The LegCo is coming. Mobile wars are heating up while AITI makes sure it’s a win-win situation for consumers! New rates of TelBru’s broadband testing the new waters. Another run (Tongkat Puith) happening this weekend. DPMM FC and also Brunei National Team will take sports headlines for the S•League and Brunei’s qualifying match against Taiwan. The Area K6 Contest to select the best toastmasters speaker from Brunei this Sunday. Poppins the Musical by Relentless Entertainment end of March. The upcoming International School Brunei (ISB) Borneo Global Issues Conference (BGIC) And of course, my pending stories to be posted on my blog. March, indeed, has become a busier month than I anticipated.

I’m still not sure if I will be flying to Singapore this month. But I definitely have two places to visit – Kuching and Labuan. Singapore will be in my pending list of destination for March. Then again, I will be heading to Lion City in April for Russell Peters’ gig. Will he impressed like before? My previous take of him in Notorious gig in Singapore was just okay. It’s never easy to be funny because it needs a lot of spontaneous creativity. I also have been attending Zainal Bostaman’s Bruhaha workshop, a local comedy workshop, that hopes to aspire that comedy is a social art and it can be learnt and practice. The workshops have been fruitful and last Sunday we saw a new batch of attendees and this shows that there are people out there who want to learn to be a “comic”. Good job, Zainal, and you have my support!

Zainal Bostaman, founder of Bruhaha Comedy, having his 2nd Bruhaha Comedy Workshop last Sunday

After missing out last year, ISB is back with their BGIC this weekend. I have always love how they run their show every year. This year there will 23 local schools participating and ISB had conducted two days of training by having simulation for the local students to be familiar with the conference. This concept is similar like the United Nations conference where representatives from each country will raise points, concerning issues faced by different countries and how they will come into a consensual solutions and agreements. This is a great platform for students to show their leadership skills. This year, the conference will be run by five experienced students, serving as the Secretaries-General; namely Dean Benavidez, Ha Kyeong Kim, Adam Busko, Marianne Laming, and Beatrice Horas. The main speakers for BGIC are Professor Dr. David Koh, Chair of Occupational Health and Medicine, PAP Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah, Institute of Health Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam and Ms. Tara Yip-Bannicq, Programme Officer (Social Protection)/Resilience Focal Point, UNICEF Haiti.

The recent training session held at ISB

I shall be busy this week as I will be fine tuning, my script for my speech for the upcoming Area K6 Contest which will take place this Sunday. Basically this is a toastmasters competition among Brunei local clubs – four of them (OTTERS, Brunei Speakers’ Club, Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club and UBD Toastmasters Club). I did an OK job during the International Speech category but flunk in Table Topics as I went off topic talking about relationships and ports *lol* I have definitely improved as a speaker when I looked back at my Humuorous Speech Contest last year. Now I have been given a luck of entering Area level despite finishing 3rd.

Competition will be tougher this time with the likes of Melati Yusof, Reuben Chin and Pranika Lama. They are just hot favourites for me after listening to their speeches last week though I missed Mel’s and I was already impressed with her CC speeches during OTTERS meeting. Seasoned speakers including the likes of Chris Woo, Stuart Lee and Allen Ang have been playing the mentor roles in helping the contestants to reach their goals. So peeps, the time is real soon and it’s happening this Sunday at Multipurpose Hall, UBD at 1:30pm. Entry fee will be at $5 and you will witness all the awesome speakers from the local toastmasters club. The winner of each category – International Speech and Table Topics will represent in Division K Level in Labuan by end of March.

I finished 3rd in Brunei Speakers’ Club International Speech Contest. I am given another opportunity to represent Area Level to compete against the other winners in other clubs.

Relief to all the contestants after delivering their speeches

The heat is on!! Good luck to all contestants

SMARTER Brunei has located a new centre. Yes, it will be one time huge investment of BND 150,000 but it will be more cost effective in a long run. It was nice to see corporate companies and government bodies helping SMARTER for a good cause in helping building new classrooms for autistic students in Brunei. The President of SMARTER Brunei Malai Hj Abdullah shared that the SMARTER branch in Sengkurong will be relocated to Kg Mata-Mata once the renovation is completed (hopefully by May). With the new look and feel, SMARTER Brunei will be able to accommodate more students than before and reach the capacity of 140 students (morning and afternoon session). The private NGO has been struggling financially to cope with paying the teachers but Malai is always grateful that the teachers are tolerable and understanding of the current situation.

