The final push

‘SocialBuzz’ – I remembered the old days when his startup company was located at Batu Bersurat and now he’s one of the most enterprising entrepreneur who strive to do better and better every year. It’s great to know how Hiro has progressed with his company SocialBuzz Advertising and he has won many accolades along the way.

He recently participated in CommunicAsia in Singapore and earlier this year, his company nabbed the Grand Award at ThinkBig Ignite Business Plan 2012-13 competition with a prize money of B$20,000 (and yes, he beat in that competition haha). Now he’s gunning for another milestone and this is his Gigland project which won the AITI grant earlier this year. At this stage, it’s at its prototype stage.

So what is Gigland? Recalling the function of TheGigland.com, it is a geo-location global marketplace for micro tasks (vocational skills & raw talents) where skills can be converted into dollars. Simply meaning, Bruneians can soon actually start selling little talents/skill online and market it to anyone in the world by leveraging on their unique geo-location – which can be really awesome!

Yang Berhormat Pehin Dato Singamanteri Col. (Rtf.) Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar Yasmin, The Minister of Energy at Prime Minister’s Office spent quite some time exploring the technology behind ‘The Gigland’ & ‘SocialDeal Brunei’ with founder Hiro Tien at the Ignite Award Ceremony.

(Middle) Former Permanent Secretary of Ministry Of Communications Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Awang Haji Alaihuddin bin Pehin Orang Kaya Di-gadong Seri Lela Dato Seri Utama Haji Awang Mohammad Taha & (Left) Chief Executive of AITI, Hj Yahkup Hj Menudin presenting the Agreement Contract for ‘The Gigland’ to Hiro earlier this year.

Two weeks ago, SocialBuzz was shortlisted into the Top90 Quarterfinalists of GIST-Tech I Global Competition, an initiative led by the US Department of State & CRDF Global, a non-profit organization that apparently promotes scientific & technical collaboration in 54 countries across the whole of Middle East, Turkey, Asia and Africa.

They now need Bruneian’s public vote to help get them into the Semi-Finals whom will be pitching for the Grand Award in Kuala Lumpur this October. Their 2-minute video uploaded serves as the product pitch to gain public voting. Watch the video here and vote 😀

Click image to view video of Gigland and you can vote too.

I have voted… Do vote for our Bruneian ICT talent and hope he makes it to KL this November

SocialBuzz appears to be the first ever Bruneian ICT Company to get shortlisted into the global competition. The Top 90 quarterfinalists were selected from reportedly ‘hundreds’ of applications from 54 countries, according to the GIST Committee. The top 30 teams will vie for the Grand Award in Kuala Lumpur from 10-12th October 2013.

Part of the judging process includes online public voting (especially from participant’s respective countries). For Brunei is competing with some highly populated countries ranging from Egypt, Lebanon, UAE, Indonesia, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Jordan, Nigeria and many others – the competition seem to be pretty intense!

If you like the idea so far, feel free to vote for the Brunei-made technology ‘The Gigland’ and help conceptualize the technology, which could potentially benefit a lot of people not only from Brunei but beyond! Plus you get to help put Brunei on the map at the same time.

You can find their product & video entry at bit.ly/SocialBuzz90 – last day to vote is Thursday, 22nd August, I just voted too! 😀

 

The organiser Yellow Pages for the Find It Fast Contest this weekend at Consumer Fair at BRIDEX

Competition is back for Find It Fast (FIF) Contest organized by The Yellow Pages (Brunei). This is a speed contest where players attempt to locate an advertisement in the phone book at the shortest/fastest possible time. This time the competition will be played with a Yellow Pages app (download on IOS and Android for free) on your smartphones.

Their last competition was back in 2011 and now YP is bringing back the competition “FIF” starting 23rd Friday 3pm to 8pm, 24th Saturday 5pm to 8pm and 25th Sunday 11am to 3pm at the 12th Consumer Fair at BRIDEX. There are no fees involved and open to all residents of Brunei.

Refer to poster below to see what prizes are at stake for FIF competition. Anyway, if you haven’t downloaded the YP app, you should. It’s a very useful tool to allow us users to get access to necessar information such as business contact, subscribers listing and addresses.

Do check out their website for updates on the live score for the event.

The prizes for the competition. Join and it’s free. Nothing to lose.

 

The Ministry of Education was the guest of honor for LCB’s graduation day

Two hundred and eighty-nine students received their certificates yesterday at the Laksamana College of Business (LCB Graduation ceremony held at the Rizqun International Hotel. The Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Hj Awg Abu Bakar bin Hj Apong, officiated the event.

A graduate of the University Foundation Course, 18-year-old Aainaa Nasibah binti Hj Mohamad is also currently taking her first year degree at LCB. Initially, she did her first year of Form Six at the Sayyidina Ali Secondary School in Kuala Belait before transferring to LCB for her foundation course. Preparations for her exams in early June were not that stressful as it was just a foundation course, but for the degree, she said that she has to get more into it to get good results and a scholarship. If given the chance to continue her Masters, Aainaa Nasibah intends to pursue her studies further before thinking about a career.

