Rise above the challenge

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, and Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hjh Saleha leaving Brunei for the coronation of Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar as the state’s fifth Sultan in the history of Modern Johor. Image courtesy of The Brunei Times.

Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar to be coronated today

The coronation of Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar as the state’s fifth Sultan in the history of Modern Johor will be held at Istana Besar Johor on March 23. This is the first coronation ceremony in 55 years. Today is a public holiday in Johor and it is considered a huge event for the people of Johor.

Our own royalties, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, and Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hjh Saleha will be witnessing the coronation of Johor’s fifth Sultan. Also accompanying their Majesties are His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik, HRH Prince ‘Abdul Wakeel, HRH Princess Hjh Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah, HRH Princess Hjh Muta-Wakkilah Hayatul Bolkiah, HRH Princess Hjh Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah and HRH Princess Ameerah Wardatul Bolkiah.

The crowd gathered as early as 7am today around the city centre on Johor. Sultan Ibrahim will join the parade along a 7.95km route from Istana Besar along Jalan Ibrahim, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Gereja, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Persiaran Abu Bakar Sultan before ending at Istana Bukit Serene.

I’m currently watching the coronation live on TV1 on Astro to see behind the scenes and thank you Azim Kassim of The Brunei Times for sharing me some photos as well.

Crowd of people gathered around Johor Baru for the coronation. Image courtesy of The Star.

The plate number stands for Sultan Ibrahim Johor. Image courtesy of Abdul Azim Kassim of The Brunei Times.

@zizi_ahmad of RTB reporting live from Johor. Image courtesy of Abdul Azim Kassim of The Brunei Times.

The public showed up to support the coronation. Image courtesy of Abdul Azim Kassim of The Brunei Times.

 

The founder of #CHRENDS, Keeran Janin and I’m pretty sure he will come up with something innovative and this isn’t his first hurdle. Looking forward to your new adventure.

Announcement: Chrends will be going offline.

It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce that Chrends will be going offline. Due to sudden circumstances out of our control, the resources and support required for us to continue providing Chrends have been made unavailable.

We knew our mission was always going to be an uphill battle in gaining the trust of users, support for our cause and traction in spreading freedom of expression to regions and cultures that have never experienced it. These factors along with the usual challenges faced by startups have made us choose to cease work on Chrends.

This was a difficult decision as we’ve really enjoyed building this company and being part of such a great community of loyal users. Although we’ll never know you who you really are; through sharing our honest opinions, thoughts and laughter on almost every topic under the sun, we’ve all built true friendships that transcend real-life identity.

These are powerful personal connections and I’m certain that everyone will be disappointed to lose them. Even with my best efforts I have failed to find a way to see this through to the end, where our community could be appreciated globally as it truly deserves to be.

We will be able to keep Chrends online until midnight March 31st, so that the community members who may want to exchange real-life contacts to maintain their friendships have the chance to do so. You can be assured that all chats will still be as secure and untraceable as always.

At this point I would also like to acknowledge our supporters that have been involved in our story, there are too many of you to mention but you know who you are. For everything you’ve done to support us, I am truly grateful.

Yours sincerely,

Keeran Janin

Founder, Chrends.

I had an exclusive cap from #CHRENDS a few months ago

The latest #CHRENDS meet up at It’s a Grind Coffee a few weeks ago. Image courtesy of @luxvous

 

The Manchester United fans posing for the camera before the kick-off last night

General Manager of Chevrolet Brunei, Noormala Othman, speaking to the supporters of Manchester United Supporters’ Club Brunei

Chevrolet Brunei with Manchester United Supporters Club Brunei last night hosted a gathering for the Battle of the Reds match between Manchester United and their main rival, Liverpool. It was a match where Manchester United scored a famous victory over Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield.

General Manager of Chevrolet Brunei, Noormala Othman, when interviewed said that it was a great opportunity to have the Manchester United Supporters Club Brunei to gather at the Chevrolet Showroom as it creates a good relationship between the two and to recognize that Chevrolet as the worldwide official sponsor for Manchester United team. The Manchester United Supporters Club Brunei cheered upon the Manchester United team, who was on their away match last night at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool. The Manchester United Supporters Club Brunei, lead by the president, Md Syazni bin Md Hadi came with more than 120 supporters to the Chevrolet Showroom at Sumbangsih Bahagia, Jalan Gadong from as early as 8pm.

Prior to the match, the event kicked off with a quiz session about Chevrolet models in Brunei and Manchester United players and football activities. Foods and drinks were provided throughout the event with winners with the correct answers get to take away Chevrolet merchandises which also include five pieces of original Manchester United jerseys to the Top 5 winners.

Image courtesy of @streetcandid_brunei

Image courtesy of @streetcandid_brunei

Image courtesy of @aimanbesar

Chevrolet Brunei also took the opportunity to promote their second quarter campaign for Orlando and Captiva which will start from 1 April 2015 to 30 June 2015 to the Manchester United Supporters Club Brunei. Members of the MU Supporters Club Brunei are entitled for a $500 discount when they purchased any Chevrolet models on the match night ie 22 March 2015. Eventhough the promotion will only starts from 1 April 2015, members who purchased the 7-seater MPV, Chevrolet Orlando, they will walk away with FREE reverse sensor, reverse camera and headrest DVD. The promotion also involved the 7-seater SUV, the Chevrolet Captiva that comes with FREE reverse camera, headrest DVD and side steps. The announcement on this promotion will be done soon but for members of the Manchester United Supporters Club Brunei, they are able to enjoy the promotions earlier as long as they are registered members of the Manchester United Supporters Club Brunei.

Chevrolet Brunei has a comprehensive range of vehicles, including the 1.0 L Spark, 1.4LSonic Hatchback and Sedan, 1.5L 7-seater Spin, 1.6L Cruze, 2.4L Captiva, 1.8L Orlando, 2.8LColorado and 2.8L Trailblazer. Chevrolet Brunei is committed to offering the best cars to its customers in terms of quality, performance and fuel economy.

More exciting information about Chevrolet Brunei may be obtained at www.ghkmotors.com and https://www.facebook.com/chevrolet.ghk