The Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) in collaboration with the iCentre of Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB), Tech One Global and Google Developers Group (GDG) Women Brunei Darussalam, today held the nation’s inaugural Girls in ICT Day celebration with an official opening of a series of events organised for the girls and young women in Brunei.

The guest of honour to officiate the event was Yang Mulia Datin Paduka Hajah Adina binti Othman, Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. The event took place at the KHUB building in Kg. Anggerek Desa. Also present at the event were deputy permanent secretaries, AITI Members of Authority, senior officials from BEDB and government institutions, and representatives from the ICT industry.

In his opening speech, the Chief Executive of AITI, Awang Hj Yahkup bin Hj Menudin mentioned “ICT provides new digital opportunities to end discrimination, promote gender equality and to empower the girls and women.” Hj Yahkup also highlighted that “within the local ICT industry, our latest record reveals that only 36% of the total workforce in ICT companies are made up of women.

Majority of these women hold administrative and management positions, very few are technicians, IT engineers and system programmers, and only a minimal number of female owns ICT businesses or holds a leadership portfolio within the business organization. Women are undeniably underrepresented in the ICT professional sector as a whole.” He then emphasized that building the awareness and skills, as well as providing clear ICT career paths and opportunities for the girls and women have to take place. Programs have to be designed to encourage the interest and participation of girls and young women to pursue ICT studies and ultimately a career in ICT related field.

Guest of honour Datin Paduka Hjh Adina, Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, encouraged more women to be involved in ICT to follow the role models of female technopreneurs such as Hjh Salma, Shavon and Sophia

Hj Yahkup, Chief Executive of AITI, highlighted that 36% of the total workforce in ICT companies are made up of women

Group photo with the guest honour and the organisers of the Girls in ICT Day

The officiating event today also saw the guest of honour taking a tour to the two parallel workshops, namely Vid-IT and Tech-IT, where Yang Mulia Datin Paduka Hajah Adina had a closer look on the various ICT activities held for the girls and young women. The Vid-IT workshop has seen active participation by Year 10 female students in making a simple animation video using Adobe Flash. The workshop, facilitated by Dyg Khairunnisaa Saaniah binti Dr. Haji Kamsani from Tech One Global, also include students’ presentations to compete for the most creative videos.

Meanwhile, the Tech-IT workshop, a talk-a-thon session was held for the female students from the higher learning institutions. The workshop facilitated by Dr. Mona Kassim from the iCentre has gathered the audience to discuss on various ICT-related topics presented by aspiring women and entrepreneurs in this field.

Some of the young ladies entrepeneur sharing their ideas and experiences

The Girls in ICT Day activities will continue with another workshop to be held at AITI tomorrow (1 May 2013), called Pitch-IT. It is a pitching session for lower sixth female students that is aimed to encourage participants to generate innovative ideas on mobile apps as well as pitching of ideas towards commercially viable products. Another on-going activity to mark the Girls in ICT Day is the one-minute video clip competition, known as Clip-IT, organised by AITI. This competition aims to promote the use of ICT medium and encourage participations from girls aged 13 to 19 years, to produce a short video clip with the theme “IT’s a Girls’ World”. Entries to Clip-IT are opened from 25 April to 17 May 2013, and members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite clips starting from 18 to 22 May 2013 through AITI’s website.

By the end of these events, it is hoped that the participants would be inspired and be more attracted to the fields of ICT, and be aspired towards a career path in ICT-related professions. AITI and its supporting partners once again highlighted that this event is not intended to discriminate the males; but rather to promote and increase the involvement and interest of the females in ICT with the support of its male counterparts.

Girls in ICT Day is an initiative backed by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the growing field of ICT. Celebrated worldwide on the fourth Thursday of April annually, this year’s Girls in ICT Day was observed on 25th April 2013.

AITI is also pleased to invite the general public to share any other initiatives or activities to commemorate this event or those simply promoting ICT-related activities towards improving the girls’ and women’s involvement in this field by tweeting the global hash-tag #girlsinICT or emailing it to Ms. Farihah Said at farihah.said@aiti.gov.bn. Any participants’ images and photographs supporting this celebration are also encouraged to be uploaded onto Instagram and tagged using #girlsinict2013, #itsagirlsworld, and #clipit2013.

