Last Friday, Setia Motors Sdn Bhd organised an “open house” for their customers. They had two activities during the event – 1) unveiling the Hyundai Elantra and 2) lucky draw prize presentation. Also present during the event were the associates from Baiduri Finance who sponsored the lucky draw prizes as part of Setia Motor’s promotion.

So what’s cool about the latest Elantra? It has a new feature, keyless ignition, and cutting edge air quality management. Sharpened to perfection, the latest Elantra compact sedan is everything and more you would expect from Hyundai, the most-talked about car company today. In a world of lookalike sedans, Elantra’s bold but elegant design sets it miles apart. And to keep you ahead of the pack, Elantra comes with a new engine and gearbox whose silk-smooth power delivery is as impressive as its fuel economy. The beautifully-appointed cabin offers many more reasons why the new Elantra should be at the very top of your list.

Hyundai’s stated goal is to become the world leader in fuel efficiency and these engines prove it. The aluminium 1.8L Nu engine is capable of a maximum 150ps while its peaktorque rating of 18.2 kg•m is reached at 4,700rpm. Want to know more about the new Elantra? Do pay Setia Motors a visit :))

As for the lucky draw, Suriana binti Awg Hj Pungut and Mohammad Hairil Abd Rahim won the two grand prizes. Both of them won their respective air tickets to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The prizes were sponsored by Baiduri Finance. The grand prizes were presented by Hj Haliluddin bin Dato Hj Talib, General Manager of Baiduri Finance Berhad and the 12 consolation prizes were presented by Hj Abd Hamid bin Yahya, Commercial Manager of Setia Motors.

You can also see BruneiTweet’s update [here]

The latest model from Hyundai, Elantra

The grand winners of the lucky draw promotion

The consolation prize winners that day

The media peeps were busy as usual

Hari Raya mood at Setia Motors

This could be the car that suits you :))

Last Sunday, 150 members of the under privileged families from Brunei-Muara District were treated to Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration hosted by Believe Youth Association (BYA) and the Embassy of the United States of America in Brunei Darussalam. The theme for the event was “Celebrating Our Friendship and Commitment to Supporting Local Communities”. The event took place at Mangrove Paradise Resort.

US Ambassador Daniel L Shields gave a welcoming remark to kick off the event and he highlighted the importance of working together as a community to face challenges and to advance peace and mutual understanding.

Some of you may be aware that the event was also coinciding with the 10th anniversary of September 11 and this gathering is a way of building communities to a stronger and hopeful one.

Also present was the President of BYA, Amalina binti Abdullah, who has been super active in building the spirit of the community and also for BYA’s cause. She also had a group of volunteers who helped out during the event last Sunday. BYA will organising more community work and I’m impressed with their dedication and commitment for a better Brunei. Keep it up!!

The gathering took place at Mangrove Paradise Resort

The Ambassador and Amalina handing out gifts to families

Group photo with the families

With the volunteers and the celebrities who performed that day

Anisah of BYA had a good time during the event

RA: This year’s theme, “Celebrating our friendship and commitment to supporting local communities”. Why the theme?
Ambassador Shields: Here’s the connection. Because this is the 10th year anniversary of 9/11, we want to commemorate the very solemn anniversary and at the same time, we want to emphasize community service and this is why we partnered with Believe Youth Association with families facing challenges and feeling vulnerable. This also gives them the opportunity to celebrate Hari Raya and to celebrate the resilience in our community.

RA: Was this part of the Embassy’s initiative?
Ambassador Shields: We reached out and we were looking for a good NGO partner to work with. We strongly feel that the theme should be community service and we did a bit of research and found out that “BYA” is the appropriate choice for community service and resilience.

RA: Is this emulated in other countries?
Ambassador Shields: Yes, it’s being carried out in other countries and each embassies making their own efforts to emphasize on the community service.

RA: It has been 10 years since the actual 9/11. How’s the sentiment so far?
Ambassador Shields: It is something we will remember forever. At the same time, it’s also important for us to work with every partner in every country around the world. It’s very much in that spirit.

RA: How’s the relationship so far between Brunei and the U.S?
Ambassador Shields: It’s excellent. We are very grateful with Brunei in the areas that we have work closely with, whether it is in military security area, economic, educational exchange, commercial, trade, energy and also ASEAN. Brunei will be heavily involved as Brunei will be the host of ASEAN 2013 and senior visitors from U.S. be involved too.

We are currently happy with the relationship with Brunei and there’s still room for improvement and we will try to keep pushing forward.

RA: You’ve been in Brunei for six months. How’s the experience so far?
Ambassador Shields: I love Brunei. Fantastic place to live. My family loves to stay here. It’s peaceful, it’s safe and it has a fascinating culture and great food. As for work, Brunei is a very interesting place because of its strategic location and play Brunei in a leadership role.

RA: Have you experience “Open Houses” in Brunei?
Ambassador Shields: It’s interesting. It’s something totally different for me. In US, we have about 7 million Muslims in the States. But in terms of the scale in Brunei, I have never seen anything like it. The hospitality in Brunei to the foreigners is something they have to come to Brunei to see it for themselves. It’s really extraordinary.

RA: Is there any future plans to work with communities?
Ambassador Shields: Yes, we have a good experience working with “BYA” and we are looking for other opportunities and also with other NGOs. So we are not just restricted to just working with the government sector.

Mr. RA with Ambassador Shields at Mangrove Paradise Resort

It’s happening tomorrow at Times Square