Captain Azwan Salleh of Brunei u-23 (left) holding on to George O’Callaghan during training match. This evening he led the Brunei team against Timor Leste. However, they lost their opening match 2-1 despite scoring earlier on. Ribeiro Almeida of Timor Leste scored a brace. It was a historic win for Timor Leste as it was their first victory in the SEA Games since their participation in 2009. Mohd Najib scored for Brunei Darussalam.

Murilo Ribeiro (left) scored twice for Timor Leste yesterday. Image by Heru Haryono/okezone

Brunei’s Ak Mohammad Fakharrazi (yellow) fighting for a ball with Timor Leste’s Wellington Rocha Dos Santos during their SEA Games Group B qualifying match in Jakarta yesterday. Picture: AFP

The standing so far and Brunei will take on Laos tomorrow (Monday) 5pm

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It was an entertaining event at The Empire Hotel & Country Club. Abacus Brunei hosted their 21st Abacus Appreciation Dinner for all their partners and travel agents (the 200 movers and shakers of Brunei’s flourishhing travel industry).

The dinner was to highlight and appreciate the continuous efforts of their travel agency partners in Brunei for the past 21 years. For your info, Abacus is Asia’s leading provider of travel solutions and services. If there’s no Abacus, then it will be difficult to do your bookings for your flights. So this is where Abacus come in and do that support.

Irene Soon, General Manager of Abacus Brunei, said that Abacus will continue to introduce innovative technology solutions and services to help travel agents improve and enhance their services. She also thanked Abacus International Pte Ltd, Royal Brunei Airlines, Baiduri Bank, Cityneon Displays and Constructions, Royal Brunei Catering, Tourism Malaysia, Tokio Marine Insurance and TTCO Enterprise for sponsoring the lucky draw prizes for this evening’s event.

Irene soon, General Manager of Abacus Brunei, giving a few words before dinner

Century Travel bagged all the Top 3 rewards for Travel Consultant. Prizes presented by guest of honour, Aji bin Hj Puteh, Acting Deputing Chief Operating Officer of Royal Brunei Airlines and Director of Abacus Brunei

Century Travel (Bandar) came 2nd in Top Travel Agent Performing Award

8th place Mas Sugara Travel Services receiving award from Guest of Honour

Freme Travel (KB) came 4th in Top Travel Agent Performing Award

Group photo with the Top 10 Travel Agents in Brunei

Darussalam Holding is ranked in the Top 10 for Top Travel Agents in Brunei

Top Travel Agent at Abacus Holiday Travel Fair

Top Travel Agent – Freme Travel Services
1st Runner up – Pan Bright Travel Service
2nd Runner up – Southern Cross Travel Agencies

Travel Consultant Reward

Top Travel Consultant – Miss Lim Yah Hui from Century Travel Centre
1st Runner up – Mr. Luk Boon Hwa from Century Travel Centre
2nd Runner up – Miss Yee Leng Kam from Century Travel Centre

Top Travel Agent Performing Award 2010/2011

1) Freme Travel Service (Bandar)
2) Century Travel Centre (Bandar)
3) Pan Bright Travel Service (Kuala Belait)
4) Freme Travel Services (Kuala Belait)
5) Anthony Tours & Travel Agency
6) Pan Bright Travel Service (Bandar)
7) Century Travel Centre (Manggis)
8) Mas Sugara Travel Services
9) Darussalam Holdings
10) Southern Cross Travel Agencies (Seria)

Some of the entertainment during the 21st Abacus Appreciation Night

Some of them had to do the “Zumba” action

Urban Vibes surely entertaiend the guests last night. Awesome dance sets!!!

Spin the Wheel was quite popular and lots of fantastic prizes

Plenty of food to go around as well

3 years and still counting.. Congratulations!!