For more information about the Girls in ICT events, please visit AITI website at www.aiti.gov.bn/girlsinICT

 

Iron Man 3 Beach Mat. Get it now with KFC Family Feast or just for $5 with any chicken purchase. While stocks last!!

This one you should really try – Penang Mamak Soup

For those who have never been to Penang, the Malaysia state is widely famous to be the Food Paradise of Malaysia. Cheap and tasty Hawker food can be literally found everywhere. From Nasi Kandar, Delicious Laksa’s to Yummy Nasi Lemak, Roti Prata to Char Kway teow, the range is very diverse.

Penang Food is Malaysia’s center of good food and it comes to no surprise as it is very unique in Malaysia because of their diverse culture. Where Penang is a liveable urban municipality, with a setting of mixed culture, of Chinese or various origins, Malays, Indians, Mamaks, Eurasians and some Thais.

So come and join them at the Goldiana Café & Lounge and their promotion is until 11th May 2013 as they will prepare you a feast and let you try and enjoy the mixture of tastes and senses. The Penang Food promotion is priced at BND 25 nett for adult and BND 14.20 nett for children below 12 years old.

And also it will gives you the chance to win a 3 Days 2 Nights Holiday Package to Penang inclusive of return air ticket BWN-KUL-PEN-KUL-BWN, an accommodation in Penang and return hotel airport transfer for 1 person.

Throughout the entire period of Penang food promotion, diners at the Orchid Garden Hotel will be entitled to a Lucky draw voucher. Each Lucky draw voucher will entitle the guest to be eligible for the Lucky Draw and at the end of the promotion, a chance to be selected as the winner of the Orchid Garden Hotel Grand Prize.

Some of the tasty selections at Penang Food promotion

There are a few stalls here at the food promotion

Penang Famous Char Kway Teow

Penang Lok-Lok stall

Are you a fan of Lok-Lok?

Sambal petai… yummm!!!

Many stalls and choices at OGH Penang Food Promotion 2013

 

The marching band to officiate the opening

This is the third year running that the Sukan Ria Antara Syarikat is launched. It’s also known as Inter-Company Sports Fest. The main objective of this fest is to provide a perfect opportunity for employers and employees to take time off to foster a closer relationship through participation in sports and activities.

So what sports they are being included in this year’s event? Well, there’s basketball, badminton, futsal, bowling, hiking (12th May) and Tug-of-War (17th May). The organisers of this year’s event are Labour Department from Ministry of Home Affairs and Event Manager Sunlit Advertising.

The first activity that began last Saturday at the Chung Hwa Middle School Darussalam Hall where the NBT Basketball Tournament took place. Individual activities will each be officiated at different places on different day as per the following:

• Inter-Company Fun Hike & Hiking Challenge – 12 May at Tasek Lama Recreational Park, Bandar Seri Begawan.
• Inter-Company Badminton Tournament – 10 May at Multipurpose Hall, Fire & Rescue Dept.
• Inter-Company Futsal Tournament – 12 May at National Indoor Stadium, Berakas.
• Inter-Company Tug-of-War Tournament – 17 May at Taman SOAS.
• Inter-Company Bowling Tournament – 19 May at MegaStrike Bowl Centre, The Airport Mall.

The final activity to wrap up the whole event will be the final games for the Inter-Company Tug-of-War Tournament which will happen on 26 May, Sunday at Taman Hj Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien (SOAS). The program for the day included prize presentation for all the winning teams as well as certificate presentation to the co-organisers and other supporters who have contributed to the success of the event.

Jackson Ting, Managing Director of Sunlit Advertising, expressed his gratitude and thanks to the private companies for their continuous support

Ramlee Haji Jamudin, co-organiser of Sukan Ria Antara Syarikat 2013, from the Labour Department

Kevin Tay was the hero for HSBC as they beat Termicam in Group B of the Inter-Company NBT Basketball Tournament. He scored 35 points in a 72-66 victory. His teammates Lesly Kuan scored 9 points while Lim Boon Teck scored 7 points.

Termicam had four players in double digits – Wilson Rabano 16 points, Babester Napagao 15 points, Franklin Buladaio 15 points and Condrado Rotance 12 points.

