-3-on-3 Street Basketball Challenge coming to Brunei and two of Brunei’s leading brands, KFC (B) Sdn Bhd and Fitness Zone, are teaming up to bring a “colourful” event by hosting the first ever 3-on-3 Street Basketball Challenge inside The Airport Mall at the end of the month.

Founder and owner of Fitness Zone, Wu Chun, when addressing the media at Fitness Zone yesterday, said that it is important to continue promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, and is “happy” to have KFC approach them to form a partnership through basketball.

Jonathan Bong, marketing manager of KFC Brunei, said that as opposed to having the street basketball challenge in Fitness Zone’s basketball court, they are looking to showcase it in the middle of The Airport Mall’s atrium.

The 3-on-3 Street Basketball Challenge will comprise of three different categories: Open, Student, and the KFC Family Bucket Challenge.

Rosli Abdullah of Lava Media, said that the deadline for submissions will be on March 20, and interested individuals can pick up and submit registration forms at any KFC and Fitness Zone outlets in the country.

In conjunction with the street ball challenge, the organisers will be hosting a basketball clinic led by Erwin Velez, an ex-PBA player, on March 18 at 2 pm at Fitness Zone Kiulap, especially for those interested in the KFC Family Bucket Challenge. Click here for more details. Courtesy of The Brunei Times.

Del Goh, General Manager of KFC (Brunei), Rosli Abdullah of Lava Media and Wu Chun, founder of Fitness Zone

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Brunei Meows held a successful cat show in December 2011 and is currently in the process of organizing another one in conjunction with Brunei Darussalam’s 28th National Day Celebrations.

For the next cat show, Brunei Meows is trying to reach a new target of 50 feline participants in the Brunei National Day Cat show on 11 March 2012 which is tomorrow. So check out the event tomorrow at Pusat Belia (Youth Centre).

It has been a few weeks since DPMM FC played their last game as they have to give way for the Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy 2012 tournament. Tomorrow they will be in action against S.League leaders Alberix Niigata FC at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.

Both sides DPMM FC and Albirex Niigata FC have yet to taste defeat. It won’t be an easy fixture as coach Simunic said yesterday (before the HBT final match). “Albirex has improved season after season and now they are the top team in S.League with three wins.”

He wished that their next game would be sooner because of the great momentum that DPMM FC was enjoying then. He was also impressed with the Brunei U-21 team and he spoke highly of Adi Said. He was pleased with Brunei’s progress in nurturing the youth and this is good for Brunei so other regional countries will take notice.

So guys, let’s support DPMM FC tomorrow at the stadium as they will need the 12th man as a morale booster. Good luck, guys!!

I caught up with DPMM FC coach at the stadium last night before the HBT 2012 finals

Shahrazen (center) has regained back his form in DPMM FC colours. He was celebrating with his younger brother Adi Said who was named Best Player of the HBT 2012 tournament

It’s meet the fans session with the Brunei U-21 Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy 2012 champions which will happen tomorrow, Sunday 11th March 4pm to 6pm, Times Square. Let’s give these lads a strong support for what they have done for the country

There were lots of talking points about last night’s historical final match between Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia. But most important of all, Brunei went a step further. Getting pass the group stage was considered a tall order, considering Brunei’s poor record in previous tournaments and Brunei has always ranked lower than the regional countries football wise. Going to the finals would be regard as a bonus as no one would have scripted that Brunei would beat the likes of Myanmar in the semi-finals who scored 13 goals in four games prior to their defeat to Brunei (3-2). Hence, lifting the trophy was indeed a fairy tale that was well scripted and there was so much believe among the Brunei players and the rest was history.

I knew last night was gonna be a tough game and Indonesia fans were probably the best among the rest of the invited countries. Their cheers and chants were deafening and they actually quieten down the thousands of yellow supporters who I thought felt intimidated by the dominant cheers from the Garuda section. For your info, 1/5 of the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium were allocated for the visitors.

