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

Members of the media with Brunei Shell Marketing during the preliminary draw for March winners at BSM Headquarters yesterday

A safety briefing for the media and they are already equipped with a trained fire marshall and and a first aider

There were more than a few thousand participants in the ongoing #BeliHelix Promotion II which has been very encouraging response. The good thing about the monthly winners is that they are still eligible to be part of the grand draw where the winner will drive home a a Nissan X-Trail. A Hong Kong travel package for 2 and a BND 2,500 Cash card will be the 2nd and 3rd prize respectively.

For the March 2018 winners, one of them will stand a chance to win an air ticket to Bangkok and there will be four other consolation prizes for the monthly winners. The media had the privilege to draw the shortlisted names for the upcoming monthly draw and the final draw of March winners will be held next Friday, 20th April 2018.

Those who purchased Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40, HX-7 10W-40 and HX5 15W-40 will be eligible for the draw. They will have to purchase a pack of four liters of Shell Helix Motor Oil and fill in the lucky draw entry form.

There are 190 participating outlets (car dealers, independent workshops, high streets and petrol stations) across the Sultanate. The current promotion ends on 30th April 2018 and the grand draw will be sometime in May 2018.

A representative from Borneo Bulletin drawing one of the names

A representative from Motoring BN drawing one of the names

• Sales up 9.8 percent between January and March

• Sales chief Bram Schot: “The record-breaking start to the year provides us with important momentum”

• Strongest March ever in China (+30.6%) and North America (+8.3%)

New record-breaking figure for the Four Rings: Audi concluded its best first quarter in the company’s history. Between January and March the company sold around 463,800 automobiles worldwide, 9.8 percent more than in the same quarter last year. In particular, the high demand in China (+41.9%) and North America (+10.2%) drove growth in the first three months. In Europe, however, sales since January came in below the record-breaking level from 2017, down 4.7 percent. In March, the company delivered around 183,750 premium automobiles (+6.0%) worldwide.

“The record-breaking start to the year provides us with important momentum. With the Audi A7, A6, A1 and Q3 models, we will be renewing around a quarter of our sales in Europe alone throughout the year,” says Bram Schot, Board Member for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG.

In China, Audi also closed the first quarter successfully. Here the company delivered 154,270 cars since January, an increase of 41.9 percent. In the past month, demand increased by 30.6 percent; the Ingolstadt-based automaker sold more automobiles in China than ever before in the month of March, delivering 54,031 units. The Audi A4 proved an important growth engine. The number of deliveries of the midsize model increased by 86.4 percent year-on-year to more than 13,800 cars. Since the start of the year more than 37,350 Chinese customers received their keys for an Audi A4 (+99.2%). The top seller is following this positive trend worldwide too, achieving growth of 15.3 percent to around 87,850 A4 models delivered in the period January through March.

With sales down 5.8 percent in March, Europe is indicative of the complex ramp-up and discontinuation situation of the current model initiative. In Germany and the UK, Audi’s two largest European markets, deliveries were down on the very strong sales figures from 2017. In the domestic market, the premium brand delivered 28,247 automobiles (-9.0%) in March, which had less selling day than last year. In the UK, sales fell 2.9 percent year-on-year in the past month. In the first quarter, UK sales were on a par with the prior-year level, up 0.1 percent, and performed far more resiliently than the declining overall market. Demand in Spain (+11.3%) andItaly (+2.8%) also remained positive in the past month. In both markets, customer interest in the Audi Q5 held up since the start of the year. 1,618 Spanish customers (+51.5%) and 2,106 Italian buyers (+131.9%) opted for the SUV in the first quarter. Another positive result: In Austria Audi accomplished premium market leadership regarding car registrations between January and March.

