Yang Berhormat, Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Suhaimi Bin Haji Gafar, Minister of Development, (right) with Yang Berhormat Ong Tiong Oh, a member of the legislative council during the official launch of “Thursday” to be added as No Plastic Day in Brunei Darussalam

The Ministry of Development through the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (DEPR) held a launching ceremony yesterday to mark the addition of Thursday towards No Plastic Bag Everyday in conjunction with Earth Day 2018, which carries the theme “End Plastic Pollution”.

Present as the guest of honour was the Minister of Development, Yang Berhormat, Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Suhaimi Bin Haji Gafar, who officiated the event and presented posters to representatives from participating stores of the No Plastic Bag Weekend initiative. The event also saw the launch of DEPR’s instagram page, “@jastre.bn”.

The Acting Director of DEPR, Martinah Haji Tamit in her opening remarks touched upon the suitability of this year’s Earth Day theme with the government’s efforts towards the goal of No Plastic Bag Everyday in tackling the issue of plastic litter. She also highlighted the importance of the media especially social media in spreading information and the government’s targets which has prompted DEPR to launch their own instagram account, “@jastre.bn”

The Minister of Development in his speech also emphasised the importance of an integrated effort towards combating plastic pollution “Success in realizing the desire to make Brunei Darussalam free from plastic pollution is entirely dependent on the actions of all parties, especially the supermarkets and business establishments, retail shop owners and people who are plastic bags. If there is no consciousness among us all about the pollution from plastic bags, all the plans that the Government has planned will not be a complete success”.

Yang Berhormat Dato Suhaimi also mentioned, “Therefore, we as human beings must repent, stop damaging the environment as it goes against our natural instincts and violates God’s trust that expects man to do good.”

Promotional posters being handed out

Promotional posters being handed out

Invited guests from the government agencies

Also in attendance was Acting Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance), Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak, Haji Amer Hishamuddin Bin POKAPDSS Haji Zakaria, Director General at the Public Works Department, member of the legislative council, Yang Berhormat Ong Tiong Oh and Awang Misle bin Abdul Karim, Brunei Muara District Officer.

After the ceremony, a delegation from the Ministry led by Dr Nor Imtihan visited Utama Grand Department Store, Sin Kew Hin Department Store and Jaya Centrepoint Hypermart Sdn Bhd in Gadong to hand out reusable bags to shoppers.

After the addition of Thursday, the remaining days will be added in phases with Wednesday tentatively to be included in July 2018, Tuesday in October 2018 and Monday to be added in December 2018 towards realizing the Government’s objective of No Plastic Bag Everyday by 2019. The initiative will initially involve stores and businesses that are currently listed under the No Plastic Bag Weekend initiative but will be extended to other consumers of plastic bags such as retails shops (kedai-kedai runcit), restaurants and stalls (gerai-gerai).

The No Plastic Bag Weekend initiative was initially launched on 26th March 2011 to include Saturday and Sunday, with Friday being added on 17th February 2012. The objective of the initiative is to promote the concept of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) in order to minimize the volume of waste sent to the country’s landfill. To date, fifty stores and businesses have voluntarily registered to participate in the initiative.

The phasing out of single-use plastic bags is a global goal with over 40 countries already taking steps to reduce their usage; examples include Bangladesh which banned the product back in 2002 due to severe flooding from littered plastic bags, China banned thin plastic bags prior to the 2008 Olympic Games and Bali has signed several memorandums and declarations to take steps towards banning plastic bags.

This is the promotional poster to create awareness for Thursday

The recycle bag from JASTRe

Visiting Utama Grand and handing out recycle bag

The grand prize winner of BND10,000 was Muhammad Abdul Yazid Zainul who received from Andy Yong, Head of Card Business, Baiduri Bank

The top three winners with Andy Yong

To conclude their “Celebrate With More Rewards” campaign, Baiduri Bank rewarded cash prizes totaling BND45,000 to 28 lucky Baiduri cardholders. The prize presentation was held at their Serusop branch.