I won’t talk much about the game but I have to say that Brunei team seemed upped the tempo during the 2nd half. The same happened when they took on Cambodia, Myanmar and Timor Leste. I’m not too sure what formula was given but it surely paid off and last night’s 2nd half performance further proves my theory.

Adi Said, who won Best Player of HBT2012, came to life in the last 20 minutes of the final match and produced a brilliance of magic with his solo effort before planting a shot that sealed the victory to the delight of the Bruneians in the stadium and those watching from home, cafes and Belapan Sports Complex.

Brunei beat Indonesia 2-0 and who would have expected Brunei to go this far in the tournament and becoming champions. The last best feat by Brunei was the 99′ victory over Sarawak in the Malaysia Cup. Today is a new era where Brunei triumphed in the U-21 tournament. It was also a double win for Rosanan Samak who was part of the team 99′ and now one of the coaches for Brunei’s U-21 team.

Apart from the match, there was a controversy and some commotion that took place in the stadium. The enforcers did their best to better the situation. I was impressed though that both supporters respected each other National Anthems especially from the host supporters.

HBT2012 produced numerous awesome atmospheres at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium. Despite the favoured results for Brunei supporters, there are still some issues that need to be addressed and these matters should be taken seriously for the next HBT2014. The sour comments have surely diluted the celebrations by a small percentage. This is a big wake up call for the HBT organisers. It’s a great effort but I believe there is still more room for improvement. Now it’s back to the drawing board. Apart from that, the tournament was organised in a whole.

A big thanks to those involved and whom I have sought for help especially the Media Secretariat (awesome hospitality). Congratulations to Brunei U-21 team and the management. The victory has given a new belief and an eye opener for Asean countries of Brunei’s emerging force in football. Happy weekend, peeps!!

Fans flocking in stadium as early as 4pm. This was taken by 5:30pm

Nabil was busy preparing for the grand finale

They managed to get tickets from Belapan Sports Complex, Tutong Sports Complex and Mumong Sports Complex. Now that’s what I call family teamwork. Awesome family too!!

It’s good to see family bonding during #HBT2012

The Bruneian Wave was so-so in the beginning but built up right after Brunei scored the first goal. His Majesty was all smiles during the wave.. Awesome feeling to be part of the atmosphere. Irreplaceable indeed!

The Indonesians came in large numbers and it’s good to see that they are given allocated seats. They occupied 1/5 of the stadium. Image by Dean Kassim.

Yellow was the dominant colour last night and it had more presence than Wednesday’s semi-finals match. I’ve never felt prouder and it’s a great tingling feeling too.

Don’t be fooled by their minority presence at the stadium because they were the louder of the two supporters from pre-match until the moment Brunei scored….

Happy to see the Superfriends managed to get tickets for the finals. Iqbal and the rest were posing for RA

Mr. bubbly “godfather” was also part of the 25,000 fans watching Brunei win last night

This has happened twice. When Brunei scored their first goals in Myanmar and Indonesia match, I was inside the Media Secretariat room. I must have been a good omen (maybe 5% haha) and this was the celebration inside the room. I really enjoy their company and thanks for all the help. I’m very much appreciative 🙂

He can surely flip like his brother Shahrazen. Adi Said’s celebration came after he beat two players to score Brunei’s second goal and sealed Indonesia’s fate as runners-up. Adi Said also claimed MVP of the tournament.

Dermalogist Beauty Therapy which is located in Serusop, is using DERMALOGICA, one of the high end products in U.S. This year their facial treatment is famous of oxygen facial, diamond dermabrasion facial, anti aging facial, Chromawhite skin brightening facial, Vitamin C facial and Skin Lifting facial. Their location is at Serusop, same row as DST and opposite of Secret Recipe (Serusop). Any enquiry pls call 2342928 or 8716680.

Standard Chartered Bank is pleased to reveal the official T-shirt design for all participants of the upcoming Standard Chartered Brunei Half Marathon 2012, to be held on 8 April 2012.

