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His Royal Highness Prince (Dr) Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office (L) visiting an exhibition booth showing traditional Thai performance at the UBD Convo Festival 2011 held at the UBD’s Student Centre, Jalan Tungku Link. Picture: BT/Zamri Zainal

His Royal Highness Prince (Dr) Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, yesterday launched the Pesta Konvo 2011 , a six-week festival of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) held from September 8 to October 22.

The Crown Prince was accompanied by Minister of Education Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Abu Bakar Hj Apong, Minister of Development Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman and UBD Vice Chancellor Dato Paduka Dr Hj Zulkarnain Hj Hanafi.

Pesta Konvowas held to enliven the university’s 23rd convocation ceremony on September 29. The Pesta Konvo working committee have set among other activities Convo Run & Fun Cycling, Faculty of Science Open Day, Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah (PAPRSB) Institute of Health Sciences Open Day, Majlis Khatam Al-Quran and Thanksgiving Prayers, Art Installation, Exhibition, and Cultural Performance as well as Community Outreach Programme.

Korean Fan Dance. Picture: BT/Zamri Zainal

The Crown Prince watches demonstrations of ‘pencak silat’. Picture: BT/Zamri Zainal

Following the launching ceremony, HRH and the entourage tour Banar Tah Tu ( It’s True) installation art exhibition which staged 15 art pieces by students of the various clubs at UBD. HRH also officiated the launch of the new $2 million-worth Student Centre facility.

The project which is under the National Development Plan (RKN) 2007-2012 began construction on July 17, 2010. With the new facility, it is hoped that students could conduct activities to further develop their creativity, build their character as well as be more innovative.

For more of the story, you can click here. Source: The Brunei Times.

Richard Neo, Manager of Lof Bread Team – “I’ve been training the team for six months such as endurance and sprinting. They are reserve for the national team and Lof is the only local club team participating in the TourDeBrunei 2011. We are here for the experience but if the opportunity arise, we will take it. Sprinting is our strength and the 1st Stage will be the hardest. Brunei’s cycling standard has picked up in recent years and we have been joining competitions outside Brunei as well. It is popular sport in Brunei and we hope to achieve something during the tournament”

Richard Neo, Manager of Lof Bread Team (left) with his team

Puspita Mustika, Coach of Eddy Holland Cycling Team – “I used to be the coach of Brunei team in 2008 and I was involved in a bad accident while cycling with the national team. I was in coma for 5 days and I never thought I will be back in this profession again. It’s definitely an emotional return for me to Brunei. I’m happy to see my former students still in the national team and they showed a lot of passion. In fact, one of my students, Mohd Khalid bin Sata, was also involved in the accident and now he’s competing in the tournament.

Few years ago, it was like a living hell for me. For me, this is my life. Cycling is my life. Since I’m not involved with coaching the national team (Indonesia), I was given the opportunity to manage Eddy Holland , a team based in Perth, Australia and I’m very happy that I’m still playing a part in cycling.” [You can catch more of Puspita from his blog here]

Puspita Mustika (far right) with Eddy Holland Cycling Team

Mohd Khalid bin Sata with Puspita Mustika

Sheikh Jimmy, CEO of Brunei Tourism Board – “This is good for Brunei. We invested BND 200,000 for this project as we paid for TV rights from Transworld (from IMG) and this event can be shown to millions worldwide through ESPN in October. I’m quite happy that this sport with international magnitude is organised by the Ministry and Brunei Darussalam Cycling Federation and we come here to give full support of the event.

This is not a regional event but an international event and this is how Brunei can benefit in terms of exposure on TV (Transworld Sport and ESPN). We want to promote Brunei through sport and nature. Cycling has more exposure than golf (Brunei Open) in terms of the nature surroundings in Brunei and viewers on TV can watch the green nature of Brunei, the Heart of Borneo.”

Shiekh Jimmy gave much praise about the event

Mr. Setiawan Purnamahadi, the General Manager of Butra Heidelberg (Brunei Cement) – “Our role as a title sponsor of the event is to carry out corporate social responsibility (CSR) and we focus on three pillars – social, economy and environment. This (event) will fall under our social pillar. We spent over BND 250,000 to make sure the event is made possible and we already made the commitment last year.

We have sponsored the Brunei Wu Shu by funding facilities for them to train. With JASTRE, we were also involved in the “No Plastic Bag Weekend”. Beach Bunch is also one of the NGOs we are supporting. Last month, we help to promote awareness to “Prevent Diabetes” in support of MOH’s goals. Last June, we were also involved in AsiaIncForum’s National Environmental Conference.”

As you can see, Butra Heidelberg is very serious with their goals (pillars) and I’m pretty impressed with their involvement with the local authorities especially with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Development and now Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. To add further, MR. Setiawan also mentioned that they will be involved in the upcoming event BNE organised by the Ministry of Energy.