Baiduri cardholders who made purchases with their Baiduri credit or debit card during the period of 22 December 2017 to 28 February 2018 stood a chance to win the grand prize of BND10,000. Every BND50 spent earned the cardholder one chance to qualify for the grand draw.

25 consolation prize winners each received their prize of BND1,000. Presenting the mock cheques to the 25 lucky winners were Pg Hjh Rodziana Pg Hj Muhidi, Manager of Card Development, Baiduri Bank and Ng Yick Wei, Head of Group Marketing Department, Baiduri Bank.

Following the presentation of consolation prizes was the highlight of the evening, the live draw of the grand prizes. The 3 lucky shortlisted winners were each asked to grab a number from a bowl which would determine the order that they select their winning envelopes containing their prizes. The winners were then instructed to simultaneously open their envelopes unveiling their prize.

The January winners receiving BND 1,000 each with Pg Hjh Rodziana Pg Hj Muhidi, Manager of Card Development, Baiduri Bank

The February winners receiving BND 1,000 each with Ng Yick Wei, Head of Group Marketing Department, Baiduri Bank

Receiving the grand prize of BND10,000 was Muhammad Abdul Yazid Zainul. Chan Chee Ping and Lo Su Jun also walked away with the consolation grand prize of BND5,000 each. Presenting the prizes to the winners was Andy Yong, Head of Card Business, Baiduri Bank.

Speaking on the campaign, Andy Yong said, “Thank you to our customers for their support and a very huge congratulations to all our lucky winners. We have many more exciting card campaigns lined up for 2018 so be sure to stay up to date of our promotions on our various channels.”

For more information on Baiduri Bank’s promotions, visit the website at www.baiduri.com or follow them at Baiduri Bank Group on Facebook and @baiduribank on Instagram and Twitter.

Group photo with all the winners

Invited guests and partners during the launch

Yamako Pacific (Brunei) Sdn Bhd, a local seafood processing company, held a grand opening ceremony for their tuna processing plant, located at the Fish Landing Complex in Muara. It was also my first time visiting that area.

Gracing the launch was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Ali Apong, the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism. Also present was His Excellency Motohiko Kato, the Japanese Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam.

The operation began in March 2018 on a small scale and they specialized in processing yellow-fin and skipjack tuna into high quality products that has already been accepted into the highly stringent Japanese market and further plans to penetrate the markets in China, Europe and North America.

For your info, Yamako Pacific (Brunei) is part of a wider group of Yamako Pacific companies in the region. They also have their office and other processing plants in Indonesia and Malaysia. You will be hearing the name of Yamako in Brunei as they aim to be a big player in the fishing industry especially for local processing.

It’s good to know that local investors, Hj Morshidi bin Pehin Orang Kaya Digadong Seri Diraja Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang Abdul Rahman and Hj Musa bin Hj Adnin, partnered with Yamako Pacific (Brunei) to set up a local seafood processing plant at the Fish Landing Complex. Yamako is a household name in Japan and it’s a Japanese centric group with a proven reputation of working with and upgrading local industry players to international standards. For instance, local fishermen can be taught on how to maximize the quality and value of the fish they catch. Another thing that can benefit the fishermen is the value of the fish they caught as they can be paid fairly according to the international pricing.

The tuna processing plant which is worth at least a couple of millions due to its state-of-the-art equipments

I love the idea that we have to wear this due for hygienic purposes

Seeing how the process works when the tuna is being stored and processed

How the tuna looks like…. fressshh….

They have to slice it delicately and almost to perfection

When we freeze our ingredients the taste deteriorates, how can we fix this problem. This is where the Proton Freezer comes to the rescue. The Proton Freezer helps to maintain the quality and ensure the ice crystals are perfectly aligned for perfect freezing every time. This is the most expensive equipment in the tuna processing plant.