It was a pretty close match but the 11-0 run by HSBC made the difference after a masterful performance by Tay. In the other matches, Premier Motor beat Goldmyne 110-98, Sunlit A beat DST 63-59, SCB beat Jati Transport 93-90. Last Monday, Premier Motor beat Boustead 82-57 while QAF beat Termicam 112-80.

Players’ oath for the spirit of the sports

Mr. Lau of Aifa and Mr. Pao of Concepts Computer

A great crowd during the opening of the event

Guest of honour, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs graced the event

A free throw for HSBC. They won the match 72-66 against Termicam

Kevin Tay scored 35 points for HSBC

Boon Teck representing HSBC

The official shirt for this year’s event

Good luck in badminton, HC 😀

The Top 5 finalist for Let Your Body Drive

Click image to enter website

Malaysia Tourism. Click image to enter website.

The Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) will celebrate “Girls in ICT Day’ last Thursday.

The celebration organised jointly by the iCentre of the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB), Tech One Global and Google Developers Group (GDG) Women Brunei Darussalam and backed by International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The aim of the celebration is to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the growing field of ICT.

A series of events for the girls and young women has been arranged starting from today’s opening of Clip-IT, a video-making challenge organised by AITI. The highlight of the celebration will be the opening ceremony on April 30 at KHUB in Kg Anggerek Desa, Berakas, together with two parallel workshops, namely Vid-IT and Tech-IT being organised on the same day and at the same venue.

The Vid-IT is targeted for Year 10 female students in making a simple animation video using Adobe Flash, and will be facilitated by Tech One Global. The Tech-IT workshop will gather matured audience from the higher learning institutions and the public to discuss various ICT-related topics presented by aspiring women and entrepreneurs in this field. The last programme will be the Pitch-IT session to be held on May 1 at AITI. This session hopes to encourage participants to generate innovative ideas on mobile apps and then pitching their ideas towards commercially potential products. Hopefully through these event the participants, especially girls and young women, would be more attracted to the fields of ICT and aspired towards a career path in ICT-related professions.

According to AITI, this event was not intended to discriminate the males; but rather to promote and increase the involvement and interest of the females in ICT with the support of its male counterparts.

The public is welcome to share any other initiatives or activities to commemorate this event towards improving the girls and women’s involvement by tweeting the global hash-tag #girlsinICT or emailing it to Farihah Said at farihah.said@aiti.gov.bn.

For more information about Girls in ICT events, please visit AITI website at www.aiti.gov.bn/girlsinICT or you can also contact Dk Nisa 236 6609 or Hamimah 236 6610 or via email khairunnisa.zulkipli@aiti.gov.bn Text courtesy of Aaron Alwines of The Brunei Times

 

HRH Prince ‘Abdul Wakeel and HRH Princess Ameerah Wardatul Bolkiah during the prize presentation ceremony at the National Run

A record 11,276 people in all four districts took part simultaneously in the National Day Run 2013 with the Brunei-Muara District having the biggest turnout of 8,084.

Among the participants were HRH Prince ‘Abdul Wakeel and HRH Princess Ameerah Wardatul Bolkiah.

Also in attendance were YAM Pengiran Anak Raheemah Sanaul Bolqiah with her siblings YAM Pengiran Anak Hariisah Widadul Bolqiah and YAM Pengiran Anak ‘Abdul Raqiib.

Also taking part were YAM Pg Muda Abdul Mu’min and YAM Pg Anak Khaliilah Khalilatul Bolqiah.

The guest of honour who sounded off the horn in the Brunei-Muara District was the Minister of Education, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Hj Awang Abu Bakar bin Hj Apong. Also present were the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Hazair bin Hj Abdullah; the Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Datin Paduka Hajah Adina binti Othman; and Deputy Minister of Education, Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Yusoff bin Hj Ismail.

The National Day Run was aimed at commemorating the 29th National Day that came with the theme “Negaraku Brunei Darussalam” or “Brunei Darussalam My Country”. It was also aimed at strengthening the ties and interaction among the youths and many stakeholders in the country. The turnout of this year’s National Day Run was bigger than last year as the 2012 run saw only around 1,300 runners.