Butra Heidelberg also focus on reducing energy especially in industrial operations as this is part of their CSR under environment. So don’t think that Brunei Cement just do what they do best – providing cement – but they also educate their workers and staff on the do’s and dont’s on energy and wastage. Butra Heidelberg has created a strong brand among the locals for their CSR initiative.

Mr. Setiawan Purnamahadi (centre) of Butra Heidelberg with the management

Local entrepreneur Hajah Salma Bee Noor Mohd Abdul Latiff left for the United States today (September 9) as part of the U.S. State Department sponsored International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The special program “Entrepreneurship and Business Management” is a direct result of President Obama’s June 2009 speech in Cairo. The program links participants from Muslim communities with leading U.S. entrepreneurs in interactive forums and provides opportunities for firsthand observation of successful business operations.

Before leaving, Hajah Salma met with U.S. Ambassador Daniel L. Shields to thank him for the opportunity, which she believes will be valuable for her business and latest online product in Islamic finance. Ambassador Shields congratulated Hajah Salma on being selected for the program and encouraged her to make the most of the opportunity. He further added “This program will be of benefit to both the U.S and Brunei and will continue to aid in deepening people-to-people networks” between the two countries.

Hajah Salma is the Managing Director and Founder of Crescent Sdn Bhd. Her diploma-level, online course in Islamic finance is expected to be the first of its kind, and is being carried out in collaboration with the National University of Singapore. Crescent is one of the incubatees at the iCentre. Recently Crescent launched their online product and they currently have at least 10 students who signed up for the Islamic Finance online.

Hjh Salma will join twenty three (23) other Muslim entrepreneurs who were selected from all over the world as participants for the program. During this three week project, the group will visit a variety of communities that have inspired innovative business growth, including Washington, DC; San Francisco; Cincinatti, Ohio; and Chicago.

The IVLP program is an all expense paid trip supported by the U.S. Department of State. Text and image courtesy of US Embassy.

U.S. Ambassador Daniel L. Shields presenting Hjh Salma Latiff with her tickets and importnat IVLP information

Hjh Salma during the launch of her Islamic Finance online

Hjh Salma at the CommunicAsia2011

Aussino’s Family Day which falls on September 11, 2011 will be host to various games and activities which will be held for all Aussino customers. On the day, Bed-making competition finalists will be determined for best bed-maker award as well as a prize presentation for its ongoing photo contest, “Home is where the Heart is with Aussino”.

Yesterday, Julian Wee the Manager of Aussino drew 8 lucky participants to participate in “Shopping for My Sweet Home at Aussino”. There are Teo Boo Ern, Kong Wei Fung, Riza Syaziyah, Saffa Huda, Crystal Lim Li Thong. Namal Arosha Senanyake S. M, Iidil Rahmah Bai Abdullah and Pinky Maninang Cerna. All the participants will be entitled product prizes courtesy of Aussino. The top prize will be a shopping voucher worth BND 150.

Julian Wee drawing the names for Sunday

Aussino also created some fun activities such as bed-making competition which started back in end of July till early September. The task is for them to complete the activity within a time limit of 15 minutes. The contestants will be judged on their tidiness, creativity and speed.

This activity is in conjunction with Aussino’s 7th year anniversary. So do come to Aussino this Sunday for their family day.

Mr. Fadhil enjoying the comfort of the bed

One of the contestants last August

Like mother, like daughter

The competition did grab some attention outside

Another contestant for the bed-making competition

Netizens or in our case, the SocMed (short form for Social Media), has been in tune with the recent events of the phots being published on The Brunei Times and they have been getting a lot of heat from the SocMed one of their @TheBruneiTimes twitter feed which read “Meanwhile, what are you thoughts on this tragedy? #Brunei Two girls killed in school tragedy (and a link to their respective article)”.

The mixed responses from Twitter last night
1) Dear BT, the main picture is insensitive & unnecessary
2) Pls be sensitive to the families and to your readers
3) I’m disappointed that @thebruneitimes chose the lowest common denominator by publishing a very private moment in grief of a young member of our community
4) I think it was unintentional and nothing could have been done but my condolences to the family
5) I actually thought they had taken it down or at least block the image
6) WHAT THE HELL. Guys, You were MUCH BETTER than this! Don’t sensationalise death. Just because people are buying it, doesn’t mean you should entertain!
7) School needs to improve safety aspects of the school compound: designated waiting areas, limit car access to school compound
8) I really look forward to the day that our media would go beyond “reporting” events and provoke the readers thoughts through investigative journalism. BT needed to cover the story but plz go beyond the obvious.
9) I would still choose BT over BB at the current state of affairs
10) You are getting a lot of flak today @TheBruneiTimes. Sometimes it’s just not your day. You know we love you.