The mincing room for tuna

The seafood processing plant which mainly focuses on tuna for now is state-of-the-art quality plant. I never knew the scale of the processing tunas is very tedious and requires a series of equipment and workmanship to process the tuna before being sold to commercial entities. The eye opener for me was the Proton Freezer which is the most expensive equipment invested by the company. It’s probably prized in the region of half of million or more.

The processing plant has very stringent rules upon entering the premise. We were required to wear a clean woven coat, rubber boots, face mask and a head cap as the company’s policy is never to compromise with hygiene when it comes to food processing. Good job on Yamako on making this a strict procedure of people entering the processing plant.

At the moment, the processing plant can handle up to 10 tonnes of tuna landing and process around 3.5 tonnes of finished products per day. That’s pretty good for a small scale plant.

Another highlight for them is the launch of their vessel called YP Nakhoda 1. It’s pretty hi-tech stuff because the vessel is equipped with Tuna Pole and Line fishing technology – quite simple and eco-friendly method of tuna fishing using a hook attached to a pole and using them, no marine life will be harmed in the process. This helps responsible fishing practices and hope to create more awareness in Brunei Darussalam on this method.

The YP Nakhoda 1 vessel is invested by Hj Morshidi, Hj Musa Adnin and Alex Yeunh Oi Siong, CEO of Yamako Pacific (Brunei). According to a representative, the tuna fishing is a seasonal activity. The fishermen will sail for a week as the tuna fishing is carried out at Zone 4 (200 kilometers away) since it’s deep water fishing.

Also in the picture is SBI Islamic Fund (B) Sdn Bhd which deals with venture capital & private equity. SBI Islamic Fund (Brunei) Limited, a joint venture between Brunei Darussalam’s Ministry of Finance and Japan’s Strategic Business Innovator (SBI) Holdings. They pumped in funds for Yamako Pacific group and holds the minority share within the Yamako Pacific. Apart from Yamako Pacific, the company also funded in Sengenics and Softbank Holdings Inc.

Now with the operations of Yamako Pacific (Brunei) and YP Nakhoda, they have an initial workforce of 50 full-time workers, supported by 30 part-time workers with plans to expand to 200 people in the workforce in three years’ time. I see many good things coming out of this project and I do hope it will be a sustainable fishing business and win-win situation for the businesses and also in the employment side of things.

Thank you once again for the invite, Yamako Pacific (Brunei) and the tour of the tuna processing plant. I can say that I’m very impressed and it also gave me a new awareness on responsible fishing.

The YP Nakhoda 1, the vessel used for tuna fish catching

The Ambassador blessing the vessel

They are four of this state-of-the-art fishing rod. It has a smart and effective way of catching either a Yellow Fin or Skipjack tuna fish and it’s done automatically. No fish nets required (which will spoil the marine life).

The tuna sashimi. I tried it and it’s quite tasty. We do have good tunas in Brunei. Some of them are being distributed to Snofood, a food supplier for Excapade Sushi.

Food sampling using our local tuna

The participants of the Senior Executives Advanced Leadership (SEAL) programme hosted by Centre for Islamic Banking, Finance and Management (CIBFM). Image courtesy of CIBFM.

Centre For Islamic Banking, Finance And Management (CIBFM), held the Closing Ceremony for the Senior Executives Advanced Leadership (SEAL) Programme on Thursday, 25 Rejab 1439 corresponding to 12 April 2018 at Radisson Hotel, Bandar Seri Begawan recently.

The Guest of Honour, Yang Mulia Dayang Hajah Rashidah binti Haji Sabtu, Acting Deputy Managing Director, Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD), presented the certificates to all 15 participants. The closing ceremony was also attended by other senior officers of AMBD. The 3-day CIBFM exclusive leadership programme is for the second cohort of AMBD’s executives and senior officers, with the first cohort undertaking the programme in 2016.