The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in an interview on the sidelines of the National Day Run said, “I am overwhelmed and touched by the huge number of participants. Throughout the country, there were more than 11,000 participants. The number was so much bigger than last year.” He added, “I am really happy to see so many young people participating in the run to celebrate the National Day which showed their appreciation for the country. Running has become popular and a growing number of Bruneians are running towards a healthy lifestyle.”

He also expressed his appreciation for the support of HRH Prince ‘Abdul Wakeel and HRH Princess Ameerah Wardatul Bolkiah by joining in the run.

The National Day Run, he said, “is also in line with ASEAN Sport Industry Year as Brunei is the chair of Asean Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Council this year. Through sport, we can unite people and sport can also develop better understanding as well as contribute to peace and stability”.

YAM Pg Muda Abdul Mu’min and YAM Pg Anak Khaliilah Khalilatul Bolqiah during the National Day Run at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium

The warm up exercise that had some question marks from the participants

Off they go….

They were all smiles

The National Day Run 2013 which took place simultaneously in all four districts saw Belait having 1,074 participants while Tutong had 1,728 participants. In Temburong, some 390 participants took part in the run.

The guest of honour who flagged off the run in Belait was the Minister of Health, Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Adanan bin Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Mohd Yusof.

While in Tutong it was the Minister of Communications, Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Abdullah bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar.

The Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar was the guest of honour in the Temburong District. Text by James Kon of Borneo Bulletin. Some of the images by Muiz Matdani of Media Permata.

We finished the 10km race in just under 2 hours *lol* Thanks to the heat

It was such a great turn out!!

One of the route leads inside Yayasan school

Volunteers cleaning up the mess

 

Did you know that all participants even the Fun Run category will receive a finisher medal? Awesome!!! The Run organised by Pusat Ehsan, happening on 9th June. Click image to enter website!!

Closing date of registration is 9th May. Btw you can also collect your donation cards at Pusat Ehsan Bengkurong and KB and Coffee Bean outlets

 

You heard it.. The topic for today will be my views and also comments from the public on yesterday’s National Run event. Image by Muiz Matdani.

RA says Welcome once again to my segment of the Ugly Truth. If I refresh my memory, my previous UG was with regards to the roundabout traffic light fiasco which now has slowly taken a much positive turn after some minor changes were made. A big hand to the JKR (of the Ministry of Development) for looking into this matter and attending to the responses of the public.

Today I want discuss about organising events that relates to running or marathon. In actual fact, running a marathon event is not cheap. If you demand a great, top-notch service type of marathon, be prepared to fork out at least $300K to $400,000. A bigger population such as Singapore or Malaysia would be a much ideal place if you want to deliver the best type of marathons and of course, their market is huge.

I’m pretty sure the Standard Chartered Run organised recently may have caused a fortune and mind you, these are inclusive of the hundreds of volunteers who play a major role in making the event run smoothly. The next major running event will be in June known as The Run which made its debut last year organised by Pusat Ehsan and they pulled off a great job last year though minor things can be improved. I’m wondering whether HSBC will organise another Walk, Run, Cycle event this but from the looks of it, there might not be one pretty soon as we are already hitting May and no news of it as yet.

Ok, why am I going around the bush? *lol* My intention here of talking about marathon events is because I want to create awareness on what factors need to be looked on for and how can this be improved coming from opinions of the public. I do hope the organsiers don’t take this personally but more of a learning experience and also create a win-win situation for the organisers and the end users.

Yesterday, I was dissatisfied with the organisation of the event. The biggest thing that I believe that needs addressing is the timing of the runs. The event poster stated that the event will begin at 7am which means that the first flag off might be half an hour later and my prediction was right.. 7am the Guest of honour will arrive then the warm up exercise before runners take their place. Give and take, that alone can take up 15-20 minutes. So by the time, we started running it was already 7:30 am.

We have practised our run at this hour before and it’s not an easy task I have to say. The major concern here is the heat. That’s why you will hardly see people doing their normal jogs after 8am. Well, there are still a handful of them but most people choose to do it before 7am. It does make a difference when you start running at 6:30 am as compared to 7:30 am. For myself, a 6:30 am run would be just nice for my 10KM run. But not for a 7:30am run.