On the North American continent, Audi also continued to grow in March, increasing sales by 8.3 percent to around 24,550 cars. With around 61,400 deliveries, the company posted growth of 10.2 percent year-on-year in the region since January. In Canada alone, Audi sold 3,404 units in March, continuing its double-digit sales growth of the past few months (+14.0%). Since January, around one in three Canadian Audi customers chose an Audi Q5. Audi of America achieved another record-breaking month, with sales up 7.4 percent to 20,090 units. The Q family once again contributed largely to this success. The SUV share in the United States is currently 52 percent, i.e. one out of every two Audi models sold in this market is a Q model. The Audi Q7 is proving popular. In the past month, one out of every three Audi Q7 models delivered went to an American customer. Across all models, cumulative sales are up 9.7 percent in the United States.

The media from Brunei outside one of CUCKOO factory in Seoul

Posing with Mr. Hoe, CEO of CUCKOO Malaysia for one of the photo contest

What a fortunate treat for the local media from Brunei who had the privilege to visit the factories of CUCKOO (multi-cooker and water purifier). The first visit was at Yangsan factory located in Busan, South Korea.

I would have thought it would be stricter for companies as big asCUCKOO to allow visitors to see the production line of CUCKOO. So it was such a fitting trip that we as the media were given the opportunity to see how a strong brand likeCUCKOO made it so popular in the Asia Pacific.

The Yangsan factory we visited mainly focused on multi-cookers and kitchen appliances. We were brought to the conference room where delegates from Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore were introduced to the management team of Yangsan Factory.

We learnt that CUCKOO’s multi-cookers are known for four things: Smart Algorithm, Pressure Cooking, Heating Technology and Coating Technology. These advanced technologies helped one to prepare food or meal at a touch of button. At the factory itself, we had a sneak peak on how the functions were created.

For a person who rarely cooks and maybe most of the readers here, how does pressure cooking really helps or an advantage? Imagine you don’t have enough time to cook. By using CUCKOO’s multi-cooker, you can save 70% of your cooking time and that’s with the help of the pressure cooking technology inside CUCKOO multi-cooker. This is very ideal for the working class who has limited time when it comes to cooking.

It’s really hard to explain to those who aren’t familiar with cooking. But I can guarantee you that once a CUCKOO multi-cooker in in your hands, you won’t regret the purchase. It’s no surprise why 70% household in Korea uses CUCKOO brand for their cooking and that shows the Korean really trust their products.

For the record, CUCKOO multi-cooker is sold every 10 seconds in South Korea. How I wish I had the same business model like CUCKOO.

Now saying all that, all these technologies infused in CUCKOO’s appliances are manufactured at Yangsan factory. We saw some of the production lines within the premise and I was impressed with the dedication and precision by the CUCKOO factory workers. You will be surprised the average age of the workers which is around 24-25 years old.

We also had the privilege to visit the Siheung Factory which focuses more on water purifier. It has a similar production line concept like Yangsan and it’s located closer to Seoul. With the two plants in South Korea, they are able to produce more than 4.5 million set annually.

They have around a few hundred workers working behind the scene. All they focus is just their tasks given and I hardly see them having a conversation among themselves. It’s as if they are like human robots in the production line. That’s how discipline the workers are in the factory.

Interestingly enough, Brian Koo Bon Hak, the CEO of CUCKOO Electronics Co. Ltd, mentioned of a plan to build a RM 100 million factory in Malaysia to produce water purifier products. This will help to bridge the demand gap due to the rapid growth in Southeast Asia and Brunei is one of the emerging markets in the water purifier category.

With the presence of media from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore during the media conference at CUCKOO factory in Seoul

One of the production lines for the CUCKOO multi-cooker

The workers are very focused and dedicate when handling the components

One of the semi-conductors used for the multi-cooker

The faulty section where one will commission to see what went wrong with the unit

The upcoming multi-cooker model that is able to make Gaba rice

Gaba rice is better than brown rice and healthier

Our local model from Brunei posing with CUCKOO water purifier

Behind the scenes on how the water purifier are being produced

I was pretending to spy inside the production line :p

Centre For Islamic Banking, Finance And Management (CIBFM) hosted its Annual Stakeholders Retreat at The Radisson Hotel, Brunei Darussalam last week

Centre For Islamic Banking, Finance And Management (CIBFM) hosted its Annual Stakeholders Retreat at The Radisson Hotel, Brunei Darussalam. The event began with a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, followed by a welcoming remark delivered by Yang Mulia Dayang Hajah Sufinah binti Haji Sahat, Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CIBFM.