The topics in this programme were presented by lecturers from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and were designed to enhance the participants’ skills in policy development processes, from the conceptualization of public policy to evaluating options and measuring the outcomes and impacts. The programme also included the tools and techniques to improve the climate in their workplace, through better team management and leadership, and also by encouraging innovation.

CIBFM offers a variety of learning and development programmes ranging from financial to leadership and management. For more information, on how CIBFM can help ypu, please visit CIBFM’s website at www.cibfmbrunei.com, the CIBFM Facebook account at CIBFMBrunei or through CIBFM Instagram @CIBFM.brunei. Press release by CIBFM.

Sharifah Syuria Nazrah Malai Hj Hashim, Nurun Nazihah Hj Mustapa, Faten Amira Izzaty Joperi and Maydelyn Ling, the founders of BID.Co who came up with a brilliant idea of used baby equipments and gears. I hope your ideas will come into reality.

Sometimes, it’s always to good to listen to refreshing business ideas. We are used to things like retail business or even in the tech world. Some are even similar or duplicates of one another. I, alone, struggle to find refreshing ideas on what works and what doesn’t work especially in Brunei. I had some successes and some failures along the way but it’s always to experience both sides of the spectrum because that’s how an entrepreneur will learn the ropes of success.

Recently, I was surprised to see a friend of mine being involved in a Startup Weekend competition held at Laksamana College of Business. Madelyn Ling, a friend I knew from UBD Toastmasters Club, was part of the team called BID.co’s (Buy.Invest.Donate), that won the Startup Weekend competition.

Now here’s why I feel that BID.Co’s has the edge – a totally refreshing idea and furthermore, it adds value to the community of Brunei Darussalam. Imagine you have a storage full of baby equipments and gears at your home, collecting dust and purposeless since your children have grown up. What can be done with these equipments or items? This is where BID.Co comes in and presented their idea that they can be collect the used items and sell them at affordable prices especially for families who don’t have high disposable income. Furthermore, the portion of the sales will be used to raise funds for local NGOs as they are not easy to sustain. As long as the NGOs can be sustained, they will have enough resources to help the underprivileged community.

The founders, Sharifah Syuria Nazrah Malai Hj Hashim, Maydelyn Ling, Fatin Munirah Hj Sahrani, Nurun Nazihah Hj Mustapa and Faten Amira Izzaty Joperi, were over the moon as they were crowned the champions of the second Startup Weekend. It was something unexpected but now, the next step is to make this into a reality. The concept is there but it will be a long and fruitful journey in order to make this into a reality.

According to Madelyn, it has been her dream and been conversing the idea to her family. It was also the help of the mentors during the Startup Weekend to help them to be more focused and identify the underlying problems when it comes to baby equipments and gears. From there, they were able to identify how baby products and equipments are costly in Brunei and this idea of recycling used ones will provide alternatives to families in Brunei. Madelyn also shared that she had no plans to enter the competition, thinking it was only a workshop by Startup Weekend. It was definitely a blessing in disguise.

BID.Co team will head to Singapore in June to attend Asia’s largest Tech media platform e27. Awesome!!! Congratulations once again to all the ladies for winning and most of all, providing an innovative solution so we as a community can benefit.

Team BID.co receiving the winning prize with the organizers and the judges of Startup Weekend

Now what do you normally do when you have your old baby equipments in your storage? BID.Co can help you in handling these situations

A designated driver will be available for Audi customers to be shuttled to his or her destination.

As the sole Audi dealer/importer, T.C.Y. Motors Sdn Bhd recently introduced another service for its Audi customers where the company now provides complimentary shuttle service for customers at its Service Centre at the Lambak Industrial Area.

This is part of its efforts to improve services to local Audi customers in the After Sales department.

Customers who drop off their Audi vehicles for servicing or repairs will be chauffeured in an Audi A8 to their destination within Brunei. There’s an average of at least 60 Audi customers a month who send their Audis for servicing.