Fina and I struggled to keep our normal pace for a 10km jog. We kinda predicted that the morning heat will slow us down for sure. It did and there were even thoughts of making short cuts half way through the jog but we eventually completed the 30 mins later than our usual time. Most of the journey we just walked and treated it as a casual fun walk.

But from the looks of it, I’ve seen people who turned around from their 10km jog and gave up because of the heat. I would say an average of 20-30% or even more had shortcuts to get away from the morning heat. I believe this wasn’t the first time that the organisers set a similar timing too.

Now this is something for the organiser to look into if they want to listen to the positive criticism from the public who shared similar views to myself with regards to the morning condition yesterday and a suggested time for flag off. I do hope the future major running events will look into this matter as well.

It was super hot especially after 8am. We almost took a shorter route but ended up finishing the whole 10km route.

She tried to block away from the sun’s heat

Now the other issue that needs to be highlighted is the disposal of rubbish. The resources I felt were limited. The number of volunteers or the people involved were just enough to marshall the check points though there were only 4 check points for the 10km route. These are the times you appreciate what SCB run can offer in terms of the check points and also the cheering team.

Anyway, back to the rubbish issue, I found out that joggers had no place to throw their drinks or bottles and they ended up throwing them by the roadside. This is not encouraged but there is no area to dispose them so it gave them little choice. So by the time, we reached past the 5km mark, I could see the tons of blue cap bottles on the ground.

I would have thought that the organisers would rectify the rubbish issue hours after the event was over. However, last night, someone complained that the bottles were still seen along the road and roundabout near Sg. Akar. I was even shocked that one of the teachers at Yayasan school tagged me on instagram of a picture of the rubbish or leftovers that were left unattended at the mini roundabout outside Al-Falah and Yayasan school (refer to image below). Now that’s a sign of mismanagement if little things like rubbish from the event is not given attention after the event.

The plastic cups littered on the road

One of the teachers complained how the boxes of rubbish were found this morning outside Yayasan and Al-Falah schools

Another complain that was raised was the distribution of the t-shirts for the National Day run. Some of them had trouble collecting their t-shirts because of the lack of signs or directions to where they are supposed to collect their t-shirts. Some had to wait for hours only to find out that they are queueing at the wrong place.

I was fortunate enough that my friend Sabrina helped to register and even collect the t-shirt on my behalf. I’m not sure of her experience during the t-shirt collection. Perhaps ushers and clearer signages for t-shirt collections would have smoothen the flow and avoid longer queues too.

This are some of the things that I feel need addressing and I’m pretty sure there are more complains but let’s keep them to a minimal.

The organisers have done not a bad job overall but the flaws stated are things that can be improved in the near future. So don’t take it personally but as constructive criticisms so future events can run smoothly. The committee that I communicate with have been very helpful so it shows that they are great people. It’s more of the system in place that needs some fine tuning.

The distribution of t-shirts at the National Stadium

The comments from my instagram

The comments from my instagram

 

Iron Man 3. I have to say this is an awesome movie. Way better than the 2nd and slightly better than the first. Reviews tomorrow!! But verdict is 8/10

TCY Motors as the sole dealer/importer of the Audi brand in Brunei treated its customers and guests to two exclusive premiere screenings of Iron Man 3 at the Times Cineplex at Times Square shopping centre. As with the previous two IronMan films this has become a much looked forward appreciation activity for invited Audi owners and fans alike.

  In this latest blockbuster instalment the prototype all-electric sports car Audi R8 e-tron is Tony Stark’s new ride.

  As well as showcasing Audi technology and sleek design with the R8 e-tron, Iron Man 3 also features the Audi S7 Sportback, driven by Paltrow’s character Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries and girlfriend of Tony Stark. The film also includes placement of the Audi A8 L, A6, S5 Coupé and Q5 models.