The event then continued with a presentation by Mr. Prashant Chadha, Managing Director, Aon Hewitt Malaysia and Philippines on the topic ‘Redefining Workspaces of the Future – Employees’ View’. Aon Hewitt was specially invited by CIBFM for their insights on career development and effectiveness of human resource development and management.

This presentation was then followed by an open discussion amongst participants regarding challenges in the workspace and working environment. Amongst the challenges brought up were the constantly evolving work environment and the organisations’ roles in facilitating their workers in adapting to these changes.

The objectives of the event were to foster better relationships between CIBFM and its stakeholders, as well as to share the latest developments in human resource performance and management.

For your info, CIBFM is a training institution under the purview of Autoriti Monetari Brunei. CIBFM offers a variety of learning and development programmes ranging from financial literacy to leadership and management. For more information on CIBFM’s development programmes, members of the public may visit our social media accounts, @cibfm.brunei on Instagram and CIBFM Brunei page on Facebook, visit their website at www.cibfmbrunei.com, or call CIBFM’s hotline at +673 8271140.

Finally justice has been served. A civil court case that lasted for almost 6 years and now the verdict/judgment has been handed down. Co-plaintiffs Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani and Abdul Hamid bin Abas won the biggest libel suit in Brunei Darussalam against the Indian Chamber of Commerce as the 1st defendant and Mohamed Zackiriah Nazeer Ahmad & 23 others as the 2nd defendant. They are: Mohamed Zackiriah Nazeer Ahmad, Jamnu Punjabi, Abdul Malick Mohamed Batcha, Abdul Rahim Kamaldeen, Mohamed Zubair Hamim Basheer, Mohamed Abdulla Inamulla @ Yunus, Venugopal Jayakumar, Abdul Packir Maideen, Punjabi Vishnu Tarachand, Noorsa Ahmad Sultan Noor Mohamed, Dawoo Batcha Mohd Jafarullah, Shaikh Mohamed Saburdeen, Abdul Sheik Dawood Munaff, Muthiah Chettiarmani, Vadakoot Sankunni Azhutchan Ramesh Chandaran, Poondiyar Shaik Peer Mohamed Sheik Dawood, Asiqurahman bin Haji Abdul Haleem, Haji Badurudeen S/O Tn Mohamed Ismail, Ubayathullah Hamim Basheer, Hidhayatulla bin Tajudden, Mohamed Hussain Mohamed Ali, Sulaimanayub Khan, Haji Mohamed Ali and Haji Mohamed Asraf @ Abdul Kader Asraf Ali.

The defendants are to pay BND 650,000 and BND 300,000 in damages to Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani and Abdul Hamid bin Abas respectively.  This was announced in the written judgment prepared by Judge James Kerr Findlay, Judicial Commissioner.

How it all happened?

5th April 2010 – Indian Chamber of Commerce sent a letter addressed to the Indian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, publishing defamatory matters on Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani and Abdul Hamid bin Abas.
29th November 2010 – Indian Chamber of Commerce sent a letter addressed to the Indian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam and Ramesh alleged he was libelled in that letter.
2012 – The case was brought to the court by Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani and Abdul Hamid bin Abas and were represented by Pg Izad and Too Shu Vun of Messrs Pengiran Izad and Lee.
2018 – During the 6 years, the case went back and forth until it reached the High Court. The defendants lost the case and the written judgment was handed by 24th March 2018.

What was the content in the letters?

It mentioned that Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani “has recently been increasingly involved in various malicious activities which in our opinion warrants investigation by the appropriate body in India”. It was also mentioned that Ramesh was engaged in money laundering and was a “Mafia style gangster”.

The other letter dated 29th November 2010 urged “stern action” against Ramesh as the defendants were “pretty sure that something worthwhile will be unearthed”. This letter repeated the serious allegation that Ramesh’s “business activities are in actual fact a sham to cover his illegal money-laundering operations”.