Vibrantly coloured in the Bank’s official colours of blue and green, this year’s T-shirt also features the run theme- Run for a Reason and the event’s logo.

Jennifer Kang, Head of Corporate Affairs and Marketing of Standard Chartered Bank said: “In the past two years, for our Charity Run events, participants were always looking forward to the official event T-shirt. This year is no different with many asking what the shirt will look like. We hope that the community will like this new design as much as the previous two. It is always promising and such an honour to still see people wearing our T-shirts from the 2010 and 2011 Run.”

This year, there will be Race Entry Pack Collection (REPC) days held at the National Indoor Stadium as follows:

 Thursday, 5 April 2012: 10am to 7pm
 Friday, 6 April 2012: 8:30am to 11am and 2pm to 7pm
 Saturday, 7 April 2012: 8:30am to 4.30pm

The Race Entry Pack will consist of the following:
 A running bib number
 An exclusive Event running T-shirt
 A timing chip (for Half Marathon- 21km and 10km categories only)
 A lucky draw ticket
NOTE: Timing device will not be issued to the participants of 5km and 2.5km Fun Run

To collect the Race Entry Pack, participants are reminded to bring along the following items:
 Printout of confirmation slip
 Identity Card/Passport (for participants in all adult race categories)
 A photocopy of Birth Certificate (for kids participants only)
 Personalised donation card

SCB Brunei unveiling the this year’s edition for “Run for a reason” t-shirts

This is another key differentiator from the previous Standard Chartered Charity Run events in 2010 and 2011 where packs could be collected from designated branches. This enhancement hopes to see better distribution of desired T-shirt sizes as participants can indicate preferred T-shirt sizes.

The Standard Chartered Brunei Half Marathon 2012 is open to all members of the public and interested individuals can obtain registration forms at any of the Bank’s branches during banking hours. Forms are also downloadable from the website www.scbruneihalfmarathon.com. Online registration is also available at this website. All individuals who register for the Standard Chartered Half Marathon will be given a donation card to help raise funds towards Pengiran Muda Mahkota Al-Muhtadee Billah Fund for Orphans (DANA) and Standard Chartered Bank’s Seeing Is Believing programme.

The deadline to register for the Standard Chartered Charity Run 2011 is 18 March 2012. Interested individuals are encouraged to sign up early to avoid disappointment of limited spaces. Categories are capped at 500 participants for the21km category, 1,000 participants for the 10km category, 1,500 participants for the 5km run and 2,000 participants for the 2.5km category.

The Standard Chartered Half Marathon Brunei 2012 is proudly sponsored by Telbru, TOTAL, Borneo Bulletin, Media Permata, GetFit CrossFit, MixMediaWorx, Radisson Hotel, Royal Brunei Airlines, Suci, Sunlit Advertising and 100 Plus.This event is also supported by ThreeG Media Sdn Bhd.

For further details about the Standard Chartered Brunei please visit our website www.scbruneihalfmarathon.com and Facebook page www.facebook.com/SCBruneiHalfMarathon2012 or call Standard Chartered Phone Banking at 265 8000.

So many words that I couldn’t described on this morning’s outcome. More than 5,000 people showed up way before 8am but almost 3/4 of the crowd went home empty handed. Well, I can’t tell if it’s 5,000 or way more than that but I’ve never seen such a crowd way early in the morning. This is how patriotic our supporters are in supporting Brunei.

However, I was truly ashamed of what took place. The longer hours of waiting didn’t pay off. Some were screaming. Some were whistling. Some shoved, cutting queue. Some fainted especially kids. And some even brought their infants along (WHATT!!!??)) I have to say firstly this ain’t the place to bring infants or babies for many reasons. Where’s the common sense in that? That’s totally uncool and very irresponsible.

