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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Guest of Honor, Hj Azhar Hj Ahmad, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Chairman of AITI (3rd from right) 

Progresif marked a new milestone in its ongoing network expansion plans with the launch of a new tower at the Telisai highway today, bringing enhanced coverage and connectivity into the area.

The new tower is part of the company’s series of network expansion plans for Telisai which will see a total of three new sites going on-air in the area to improve coverage and to strengthen the overall experience for Progresif customers.

Paul Taylor, CEO of Progresif, said that the new tower sets the stage for the company to continue delivering innovative products and services to customers that travel along the highway for work or leisure.

“We believe that communication is all about providing access. The new Telisai highway tower will help drive connectivity and coverage for our customers so that they can continue to work or enjoy their favorite websites and entertainment, including Progresif Radio.”

“The new sites reflect our commitment to constant improvement and progress which are expressed through our core values of passion, communication and innovation,” he said.

Tony Hanley, Chief Technology and Information Officer of Progresif, said that the number of sites has increased by 20 per cent with 40 new sites going live over the past year.

“We’ve invested to enhance the capacity for our customers at over 120 existing sites. By making these continued investments, we can deliver a network that is readily able to keep up with the heavy demand for communications and data use,” he said.

“We’ve also worked hard to increase our overall network capacity by 50 per cent and built sites in less well served areas, such as in Temburong. We’re planning to drive our network into the more rural areas of Brunei so that the population can have access to communication through the Progresif network,” he said.

The launch of the Telisai highway tower was officiated by the Guest of Honor, Hj Azhar Hj Ahmad, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Chairman of AITI.

Also present was Legislative Council Member YB Ramli Hj Lahit, Dr Nor Imtihan Hj Abdul Razak, in her capacity as the Acting Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance) at the Ministry of Development, Board Member of Progresif Edzwan Zukri Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adnan, , CEO of AITI Pg Hj Mohd Zain Pg Hj Abd Razak and senior officials from Progresif.

Visit https://progresif.com/support/coverage-area/ to use the Progresif Coverage Map to learn more about our network footprint.

Her Royal Highness Princess ‘Azemah Ni’matul Bolkiah and Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Muda Bahar during the opening of Shine Cycle Studio last Sunday

Her Royal Highness Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah with @gzul

A new one-stop fitness centre where it caters to all ages is finally opened to public. So much hype has been given to Shine Cycle Studio owned by Her Royal Highness Princess ‘Azemah Ni’matul Bolkiah who was present during the official launch of Shine Cycle Studio located at Sumbangsih Bahagia. Also present were Her Royal Highness Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah and Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Muda Bahar.

Now with many fitness centres around, Shine Cycle Studio offers something slightly different from others. They have four instructors who were recently trained in the United States. A visiting consultant from Indoor Cycle Design, the owner herself, Barbara Chancey Hoots, who has been instrumental in creating a boutique fitness centre for everyone.

It’s perhaps the right time and follow the wave of a healthy lifestyle, be it food and exercise. It’s the right trend to be in and if you have the right formula, for sure, any businesses relating to a healthier lifestyle will be a hit.

I tried the spinning session last weekend and it was pretty good. Something different I felt from other spinning studios where the movements were more effective and efficient rather than simply focusing too much on the upper body (if you know what I mean). We were led by Teddy the cycling instructor and he was quite engaging and motivating the attendees and making sure that it’s not about being competitive during the session. We made use of the light weights too to strengthen our arms and shoulders while cycling.

Now the policy which I love about Shine Cycle Studio is a no-phone policy. As we all know that we love to document what we do in our daily lives – eating, socialising and especially when we work out. So this is something unique of the newly opened centre. This will allow one to be focused in their goals and also be more engaging towards others and have that human interaction uninterrupted.

The studio itself was inspired by Her Royal Highness as she was quite active in working out during her days in London. She has witnessed many boutique gyms in the region and it would be nice to see one in Brunei Darussalam too.

For more info, you can visit their website shine-cycle.com or instagram @shinecyclebn for more updates.

With the team from Shine Cycle Studio

Social influencers with the instructors of Shine Cycle Studio

Local athletes also had a taste of Shine Cycle Studio

Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports being briefed by Luc, an instructor for Shine Cycle Studio

Shine Studio apparels

33 cycling equipments

Invited guests during the opening

High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Brunei Darussalam also came during the opening

The price for the sessions

Proper bins

Dedicated shoes for cycling

The counter area for Shine Cycle Studio

You can charge your devices in the locker

Shine Cycle Studio is located at Sumbangsih

Progresif  announced its Open Mic School Edition competition on Progresif Radio to help inspire creativity in all schools in Brunei as part of its ongoing support in education.