Tiger Lim getting ready for the movie after a heavy meal at Killiney Road Cafe and he gave it a 8.5/10 for Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 figurine display at Times Cineplex by Fan Boys Infinite

TCY Motors with Audi customers. TCY Motors booked two cinemas for their guests

Hello ladies

All of them also get refreshment treat

Taken at Cinema 1

Meanwhile at the Empire Cinema, you can get this exclusive Iron Man 3 mat

 

Good luck to all the participating vendors from Girly Explosion led by @wingitbrunei and Buzz Fest 2013 led by @shiizcandies which is bound to be a spectacular event. In terms of food vendors, Buzz Fest 2013 is a winner but I’m just slightly concern with the venue because of the number of exhibitors at one place. But I’m pretty sure the organisers can sort things out.

@Wingitbrunei have come up with some interesting marketing gimmicks with some lucky dip draw and one can also stand a chance to win an iPod Nano and some shawls. They have also learnt from experience on the logistics as it was quite a crowd during their first food sale.

I’m still contemplating if I have enough energy to visit both places (One in Jalan Muara, the other at Mabohai). We will see 😀

Buzzfest 2013

The lucky dips from Girly Explosion

This is bound to be a hit from Cafe Maurina

@burgersandbeyond at Girly Explosion

Win this at Girly Explosion event

Chili Bomb making its debut at Buzz Fest 2013

Much talked about ribs by @wingitbrunei

The popular @enyabijoux at Buzz Fest 2013

Shawls to be won at Girly Explosion

New flavour introduced by @wingitbrunei

Happening later at Buzz Fest 2013

Be a member now!! There will be some free gimmicks for those joined as member from 26th April to 5 May.

 

Now you can become a member at Concepts Computer and it will be a form of a pen drive than the normal membership cards that we normally get. The Concepts Computer Pen Drive was launched today and customers and members of the public can apply for the 4GB customised pen drive at a cost of $8.

For your info, the membership pen drive is only open for application until 27th May 2013 and you can visit their Kiulap and Gadong outlet. So what are the benefits as a member? You can enjoy certain discounts on some of the models from Acer computers, Epson printers and Logitech products. These are known as Surprise Deals which will keep on changing throughout the year. So all you need to do is flash your Concepts Computer pen drive and you are eligible for the discount.

Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer, believes in innovation and he came up with the idea of providing pen drives as a token of membership. He believes it is a necessity for a modern IT-literate society.

The membership is also in conjunction with Concepts Computer 14th year anniversary. It was a great year for Concepts Computer who reached milestones such as Acer Top Revenue Contributor Award and Epson High Achiever Award among others.

So what are you waiting for? Register and apply for membership and get your self a Concepts Computer pen drive. Call 223 3551 or 244 8102 for more details.

Vincent Pao addressing his speech on Concepts Computer 14th year and also announcing the new membership program

Mr. and Mrs. Pao and Wendy Pao with the management of Concepts Computer. Happy 14th year, guys!!

As part of Concepts Computer’s appreciation towards the media, we earned ourselves a free membership + one Iconia tablet *woohoo*

Zul describing the benefits of the membership

This is how it looks like – the Concepts Computer membership pen drive token

There are loads more of this

Tigerlim bows to the management for their generousity

The latest Iconia tablet ($198) is selling like hot cakes. There are even customers who buy 3 or 4 in one go..

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar `Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam highlighted some pointers on the progress of the meetings in 22nd ASEAN Summit. His Majesty also answered a few questions from the media during the Press Conference.

A Press Conference held earlier on chaired by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar `Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam who is also the Chairman of ASEAN 2013 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

In his Titah, His Majesty the Sultan shared some pointers that were discussed during the first few meetings during the ASEAN Summit. His Majesty stated that the Heads of State/Government of ASEAN Member States had a productive discussions under the theme “Our People, Our Future Together”. His Majesty also touched on the issue of South China SEa and China where they aimed to have a calm and harmonious discussions and they have continued discussions with the ASEAN Head of States. They also take into account the importance of the 10th anniversary of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership in 2013 and followed by the positive momentum 19th ASEAN-China Senior Officials’ Consultations and hopefully the Ministers will continue to work actively with China on the way forward for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) on the basis of consensus.

His Majesty stated that ASEAN Leaders expressed satisfaction on the progress of ASEAN’s relations with Dialogue Partners and external parties especially their support and contrition to their community building efforts. The Leaders looked forward to the upcoming disaster relief and military medicine exercise in Brunei Darussalam this June, which will be the first humanitarian effort of its kind to bring together ASEAN countries and partners.