Denise Chai of Deseo (2nd from right) with her friends from overseas and Thanis Lim

Denise Chai with her friends after the event

Denise Chai with Deseo’s staff who have helped the business sustained this far

Edgar with his daughter Natalie also attended the celebration

It’s happening today and extended till Sunday. This is the week to commemorate “Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Day and this is the 2nd time Brunei celebrated this event since His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam declared that the event should be celebrated every 1st November.

Around 200 booths participated in the jam packed event and it’s located at Recreational Park at Kg. Parit (along Jalan Mualat/Limau-Manis) and I tell you that it was so congested yesterday when I dropped by for a quick coverage. The car queue was pretty long and I’m pretty sure Sunday (tomorrow) will be worse.

Exhibitions and trade fairs are opened for the public for five days from November 1 to 5 with a number of additional activities including a colouring contest, scene drawing competitions, identifying fruits, vegetables, fish and agrifood competition, digital photography competition and fish tank fishing competition.

What’s a great about the event is that I noticed a lot of families bring their kids and this is a great platform for kids to be educated on agriculture and fishery in Brunei. One set back though – the toilets. They had no water supply then but I’m not pretty sure if it’s only temporary. So my advise is to clear your bladder before you visit the carnival 😉

Well done to the organisers.. Though it wasn’t heavily advertised but wow… the crowd just kept on flowing and flowing.. and further more, this is not located at a prime area like ICC or BRIDEX. So thumbs up to the organisers.

Pehin Yahya handing over mock cheque to Lau How Teck (R), the recipient of the “Successful Farmers’ Award”. Taken on 1st November. Image courtesy of Saifulizam of The Brunei Times

Kids love to fish apparently

I’m not fond of durians but I’m sure most of you are

There’s also a quiz section on the photography section

You can grow some fruits one day

Ok, I’m not a big fan of this game though

Yes, the long queue just for the event

BRUNEI’s premier destination, The Airport Mall has signed on local creative firm, Mixmediaworx for their expertise in branding, marketing and consultation. The Airport Mall, is looking distinguish itself from what other Bruneian malls have to offer, which has prompted the partnership with Mixmediaworx, to develop a brand which will be synonymous with Bruneians.

Dk Hjh Asiah Pg Hj Damit, a representative from The Airport Mall, said: “We are pleased to announce our partnership with Mixmediaworx, Brunei’s leading and preferred creative agency, for the branding of our mall.”

She added that with proper branding and consultation from Mixmediaworx, The Airport Mall would be able set itself apart from other shopping destinations in the country. With Mixmediaworx on board, The Airport Mall will have a new and fresh exterior, a re-thought interior, a logo and consistent branding to match.

Mixmediaworx’s Creative Director Hamdi “NJ” Matussin said that it isn’t often that shopping centers in Brunei have strong and recognizable branding. “The idea is not to rely heavily on major tenants to pull the crowd or shoppers in, but to stand out as a one-of-a-kind shopping mall that represents all its tenants as distinctly as possible,” he said.

With Mixmediaworx’s involvement, it will help with the positioning of The Airport Mall towards the local market.

“We will identify strengths, weakness and opportunity in line with creating The Airport Mall’s identity development,” NJ said, adding that the exercise will take about 6 to 12 months to complete.

The huge atrium at The Airport Mall put to good use.. Taken during the Abacus Holiday Travel Fair back in October 2011

The logo, which will be unveiled on November 11, took around a month to be confirmed. NJ added: “Our association with The Airport Mall will see a whole new brand concept for the mall, inside and out.”

With most malls in Brunei having with cinemas or hotels to pull crowds, The Airport Mall is looking to go a different direction. Mixmediaworx believes that although challenging, they will be able to propose and suggest the right approach to make The Airport Mall Brunei’s preferred destination.

Dk Hjh Asiah said that with their property, one of the biggest advantages is the huge atrium which will be able to host a wide array of events or roadshows. “Currently, Alhamdulillah… we are more than 80 per cent full in terms of confirmed tenancy. With the appointment of a creative agency, this is our serious next step. We believe that they can market and brand our product, The Airport Mall, to be a success,” she said. Text courtesy of Mixmediaworx.