The Brunei Times announced on Twitter after the backlash from Tweeps on the sensitivity of the Twitter feed. According to one of their Twitter feeds, they had a meeting today to discuss on how situations like this should be handle (My assumptions.. so apologises before hand). Of course their intention is to “create a meaningful use of socmed to enrich their reporting” and they are still learning too.

Hence they came up with a note on Facebook which they linked from their Twitterfeed around 5:30pm today. You can visit their link here

An extract from their note on The Brunei Times’ Facebook: On Wednesday, September 7, 2011, The Brunei Times published a story on the recent school tragedy along with photos of family members grieving the death of one of the six-year-old victims. The publication of the photographs incensed some readers.

As a newspaper we take a stand on some domestic matters, and through our Opinion pages we criticise government agencies on these many issues. It is only fitting that we turn the tables and open our Opinion pages to comments and criticisms hurled against us for the work that we do and how we perform our role in Brunei society.

In this regard, we are inviting readers to express their opinion/comment/criticism on BT’s publication of the photos of the grieving family members. You can do this via Twitter, and we will publish your opinions on our pages and website.

Guidelines

1. Use the hashtag #BTpix and include the username @TheBruneiTimes in your tweet for easy identification. You may include the hashtag #brunei if you wish.

2. By using the hashtag #BTpix you are expressing your intention to submit your message for publication on The Brunei Times and its website.

3. Only your Twitter username (@—) will be published along with the opinion that you broadcast via the microblogging site.

4. Civil discourse is encouraged. Mind your language.

5. Focus your opinion on The Brunei Times’s publication of the photos. This exercise is aimed at opening ourselves to public opinion on the use of the said photographs.

6. Do not include URLs in your tweet.

7. State your opinion/comment/criticism in English.

8. Stick to 140 characters.

9. You may submit more than once.

Get today’s The Brunei Times to read the remarks

The mixed responses from today’s The Brunei Times
1) @jennymalaiali i thought the photos captured a depth of emotion which we all experienced on some level.. without being sensational.
2) @teah Don’t publish something private you yourself do not want to see on print if you’re the subject of the article. 🙂 #btpix
3) @janshim I’m with Jenny on this (refer to Jenny’s Tweet)
4) @Talkingaloudbru Actually not only do I agree with @JennyMalaiAli I’m taking it further & thinking WTH pics r fine. Obviously massive human interest in that story the #BTpix added that extra dimension if @TheBruneiTimes didn’t publish it, it’d be soulless
5) @xobellaaa I honestly can’t see why everyone was upset about the article; I was more upset that such a tragedy happened
6) @vivs Respect cultural sensitivity. Photos shld’ve cropped first. Implement the “Grief & Shock” Code whilst sympathising.
7) @Wafirosli The basic rule of photojournalism as long as the pictures aren’t manipulated and the captions aren’t misleading. Then it’s ok
8) @esteillha I understand the sensitivity concerns over photographing a personal moment. But if the family gave permission, it’s not an invasion of privacy. As for accusations of sensationalism, I fail to see how photos of a family mourning can be seen as such. A tragedy happened. People get affected and hurt. There is nothing wrong with.
9) @emmagoodegg I’ve always admired @thebruneitimes for sticking to principles & seeking to elevate the intellect. For trying to be the better paper. I’m disappointed that @thebruneitimes chose the lowest common denominator by publishg a very private moment in grief of a young member of our community. To see more of the Twitter feeds, you can click here.

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Image courtesy of Mimi

Kim with her cat, Patel Singh Japar

Patel even has his own baju melayu

“Smiling Raya Faces” by Alin Ahmad

Image courtesy of Nina Hasnani

Image courtesy of Nina Hasnani

Ummi and her daughter Anneliese Sara courtesy of Wazzie Othman

Change Management team from BAG Networks

Change Management team from BAG Networks

Courtesy of Dk Nooril Haryanti Aries

Courtesy of Dk Nooril Haryanti Aries

Courtesy of Toto

Courtesy of Thee0eight

Courtesy of Hasif Sardani

SHR MZB from Pg Hj Mumin’s family – courtesy of Ak Herman

Courtesy of Pg Sham

Quite a few positions here

Looking for Project Constructions Coordinator Assistant

How can you participate in this event?
1 – For Sponsors & donation, please call 8668912
2 – For Volunteers, please email yianneelim@cantab.net
3 – For Booking of booth to raise funds, please email alamflorahijau@gmail.com
4 – For other inquiry, Please call 2655245
Or just come and have fun with us!!! For Direction, Please call 2655245