The contest is open to students from all schools in Brunei from Year One to Year 13 from today until March 15. To participate, students can download the Progresif Radio app and use the Open Mic feature to record their song of choice.

More that $10,000 in Cash and Prizes will be distributed to the top three schools with the most entries from its students, and to the top three most voted entries from individual students.

School winners of the contest will be announced on April 4 while individual winners will be announced on April 23, on both radio and social media.

The program was designed as a way to promote the youth focused programming that has been created in partnership with a handful of local schools and the larger opportunity that the Progresif Radio application can provide to schools to develop and share content.

Devin Edwards, Chief of Marketing at Progresif, said “Progresif Radio was built as a platform not just to entertain, but to expand our CSR efforts by providing a platform for schools to promote their own activities, events and initiatives to radio listeners.”

“Education is one of the core pillars of our social responsibility programme so we made sure that this was represented in the Progresif Radio app. Now, schools have a greater opportunity to develop their own content and distribute to their intended audience,” he said.

Schools can use the on-demand platform as a tool for their own educational radio programmes and as a platform to share educational content to listeners.

Since its release, the Progresif Radio app has brought fresh innovation into Brunei’s radio industry by combining the best of live streaming and on-demand content on a new mobile platform.

Progresif Radio follows the global movements of internet radio and online streaming, an industry disruption which gives the listener full control of content.

Interested participants can find more information on the competition at www.progresif.com

The Progresif Radio app is available for download on both iOS and Android platforms. Follow @progresif_cellular on Instagram to stay updated on daily radio programmes.

His Excellency, Mr. Motohiko Kato, Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam (3rd from left) and Mr. Masafumi, Senior Project Manager, Film and Broadcast Media of Japan Foundation (2nd from left) and Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Putera Maharaja Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Ghani binPehin Datu Pekerma Dewa Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Rahim, a Legislative council member (4th from left) during the official launch of the Japanese Film Festival 2018

His Excellency, Mr. Motohiko Kato, Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam giving his welcoming remarks to the audience

The Japanese Film Festival 2018 kicked off in Brunei Darussalam last night at The Arena Cineplex, Kiulap. Attending the opening ceremony were His Excellency, Mr. Motohiko Kato, Ambassador of Japan to Brunei Darussalam and Mr. Masafumi, Senior Project Manager, Film and Broadcast Media of Japan Foundation, other members of the Diplomatic Missions in Brunei, media influencers, clubs and associations related to Japan.

The Japanese Film Festival is organised by the Japan Foundation and Embassy of Japan to Brunei Darussalam. This is a platform used to raise interest in Japanese films among audiences in the ASEAN region. It aims to provide opportunities for people to gather offline and online, under the vision of building a system for an extensive bridge between the Asia-Pacific film market and the Japanese film industry as mentioned by Mr. Masafumi.

There will be seven films being screened daily until the 28th of February 2018. The genres include drama, animation, manga adaptation and mystery. Do refer to the posters for details and you can google them for more in-depth review.

The cool thing about Japanese Film Festival 2018 is that the ticket admission is FREE and the way to claim your ticket is to collect your tickets from 5pm onwards at Arena Cineplex at Seri Q-Lap Mall. Each of the screening begins at 7:30pm.

For more information, you can contact them at 863 6488 or visit their Facebook Page or instagram @jffbrunei

What Rano thinks: I’m so pleased that there’s finally a Japanese Film Festival, showcasing more than 5 Japanese films. I’m a movie junkie and furthermore, I love Japanese movie for some reason. There are a few titles that I love rematching such as Zatoichi, Your Name (animation) and Battle Royale to name a few.

Good job to the Japan Foundation and the Embassy of Japan to Brunei Darussalam of making this possible because I normally see this kind of events in Singapore when I traveled. So this is a good start in creating more interest in Japanese films. I’m hoping to catch another one tonight if I can get hold of the tickets 🙂

His Excellency speaking to the management of Times Square Shopping Centre

Hello Ms. Junko Kurihara 😀

We caught the first film, Chihayafuru Part I

A’aqiil of Filterworks Production was also present

The screen times for the selected movies at Arena Cineplex

Check out the new Audi Q5

The new Audi Q5 boast many improvements- a stronger Q design identity, better driving experience with new quattro technology coupled with a new 7-speed dual clutch gearbox and maximum everyday usability. A quieter car thanks to improved aero-acoustics and best in-class drag co efficiency (0.30). Standard for Brunei will be 19” wheels.