The second plaintiff Abdul Hamid bin Abas was alleged in the first letter where he had abused his position as an officer with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In their defence

Back in 2014, at the Court of Appeals, the defendants claimed that  the civil suit libel action “could not be maintained as the court was not competent to entertain a suit relating to communications relating to matters of State”. This was based on the provision of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (the Convention).

The Court of Appeals discussed the question of “whether a letter written by a private person to a diplomatic mission may be adduced in evidence” and considered the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.

In the decision, the court said the letters referred to in the libel suit are admissible.

“The Convention does not assist the appellants who have failed at this stage to show that either copy delivered anonymously to the respondents was taken from the original in the archive,” the Court of Appeals said.

“They have also failed to show that the respondents were complicit in the act of making either copy. On the evidence as it stands at present we find that the letters are admissible.”

The Indian Chamber of Commerce’s motion to strike out the civil suit libel action was earlier dismissed by the registrar and then by the Chief Justice before the matter was brought up to the three-panel judges at the Court of Appeal and then recently to the High Court.

From this case, it seemed that the defendants ) 1st defendant and Mohamed Zackiriah Nazeer Ahmad & 23 others as the 2nd defendant) were seeking for immunity.

Fast forward to the present moment

In the high court, the defendants wanted the judge to believe that the defamatory statements were published only to the Indian High Commissioner himself then. The second defendant told the judge the the letters were hand delivered and no copies were kept by the first defendant. Later in his evidence, he retracted this and said the first defendant had kept copies but he could not remember where they were. It is not possible to believe that the High Commission (then) on receiving these letters and even assuming he opens official letters personally, kept them to himself. The letters by the defendants are not marked as personal, confidential or otherwise to restrict their circulation.

In his judgement, Justice Findlay said “Benjamin Franklin said that three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead,” adding that human nature is such that statements like those made by the defendants, especially when they contain juicy gossip are bound to be spread. He also said that they were spread because the second plaintiff, who was a credible witness, told him of people speaking to him of the statements in the letters, where one of them asked him why he was working for a money-launderer and a gangster.

The defendants wanted the judge to find that there was no malice involved in making the defamatory statements. Judge replied by saying, “Frankly, it is difficult to think of a case in which malice is more obvious than this tone. The defendants admit that they had no basis at all for making defamatory statements. The second defendant was totally unable to give any explanation for this vicious attack on the characters of the plaintiffs. Malice must be found where defendants make defamatory statements knowing full well that there is no justification for making them.”

“I find as a fact that he was motivated by spite and malice and seeking to harm the plaintiffs. Apart from anything else, one only has to read the defamatory letters to detect that they reek of malice. My conclusion is that the defendants are liable to the first plaintiff for the publication of the defamatory matter contained in the 5 April 2010 and the first defendant and the fourth defendant are liable to him for the publication of the defamatory matter contained in the letter of 29 November 2010. I also conclude that the defendants are liable to the second plaintiff for the defamatory matter contained in the letter of 5 April 2010.

The judge concluded, “There remains the matter of the quantum of damages. I regard this as a serious case of defamation. The baseless allegations by the defendants were of the upmost gravity. It is difficult to think of a case more serious than the statement that the first plaintiff, a prominent businessman in Brunei, was a professional criminal or that the second plaintiff, as a senior government official, was corrupt and prepared to abuse his powers. It cannot be otherwise than that the plaintiffs suffered a loss of reputation, anxiety and stress. An aggravating factor is that the defendants sought to present a case that the defamatory statements were true until the case was on trial and continued to argue that there was no malice.

The judge also made the following awards of damages in favour of the plaintiffs. Justice Findlay also granted judgement in favour of the plaintiffs in these terms against all the defendants, jointly and severally, the one paying, the others to be absolved. The plaintiffs are entitled to their costs, to be taxed if not agreed. Furthermore, the judge will also consider interest if he receives a written submission on this issue.