My friends voiced out their complains to me and blaming the organisers for not having a proper way of distributing tickets. First of all, there were no barriers or Q-stands or even signboards indicate people to queue up. Secondly, there were no ushers at the queue area but all of the committee involved were inside the Belapan Sports Complex and they tried their best to coordinate using their voice from above which is fruitless and fell on deaf ears. Thirdly, there weren’t enough enforcers such as the men/women in uniform. I believe they were only 20 or less of them that turned up to control the thousands of crowd.

From my understanding, the committee had a meeting Thursday afternoon to decide where the tickets will be distributed. Only late afternoon, it was confirmed that the free tickets distribution will be handed out at Belapan Sports Complex this morning from 8am to 11am. Perhaps, what they didn’t expect is the thousands and thousands of supporters turning up and they didn’t have a contingency plan to control the massive human traffic outside Belapan Sports Complex.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is racism and hooliganism. Both are creating headlines on the Twitter timeline in the past two days after fans witnessing how some Bruneians mocked and abused Myanmar supporters during the National Anthem and the match. This is a total embarrassment of a news but this has to be shared so we can educate the public to pay respect to any individual regardless of race and nationality.

Tonight is the final between Brunei vs Indonesia. The Yellow vs the Red. There will be a big screen showing at Belapan Sports Complex for those without tickets. So it’s the next best thing. I know a lot of my friends are having gathering of their owns to catch the finals. For once, RTB will have the highest viewership in many years as the finals will also be a live telecast.

The car queue at 6:45am near Belapan Sports Complex

The sea of people waiting for the limited tickets to be distributed. This was taken outside the venue. Image courtesy of Hasnan

The crowd getting frustrated even at 7:30am though ticket distribution starts at 8am

Hmmmm This is not a good idea to bring young kids to a huge crowd due to security reasons #fail

More enforcement came before 8am but they couldn’t do much to control the crowd

Here are some of the loyal supporters of Brunei football team

One kid was looking for her family and then seconds later she fainted

He queued up since 6:30am and he was one of the lucky ones to get a ticket

He was upset that he missed out on the tickets for tonight’s epic finale

Enough is enough.. So one fanatic climbed over the fence and unlock the gate from inside #uncool

People were squeezing in through the gates. One fainted during the ordeal but managed to be carried to safety *phew*

She was still smiling despite the long wait

One football enthusiast was interviewed by Borneo Bulletin reporter and he shared his disappointment with the organisers

Ok, this happened during the semi-finals last Wednesday. Police were having a hard time controlling the human traffic at the gate. Apparently those without tickets also managed to get in. This was taken before the kick off between Brunei and Myanmar

This was the scenario at half-time where some were stuck outside

This was how the Indonesians queued up *salutes* A total opposite of what we saw at Belapan. Image taken from Facebook.. Well, someone whatsapp me this image 🙂

Even people were asking our great friend for a favour for tickets for the finals. I love his status. Classic!!

Tonight the colour is yellow. This is image of Azri the fullback of #HBT Brunei team with his family. Taken after the post celebration of Brunei’s victory over Myanmar

This afternoon Mr. NJ bought himself a Brunei jersey from Ridah Sports shop and apparently another sports shop Imperial Sports was crowded with Brunei supporters

“Occasional crossing of showers or thundershowers at some land and sea areas this afternoon; with chance of spreading widely at night.” This was taken from Brunei Weather website. So I headed off to GL Extra shop to buy this. Another hot seller according to the sales person *lol*

Let’s forget about this morning’s episode and now focus on what’s at stake tonight 😀 Great artwork by the artwork

The atmosphere taken at 6:30pm… It’s almost full!!!! Go Brunei 😀

Eahui and Carol are big supporter for Brunei tonight and it’s also Eahui’s first visit to the stadium

This time the queue system is smoothly executed. Well done to the officers and ushers

Jake Ten of Borneo Bulletin had to fit in Azrol’s pants or else he won’t be allowed to wear a media vest since he came in with shorts *lol* Now he looks a bit homey yoo!!