“This new service will be also incorporated into the new Audi Service Centre (also located at Lambak Industrial Area) that is expected to start operations sometime this year,” said John Tan of TCY Motors Sdn Bhd.

Members of the local press/media were yesterday invited to experience the service. For further inquiry and bookings please call 2395101/102 during operating hours.

Are you ready to be chauffeured in the Audi A8?

Check out the gadgets it comes with in the Audi A8

Like a bawse!!!

Well done, Progresif Radio, on the well organised audition and the flow of things

A long queue before the start of the audition. Progresif building was definitely buzzing that day.

Progresif Radio attracted almost 100 registrants in the second audition two weekends ago. The numbers were close to the first audition held back in August 2017. Now Progresif Radio is expanding their team due to increase demands for content and the radio internet app is gradually gaining traction from listeners from their Progresif Radio app.

I, myself, am involved in sharing content on Progresif Radio for my movie section called “Popcorn Panel”, which reminds me to get back in the podcasting game after my last review was on Black Panther and the local hit Bodyman.

Anyway, back to the audition, it attracted different walks of life and age is not big factor as Progresif Radio are looking for those with personalities and charisma.

This time the audition was streamed live on Facebook and Instagram so the public are able to catch on how the auditions are being conducted and also support their friends/families during the audition. So far 44 made the cut into the second round and DJ Jenny, renowned DJ in Brunei, will be conduct another session for the shortlisted finalists before Progresif Radio make their final decisions.

Let’s find out pretty soon who will be the new faces of Progresif Radio in the coming weeks. I am excited.

I wasn’t the 28th person but this is my family’s number. Why not pose as well 😀

I had a demo in front of the DJs. Until now, I didn’t have a clear answer if I made it or not *lol*

The DJs interviewing one of the participants

Did he make it to the next round? I believe he did.

The room that delivered the good or the bad news. But they delivered it with compassion and encouragement.

Yay, she made it to the next round. How far will she go? @thelittlelifter_

Another movie enthusiast who made it to the next round @marinagusdin

Adib Noor had his round with DJ Jenny in the second round. Will he get called for the third session? We shall wait & see.

Bahzi Damit and Iqbal Damit, the co-founders of Hand4handBN, unveiled the upcoming crowdfunding for food packets to distribute for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Click image to enter website.

Fatin Arifin, Marketing Manager, Ghanim International Corporation and Ain Bandial, co-founder and editor The Scoop with Iqbal Damit, the cofounder of Hand4HandBN

@hand4handbn has leveled up their game by means of donating through crowdfunding website in means to provide food packs for Rohingya refugees based in Bangladesh. This was announced at their press conference yesterday at Kitchen Table, Kiulap.

As some of you know Hand4HandBN has spearheaded their own initiative to help the underprivileged community and they identified the Rohingya refugees as one of the beneficiary for the donations being collected in Brunei Darussalam.

The press conference was led by Iqbal Damit, the co-founder of Hand4HandBN and accompanied by Fatin Arifin, Marketing Manager, Ghanim International Corporation and Ain Bandial, co-founder and editor The Scoop who both visited the refugee camps in Bangladesh back in November 2017.

Iqbal Damit aims to reach at least 13,000 packs of ready-to-eat meals in the first week of Ramadhan. The packs are made locally by Saahtain Asia Sdn Bhd.

The public now can lend a hand by raising funds through a crowdfunding website and for USD 15, you can sponsor 10 ready made to eat packs. USD 75 will provide 50 meals while USD 150 will provide 100 meals. Of course, the more, the better. With the crowdfunding website, this initiative will be global as well as it doesn’t just limit donors from Brunei Darussalam alone.

The ready-to-eat food are much more convenient to the refugees as they don’t have to trouble themselves to cook. Donating things like rice and food items are common but the tougher part will be actually finding resources such as oil, cooking utensils and cook their meals. Hence, ready-to-eat packs are more ideal and effective when it comes to food distribution.