Amount payable to Abdul Hamid bin Abas

Rano’s thoughts: This is the biggest defamation (libel) case in Brunei Darussalam with a total of BND 950,000. Previously it was a case for defamation where Abrahams, Davidson and Co. won a case against the defunct News Express back in 2002. The plaintiff was also represented by Pg. Izad and & Lee and the total award was BND 550,000. Finally after six years, the case can put to rest after a series of hearings in the court and even through the court of appeal. It’s the final straw but the defendants still have one card to play – appeal to the High Court.

It is important for all of us to know that defamation – libel and slander – can be damaging to one’s reputation. When you defame someone, it means you claim something that is false and untrue as they are no evidence to support that claim. In this case, the Indian Chamber of Commerce claimed that Ramesh Jiwatram Bhawnani is a “Mafia style gangster” in a written document and this will fall under libel category.

So ladies and gentlemen, be careful what you write online. All assumptions and accusations can be brought to justice. I know they are many keyboard warriors out there especially on reddit. So think twice before you post or simply don’t post at all.

Click image to enter website

Aiman Minorhadi, Co-Founder of Grominda Group

Recently Grominda Group launched a new platform called Plus-EXP at the Design & Technology building.

Plus-EXP is an online platform that provides work experience opportunities powered by Grominda Group. Grominda Group is a research company that focuses on fostering the development of human capital through the early stage of career development. Grominda Group’s vision is to be the leading centre for youths’ development in the region. They pledged to develop leaders of the future by believing in their core values, to instill youths with integrity and be competitive in any market conditions by empowering them with innovation thus inspiring them to be ambitious.

Hence, Plus-EXP is created to enable talents (youths) to apply for internships directly from work experiences offered by companies. This platform is intended to make it easier for talents to connect with companies to gain working experiences thus tackling the issue of lack of working experiences. They are also working with both institutions and companies to align university courses in Brunei Darussalam with job market demands.

Another feature included in the website is trainings and workshops. For instance, their own Recruitment Consultant provides CV Clinics and Interview Techniques workshop and talents can apply for this workshop by signing up on Plus-EXP. They will also be looking to cooperate with other companies to provide trainings that will improve work experiences.

For now, registration for both companies and talents are already available. However, they are still consolidating the data for the website thus the full features of the platform will only be available at the end of April.

For more information or any further inquiries, call +6738297027 or e-mail grominda@gmail.com.

Firdaus Bohari, Co-founder of Grominda Group

Plus-EXP team

Anthony Sigar, CEO of Grominda Group

Mr Brian Koo, CEO of CUCKOO Korea and Mr. K.C. Hoe, CEO of CUCKOO Malaysia doing the honours for the Cuckoo’s 40th anniversary celebration at Seoul Dragon City, Korea last Wednesday.

CUCKOO unveiled the new ambassador for CUCKOO, Lee Seung Gi, who sang two numbers to delight of the attendees

2017 was an excellent year for CUCKOO Brunei. The year in which Cuckoo International Brunei reached many milestones, including the successful introduction of a flexible dual package plan, known as CUCKOO’s UP PLAN, which was launched in January 2018.

These plans were thoughtfully designed to allow Bruneian families from all walks of life to effortlessly own CUCKOO appliances – and enjoy the higher standard of life that comes with them – without overburdening themselves financially. The market’s response was positive beyond expectations, allowing CUCKOO Brunei to achieve results that were Beyond Standards:


 “We wouldn’t have been able to achieve such results without the efforts of my highly supportive team, who believed in our vision,” said Mr Wong Kim Guan, Managing Director of Cuckoo Brunei. Within 18 months, CUCKOO Brunei has already opened 9 brand stores, and Garnered over 3,500 households, generating a revenue of 2 million Brunei dollars.

“Greater plans are coming ahead in 2018 for Cuckoo Brunei, where we aim to provide better plans and services to meet greater expectations,” Said Wong Hui Ting, Marketing Director of Cuckoo Brunei.

The priceless selfie taken by the Korean celebrity

Mr Wong Kim Guan, Managing Director of CUCKOO Brunei receiving award for the Country Arising Sales Award. I’m quite proud to see Brunei on the map.

