaga the administrative heart of Brunei's mos...

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Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

Panaga: From Derricks to Solar Panels

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 2025, BSP launched a solar plant at Panaga featuring nearly 7,000 panels -- a striking development in a village that exists because of fossil fuels. The installation supports Brunei's renewable energy ambitions, a quiet acknowledgment that the oil wealth which built Panaga can...

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Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0

Panaga: Life Beyond the Compound

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0. Despite its corporate origins, Panaga has grown a community identity independent of BSP. The Panaga Club and recreation facilities serve both employees and expatriates, but the Village Consultative Council has organized its own programs around the Panaga Lagoon, hosting family ev...

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Image: Pangalau | CC BY-SA 4.0