The test drive was pretty successful and many of them praised the handling and the features available on the Audi Q5. They even compared it with other brands and impressed with the quality and it’s also price competitively in the market. Have you actually test driven the Audi Q5? Do visit their showroom at Kiarong and give the Q5 a run. You’ll be impressed.

New Audi A4 S line Black Styling

TCY Motors Sdn Bhd has introduced a new variant from its Audi A4 sedan line.

The Audi A4 S line Black Styling features the Audi A4 2.0 TFSI Ultra (190hp/320Nm) with all it’s exterior highlights in gloss black in place of the standard aluminium/chrome. this includes the S line rear diffuser, tailgate spoiler and side skirts. An exclusive 18″ 10-Y spoke in matching black gloss wheels rounds off the entire package.

Also new on this variant are built-in rear passenger window blinds which were previously not available. The S line Black Styling will also be available soon for the more powerful A4 with quattro AWD. For an up close viewing the public can visit Audi Kiarong during opening hours.

The Audi A4 S line Black Styling

Now whenever you drop off your Audi at our Service Centre, we’ll chauffeur you in an Audi to your desired destination!* For inquiries and booking please call 2395101/102 during operating hours. *within Brunei only

Pan Bright Travel Service today held a prize presentation ceremony for the January winner of its “Travel & Win a Hyundai or Birkin promotion” campaign at their office in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Sales & Marketing Manager of Royal Brunei Airlines, Awang Hj. Mohd Shamiruddin Bin Hj Sharbini presented the prize to the representative of the lucky winner Awang Mohammad Azujrin Bin Haji Zahini who won himself a return economy class ticket to any short haul destination sponsored by Royal Brunei Airlines.

This is the fifth monthly prize for Pan Bright’s “Travel & Win a Hyundai or Birkin promotion” campaign, launched on the 26 August 2017 and ends on the 31 March 2018.

For the period beginning September 2017 to February 2018, one monthly ticket will be given out where the lucky customer will stand a chance to win one return ticket to any short haul destination of their choice on Royal Brunei Airlines or a return ticket to Singapore on Singapore Airlines.

The Grand Prize of this promotion will be a Hyundai Accent Car or a Hermès Birkin Bag, sponsored by Pan Bright Travel Service. Other prizes for the Grand Draw will include 2 return air tickets to any long haul destination of their choice sponsored by Royal Brunei Airlines, a return ticket to Brisbane sponsored by Singapore Airlines and return tickets to Kuala Lumpur for two person sponsored by Malaysia Airlines. Selection of winners will be held in April 2018.

For more enquiries regarding the promotion, please contact Pan Bright Travel’s offices at 2240980 for Bandar Seri Begawan, 3341154 for Kuala Belait or 3220078 for Seria or follow our Facebook @panbright or Instagram @panbrighttravel for the latest updates.

A total of 40 participants registered to participate in LEADERS FOUNDATION CAMP 2.0 (LFC) organized by GENERASI BEKARIH last weekend Pusat Pembangunan Belia, Tanah Jambu

A total of 40 participants registered to participate in LEADERS FOUNDATION CAMP 2.0 (LFC) organized by GENERASI BEKARIH which ranges from 18 to 26 years old held at Pusat Pembangunan Belia, Tanah Jambu. The camp starts from 16th February to 18th February 2018 for 3 days 2 nights.

Last weekend marked another history of Generasi Bekarih second camp. This was an alternative ways to solve nations youth problems in unemployment. This camp will help to prepare them develop the way their mind sets as a leaders, to prepare to guide them towards the future. Other than that, the camp was another way to educate the youth in “Command Skills” or “Life Skills” to change their perspectives.

The participants of this camp consisted of youth, mostly represented from IPTs, IBTEs post graduate university students, members of Belia Masjid and youth association members who aimed to have a clearer vision or have intentions to change their way of life.

On the first day of the camp, participants were checking in and a short briefing regarding the activities was conducted on what to expect for the 3-day camp. The participants learnt and underwent physical and mental activities including ice breaker, understanding your potential, team building, value of life and more. Besides that, the camp aimed to educate the participants on the basics of leadership and to help change their ways of thinking. As we all know, rather than to enjoy their time during a long wekeend, they made it joyful at the same time their learning towards the camp.

The organizers are pleased to inform that Camp for LFC 3.0 will be commence on the 16th – 18th March on the first school holidays next month and the registrations is already been going since mid-January. For more updates, you can check us out at www.GenerasiBekarih.com or follow their Instagram @GenerasiBekarih and Facebook at Generasi Bekarih.