CUCKOO Brunei team witnessing the 40th anniversary

Members of the media from Brunei 😀

I made great connections with these bunch 😀

I’m proud of Guan and Hui Ting for your efforts in making CUCKOO a household name in Brunei Darussalam

In 2016, CUCKOO has penetrated into the south east Asian markets like Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, and Indonesia. “Our sights are set on expanding the CUCKOO brand to Vietnam, India and Indonesia in 2018. We estimate that our overseas ventures will bring in an annual revenue of USD150 million in 2018, and a total of USD1 billion in the next 5 years. So, we will continue to increase our presence in overseas markets and focus our efforts on the global expansion of the CUCKOO brand,” revealed Mr Brian Koo, CEO of CUCKOO Korea, at CUCKOO’s 40th anniversary celebration.

Held at Seoul Dragon City, CUCKOO’s 40th anniversary celebration was attended by over 500 CUCKOO employees and media personnel from Korea, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia on 7 March 2018.

CUCKOO is a well-known home appliance brand from South Korea. In South Korea, a CUCKOO water purifier is sold every minute and a CUCKOO rice cooker is sold every 10 seconds. Today, CUCKOO has successfully extended its operations to 30 countries across 5 continents. In 2017, CUCKOO’s global turnover hit a record of USD $760 million.

In August 2016, CUCKOO Brunei joined the CUCKOO family. Within 18 months, CUCKOO Brunei has sold countless water purifiers to Bruneians through a revolutionary ownership plan, and also introduced multi-cookers and air purifiers to the Bruneian audience. In 2017, CUCKOO Brunei accumulated 3,500 Bruneian customers and thus, opened over 9 brand stores nationwide.

For more information about CUCKOO, please call the CUCKOO Careline at +673 2333330 or visit www.cuckoobrunei.com or CUCKOO BRUNEI’s official Facebook page.

Unveiling three new markets for CUCKOO – India, Indonesia and Vietnam

Hello Seung Gi

Does this count as a selfie? haha

He is the new ambassador and I can’t believe loads of Bruneians are crazy for him

I’m impressed with the JS Drummers on the opening segment

Junaidah binti Abdullah celebrating with her family after winning the grand prize – brand new BMW 118i from the #belihelix promotion

The top 5 winners with the management of BRUNEI Shell Marketing Co Sdn Bhd (BSM) during the prize presentation

49-year-old Junaidah binti Abdullah from RPN Kampong Mentiri is now the new owner of the brand new BMW 118i after she became the sole winner of the BRUNEI Shell Marketing Co Sdn Bhd (BSM) #belihelix promotion that had more than 20,000 entries. According to the interview, she sells delicacies from home and of all person, she didn’t expect to win a prize, let alone the grand prize.

During the games, she had assistance from her husband who signalled her to choose the right key. From six possible keys (to unlock the BMW), it went down to the wire as Junaidah and Izzah Hazwanah Harun squared off in the final phase. The first two guesses from both finalists brought no luck until the 3rd attempt by Junaidah settled the tension as she managed to start the BMW in front of the huge crowd at Times Square Shopping Centre.

Izzah settled for second prize which was fitting for her as she can go on a honeymoon as she won a Dubai tour package for two persons. Mohamad Daud bin Taha won himself a BND 2,500 cash card while the consolation winners Nur Musaddad bin Hadanan took home, a Samsung 55’’ Smart LED TV and Ling Wah Hwang won a 13.3″ Macbook Air.

Presenting the prizes and motor oil to the winners was Pengiran Shamhary bin Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mustapha, BSM’s Managing Director.

Not to worry for those who didn’t win any prizes as BSM launched another #beliheix promotion for the public. This time you have a chance to win the latest Nissan X-Trail followed by other prizes such as a Hong Kong Travel Package, BND 2,500 cash prize and consolation prizes too.

According to BSM representatives, their promotion has been a success and the public are gaining more confidence with their (shell) products. Keep up the great work and hope the branding of Shell remains strong in Brunei Darussalam.

Izzah Hazwanah Harun winning a Dubai Tour package for two

Nur Musaddad bin Hadanan won a Samsung 55’’ Smart LED TV

A historic moment for the grand winner

Now you can stand a chance to win the latest Nissan X-trail

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