In line with the current theme, His Majesty said ASEAN Leaders also recognized the important contribution made by the socio-cultural pillar in bringing their people together and supporting their community building efforts as well as raising ASEAN awareness. In particular, His Majesty and other ASEAN Leaders would like to see greater involvement of youth in ASEAN activities.

His Majesty touched on the progress of ASEAN Economic Community by creating an effective roadmap that will set out initiatives to ease the way of doing business, address investment impediments and incorporate innovation policies into ASEAN’s efforts. They also have discussed on the need for development of an ASEAN Business Travel Card to ease the movement of our business people and investors.

In conclusion, the ASEAN Leaders look forward to meeting their dialogue partners this Octoer in Bandar Seri Begawan at the 23rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits. Also present at the Press Conference was Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Perkama Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng, Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

His Majesty the Sultan with Pehin Lim Jock Seng, Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in this afternoon’s Press Conference

Let Your Body Drive Dance Competition 2013 brought to you by Peugeot Brunei. Click image to enter Facebook page to find out more. 

 

Click image to enter website

 

Malaysia Tourism. Click image to enter website.

His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei with regional leaders with the ASEAN handshake gesture before kicking off the 2nd day of 22nd ASEAN Summit meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office. Click image to enlarge. Image courtesy of InfoFoto.

Today His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam hosts the 2nd day of the 22nd ASEAN Summit meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office. All 10 regional leaders will have a series of meetings including His Majesty’s press conference for the local and foreign media. That should be an interesting segment to look forward to. Other meetings include the 9th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines Eeast ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit and the 7th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit. The ASEAN Summit will concluded this afternoon with CIMT Establishment Agreemet Signing Ceremony.

This morning sesson began with a retreat session at the Prime Minister’s Office. The theme for this year’s ASEAN Summit is “Our People. Our Future Together”. More updates later on the outcomes of the meetings this morning and the afternoon sessions. So far, the programs are running smoothly and the working committee involved have been investing a lot of effort to make this event a memorable one.

I, for one, is very impressed with the new building of the Prime Minister’s Office. It’s so majestic and it’s honour to cover the ASEAN Summit and thank you for those who made this possible. You know who you are 😀

The new building of the Prime Minister’s Office. Image courtesy of InfoFoto

The flags from ASEAN countries. Image courtesy of InfoFoto.

 

The event took place this morning at Muara Beach. Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and NZ who lost their lives during the wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. Today, it’s a remembrance for the 1945 Brunei-Australia Memorial.

Thanks Leonard and Jackie for the pictures 😀

 

Iron Man 3 Beach Mat from KFC

Good news to Ironman and KFC fans. Imagine watching the Ironman 3 movie while munching on the Colonel Burger or KFC fries. Thanks to a joint promotion between KFC and M Vision Cinemas this will come true from 26th April until 30th April 2013 at the Empire Cineplex.

Customers calling in to book or purchasing for the Ironman 3 movie tickets at the Empire Cineplex can also top up an additional B$7.50 for the “Colonel’s movie deal” in which they will get an Ironman 3 beach mat, a Colonel Burger and a promo fries. Customers can redeem their “Colonel’s movie deal” package on the day when they collect their movie tickets before their movie starts.

Previously a there was also a similar partnership between KFC and M Vision during the showing of the Transformer 3 “Dark Of The Moon” movie which many have enjoyed and both KFC and M Vision look towards a similar success.       

For bookings and more information about the Ironman 3 movie and the Colonel’s Movie Deal, customers can call the Empire Cineplex hotline at 241 7977. Interested customers for the Colonel’s movie deal package are advised to grab it soon, while stock lasts. 

 

First of all, I’m just in awe of the majestic building of the Prime Minister’s Office. The previous location was near Kumbang Pasang and now it is located along Jalan Menteri Besar and you can even view the architecture of it from the road side. As you know the ASEAN Summit 2013 is being chaired by Brunei Darussalam and His Majesty the Sultan is the Chairman of this year’s meeting.