Eighteen-year-old Mohd Marwan bin Hj Mohamad, also a university foundation course graduate, is also continuing his studies to degree level, as he is currently on his first semester and will proceed to his second semester this September.

“LCB is actually a fun learning school,” he said. “I like the lecturers and professors – they are very friendly and approachable, and all the courses offered are really good for students. It’s definitely a good college for those with interests in the field of business studies.”

Another graduate, Siti Ratna Sridewi Suziaanawatee binti Hj Sahari, was one of the part-time students at the college taking up KCB Advanced Diploma in Business Management.

A cabin crew with Royal Brunei, Siti Ratna said that the college had been really supportive of her as a part-time student for the past two years.

She hopes to pursue her studies to the HND level should she get the permission to do so, adding that it all depends on the company to provide her with the flexibility to pursue her studies. So far, the RB management have been supportive, such as alternating her flight duty roster to accommodate her studies.

Ahmad Arief bin Hj Rosli, who graduated from EDEXCEL BTEC Level 5 HND in Computing, wishes to find him a job in IT.

The 22-year-old has to put aside his study plans as his parents will soon be retiring. As a responsible son, he wishes to help out his parents while at the same time try to do some savings. If the opportunity arises and enough money is saved, he plans to continue his studies to a higher level. Text and images courtesy of Lyna Mohamad and Bahyiah Bakir of Borneo Bulletin.

 

RB’s Travelmania coming soon!!

 

Soon Loo featured in today’s Borneo Bulletin. Click image to see article

An inch closer… He’s almost there or perhaps he’s already there. But let’s not take it for granted. Two nights ago, he needed 4,000 votes online.. Now he has needs a few hundred more to reach the milestone to make to the final cut of being the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) and at the moment Soon Loo is in a pool of 20 Outstanding Young Persons of the World who have been selected by international panel of judges.

I’m even surprised that he knows one of my friends from Singapore. Well, technically she is/was a student of Soon Loo and what a small world we are in. This shows how much impact Soon Loo has over the community and he has been very active in inspiring the young generation.

So with the votes closing on by 8am 20th Tuesday, I pledged you readers to vote for him and support our own Bruneian figure to be on among the elites of Outstanding Young Persons of the World. So if you want and haven’t vote for him yet, click on this http://www.liveyourmark.com/soonloo/ 😀

On behalf of Soon Loo, he deeply appreciate your kind gesture and support and he can’t thank the community enough for the contribution. Good luck, buddy!!

Soon Loo being featured in The Brunei Times. Click image to see article.

The most popular guy of the moment!! He’s even in today’s editorial page.

 

20% off all seats, all flights. Click image to find out more.

 

The British Universities Brunei Association (BUBA) will be hosting its 2nd annual UK Education fair on the 21st August 2013. Twenty five Universities and Colleges from across the UK will be participating in the fair at the Member’s Grill and Lounge, The Empire Hotel and Country Club. The fair is aimed at students who are considering studying in the UK in September 2014 but also presents a final opportunity for any students still looking for a place for September 2013 entry to speak with university representatives.

BUBA held its first UK Education fair in Bandar Seri Begawan in August 2011 and met a huge number of students who went on to enrol in degree programmes across Great Britain in September 2012. The fair will be held between 2pm – 7pm. Further details and names of participating institutions can be found here: http://www.buba.ac.uk/he-fair

 

The instant prize is back!! Now you can win Samsung S4 or an Apple iPad Mini or an iPhone 5. Well, you will stand a chance to do so if you buy a cluster of Red Bull drinks or one alter pack of Sunsnack at the Consumer Fair starting tomorrow until Sunday at BRIDEX. You will be given a scratch ticket to determine if you win a prize.

Present during the press conference were Mr. Malcolm Lim, Managing Director of Kingston Beverage and Creamery Sdn Bhd, Valentine Hon, General Manager of Kingston Beverage and Creamery Sdn Bhd and Martin Anthony, Sales Marketing Manager of Kingston Beverage and Creamery Sdn Bhd.

The Managing Director said that this is another way to show appreciation and gratitude to their customers.. The Red Bull & Sunsnack scratch draw is open to all identity card holders from aged 16 above. Each of the value for the cluster or pack is $5 only. The promotion will end until the final stock. There are at least 15 units to be given away as prizes. Good luck!!

He also highlighted of the newly introduced event which is the Red Bull Dodgeball competition which will take place at the Consumer Fair at BRIDEX. I shall talk more about that later on.

Mr. Malcolm Lim, Managing Director of Kingston Beverage and Creamery Sdn Bhd (center) with Martin Anthony and Valentine Hon at yesterday’s press conference

Win these fantastic prizes instantly only during the Consumer Fair

The scratch ticket once you buy any Red Bull cluster or Sunsnack pack