A SIXTEEN-MEMBER cultural troupe from Brunei Darussalam left for India yesterday to take part in the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit cultural programmes.

The troupe comprised of performers and officers under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and will take part in cultural activities in conjunction with the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit.

The summit to be held in New Delhi on December 20-21carries the theme "ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace and Shared Prosperity".

According to an e-mail sent by the High Commission of India in Brunei, the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit is held to mark the 20th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership and the 10thanniversary of ASEAN-India Summit-level partnership.

It also said that a gala performance will take place at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi where cultural troupes from 10 ASEAN countries will render individual performances.

As a grand finale, all these troupes will combine with five other Indian groups and give a performance.

Prior to the event in New Delhi, Brunei would give a performance at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (South India) on Friday, December 14.

The delegation is led by Maizatul Omar Ali. They will be be joined later by Director of Culture and Arts at the MCYS, Hj Mohd Abdoh Hj Mohd Damit.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, Maizatul said performing at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit would be a good opportunity to showcase part of Brunei's culture and it was also a chance to promote Brunei.

She said when people from outside heard about Brunei, what normally came to mind was that Brunei was a small but rich country. "Brunei has more to offer, it may be small but it is a culture-rich country."

She also said that Brunei's culture may be similar to that of Malaysia and Indonesia but it actually is unique on its own.

She hopes that at the summit, Brunei team would be able to put up their best performance to showcase the best of Brunei culture. Maizatul said they would return home on December 21.

Tizan Hj Jamudin, choreographer for the Brunei team said being able to perform at the summit and represent Brunei is something to be proud of.

She shared that for the individual team performance at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, they will be performing for one-hour.

She said that within that one-hour they would showcase five Brunei traditional dances.

The Brunei Times