All you have do is, visit their crowdfunding website at www.launchgood.com/ramadan4rohingya and the donations can start from 8pm tonight, 16th April 2018. The last day of donation will be on 30th April to ensure a better preparation and logistics for the recipients during the holy month of Ramadhan. Let’s do our part in helping the families and children of Rohingya at Bangladesh. Our contribution can make a difference.

The media and social influencers during the press conference

Members of the influencers having some refreshments prepared by @hand4handbn at Kitchen Table

Iqbal Damit at the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, during the distribution of Bruneian food aid. Photo: Ain Bandial/The Scoop. You can read more story from The Scoop by clicking the image.

Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak, Acting Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance), Ministry of Development, during the press conference earlier this morning

The Ministry of Development through the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (DEPR) held a press conference this morning to socialize the addition of Thursday to the ‘No Plastic Bag Weekend Initiative’ towards No Plastic Bag Everyday.

Present at the session was the Acting Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance), Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak, who addressed members of the media with regards to the extension. In her speech, Dr Nor Imtihan shared that the launching ceremony will be held on Thursday, 19th April 2018 in conjunction with Earth Day 2018, which appropriately carries the theme “End Plastic Pollution”.

The Acting Permanent Secretary also shared that the remaining days will be added in phases with Wednesday tentatively to be included in July 2018, Tuesday in October 2018 and Monday to be added in December 2018 towards realizing the Government’s objective of No Plastic Bag Everyday by 2019. The initiative will initially involve stores and businesses that are currently listed under the No Plastic Bag Weekend initiative but will be extended to other consumers of plastic bags such as retails shops (kedai-kedai runcit), restaurants and markets/stalls (gerai-gerai).

The No Plastic Bag Weekend initiative was initially launched on 26th March 2011 to include Saturday and Sunday, with Friday being added on 17th February 2012. The objective of the initiative is to promote the concept of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) in order to minimize the volume of waste sent to the country’s landfill. To date, fifty stores and businesses have voluntarily registered to participate in the initiative.

Also at the press conference, Martinah Haji Tamit, Acting Director of JASTRe (left)

It all started with Saturdays and Sundays back in 2011

Rano’s thoughts: This is indeed a great move finally being implemented. I remember back in 2015, it was mentioned that JASTRe wanted to implement the no-plastic-bag initiative on Thursday, but didn’t materialized. Soon, this Thursday 19th March, the Minister of Development will officially launch the additional day of Thursday to the “No Plastic Bag weekend initiative” so yes, it’s finally happening.

While supermarkets and some convenient stores are already used to this initiatives, the ones that will be the tougher to educate are the ones at the pasar malam or gerai stalls. For decades, they have been used to shelling out plastics to consumers and this stigma will be the hardest to break. Dr Nor Imtihan is confident that with great awareness and how we influence, it can play a huge role in shifting their mindsets and understand the implications of plastic bags to our environment.

The policies in supermarket is already a great reminder of me that I have to mentally prepare a recycle bag in my car, in case that I might need to buy something at the supermarket. If the supermarkets don’t have this policy, I wouldn’t have thought of having a spare recycle bag in my car. So that policy is a great tool to begin with to train and be alert on small things like “no plastic bags” that can have a huge positive impact.

Good job, JASTRe, on taking this idea into a reality. And do open up an Instagram account soon so we, as social influencers, will help to spread the word around by a push of a button 😀

Plastic bags are common whenever we go to gerais. Perhaps one way is to start from us, bring our own recycling bags or containers to increase their awareness on the implications of plastic bags. Image from thanislim.com

As you know, plastics are harmful once it’s littered around especially at beaches. This was taken at Tungku Beach and posted on TripAdvisor.

I like this strong message about how plastics can kill the likes of turtles. Let’s look at the bigger picture by taking small steps