So far the classrooms have been sponsored by Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (five classrooms), D’Sunlit Sdn Bhd, Kingston Creamery and Beverage together with the LKY Charity for Autism, DST Communications Sdn Bhd and an anonymous donour. LSL Metal Sdn Bhd will be constructing work on the said centre. Malai Hj Abdullah said he is still open for donors for new establishment and it will also help to pay for the operating costs of running SMARTER Brunei. It’s never easy to run an NGO and this story of financial troubles has become a common issue in the media. I salute to Malai for his perseverance and dedication to make SMARTER Brunei a sustainable institution for the benefit of students.

Malcolm Lim, Managing Director of Kingston Creamery and Beverage, Malai Hj Abdullah, President of SMARTER Brunei, Low Ser Yew, Managing Director of LSL Metal Sdn Bhd and H Mohd Noor Hj Salleh, D’Sunlit’s Public Relation Officer during the signing ceremony of sponsorship for the new centre. Awesome!!

Did you know that SMARTER has a small bakery? They have been doing some business for quite some time and in this picture, Malai’s son was helping out with making chocolate cookies

Just like my IOS, it needs to be updated to keep up with technology. Same goes for anti-viruses for computers. Today Concepts Computer unveiled PANDA Anti-Virus Pro 2015, PANDA Security 2015 and PANDA Global Protection 2015. Each has its specific functions. PANDA Anti-Virus Pro 2015 will give you a peace of mind from viruses, spy wares and online fraud, for instance. It will be available for $18 a year for 1 PC license. For the PANDA Security 2015, this is ideal if you are regular usage of the internet especially buying things online. This is available for $28 a year per 1 PC license. If go for the PANDA Global Protection 2015, it covers all the aspect given plus the option of improved Parental Control and also encrypt private folders. It’s available for $38 a year per 1 PC license. Also Concepts Computer will be participating in the Book Fair 2015 at the Indoor Stadium, please visit our booths for other great promotions. And for more information please call 2233551, 2233552 or 2233553 or visit your nearest Concepts Computer showroom.

Recently also Concepts Computer celebrated the Year of the Goat with an open house for members of the media and invited guests. Present were Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer and Alice Chan who greeted the invited guests. The event started with the traditional Chinese Yee Sang for a prosperous new year. Thank you once again to Vincent and Concepts Computer for continuously giving the best product and services to the consumer.

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer with Alice Chan and members of the media at Concepts Computer Chinese New Year Open House

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer with Alice Chan and members of the media at Concepts Computer Chinese New Year Open House

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer with Alice Chan and members of the media at Concepts Computer Chinese New Year Open House

Unveiling the new PANDA softwares at Concepts Computer

Ever heard of the Shell Eco-Marathon? This is an annual event where Brunei Darussalam has been participating in the Shell Eco-Marathon Asia. This year four teams participated represented by 20 young students recently in Luneta Park, Manila, the Philippines. How did Brunei go? The hurdle most participants always face is to make the cut for the final race. GenNext Pejuang from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) had two successful official runs by the weekend. GenNext Pejuang’s female driver, Dide Nurulaswani binti Haji Mohd Saidi, a 21 year old Bachelor of Science student majoring in Biology at UBD，described today’s achievement for the Brunei contingent, “Today, we had our third race attempt in the morning and successfully completed the full 10 laps in 27 mins. We then completed the fourth attempt, at 28 mins with more efficiency. So, we are very happy and relieved!”

Didie added that it has been a tough journey for everyone, “The most challenging moment for me was during practice runs. It’s been a while since I’ve driven Nakhoda, and it has been shipped (around) over the last couple of months. So, there was a lot of pressure on me. Thanks to my team, friends, supporting staff and volunteers as well as our Team Ambassador, who supported and motivated me, I got over it and here we are. After SEMA, I feel that I’ve grown to become a more responsible person, more dependable, and as someone people can trust.”

Well done to team Brunei for the efforts in the Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM) Asia competition. The most important part is the experience factor and being in a team and I believe all of them had a blast in Manila. The head of Delegation was Pg Hj Sofhrin Pg Hj Ibrahim from Pusat Latihan Mekanik (PLM), who was also a supervisor for one of the teams. Funny thing was I was also in the Philippines during that time but for a FitFlop invitational event.

Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Dr Hjh Anita Binurul Zahrina Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Hj Awg Abdul Aziz presented the Brunei Flag to Head of Delegation Pg Hj Sofhrin Pg Hj Ibrahim from Pusat Latihan Mekanik (PLM), who is also a supervisor for one of the teams

Group photo before departure

GenNext Pejuang from UBD