I was a bit a lost entering the building but that’s normally the case, right, when things are still new and foreign to you. I haven’t ventured to all the rooms at the Prime Minister’s Office but I shall make another visit when it’s much freer to explore since it’s tricky to see the rooms and areas of the PMO building.

Anyway just enjoy the pictures below and more of them soon. Thank you once again to PMO and Info Department for allowing me to do some coverage of the happenings of the current ASEAN Summit 2013.

The PMO building taken from the car park area

A group photo shot with the Brunei Press guys before entering the building. Awesome lads to have around.

Heading towards the entrance and for security check as well

We had to go through the tunnel or basement to the PMO

This place feels so majestic!!!

The platform for the benefit of photographers and camera men

Dean Kassim taking a shot of the media. We had to standby at least one hour before the event.

Some of the media rushing to get good spots for photo taking

Hj Dayang briefing the media

There were tons of foreign media as well

The lady doing a video news footage

I love the pillars…

The media area at PMO building

Awesome!!! They even have these sofas for the comfort of the media.

Wandi is busy as ever, helping out during the ASEAN Summit. See you soon, bro 😀

 

Co-directors Munji Athirah and Jessica Nimmoo of the Fashion Show during Regent’s Arts Festival

On Tuesday, 16th April 2013, students from Regent’s University London finally saw the success of the Fashion Show after four months of preparations. The show was the grand finale to close the week long Regent’s Arts Festival aimed at celebrating students’ talents in the arts field.

The Fashion Show was the first and the biggest student run event as part of the Regent’s Arts Festival organised by co-directors: Munji Athirah, a Bruneian student studying in the University (and also a cousin of mine) and Jessica Nimmo alongside their team.

Among the pool of designers showcasing their collections at the show were two local designers: NaForrer and Enya Bijoux. Clothes from NaForrer were seen on a catwalk on models who are all students of the University. Other designers that took part in the Fashion Show included OnePiece that was made famous by celebrities such as One Direction, Farah Vintage, Thom LoveGrove, Amore Lore and designers from the London College of Fashion: TinkiLove, Braille and Jie Lang. As a finale, the fashion show presented the world’s most expensive dress as recognised by the Guinness World Record 2010.

Accessories from Enya Bijoux were displayed at the pop-up exhibition after the show and attracted the interest of guests who flocked the exhibition after the show.

The turnout at the event was overwhelming. The event welcomed over 500 guests and it received positive feedback from designers and attendees in general. The success of the first event is only an indication of what is to come from the University and its student body. Images below are courtesy of Regent’s College London

 

Hj Yahkup Hj Menudin, Chief Executive of AITI, witnessing the exchange of documents between Queh Ser Pheng, Deputy Chief Executive of AITI and Thomas Mehr, Managing Director of Detecon at AITI headquarters yesterday

I was trying to understand what the event was about yesterday as it was a signing agreement between AITI and a Consultant company from Germany on “Tariff Regulation Framework for the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Sectors” in Brunei Darussalam. Basically this framework, once created, will be a guidance for AITI and telcos for prices of let’s say calling rates or promotional rates set by local telcos such as b•mobile or DST.

As of now, there hasn’t been any proper framework or guidelines to what is considered a balanced pricing scheme for the benefit of consumers and also stakeholders. The new framework will also help expedite the process of approval should telcos want to adjust their prices or do promotional packages for consumers. Currently, all telcos will have to go through the approval process through AITI which takes a week or so. With the new framework, such approvals won’t necessary need to go through AITI should the prices or tariffs are still within the limit set by the framework.

Hence, AITI opened a tender seeking for Consultancy services to help create this tariff framework. AITI granted the tender to a German company Detecon for consultancy services to develop, implement and support implementation of a tariff regulation framework for the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in Brunei Darussalam. The representatives of each telcos such as TelBru, b•mobile and DST were invited to attend the signing ceremony event and also to create awareness on the objectives of AITI to the stakeholders.

It was predicted that the first three phases conducted by Detecon will take a duration of roughly 6 months. We hope by then the objectives are met and the telcos will have proper guideline/framework which will also help to maintain fair market conduct and effective competition. AITI will play a role of monitoring and also balancing the commercial interests of market players against the larger public interest.

The contract signing was witnessed by Hj Yahkup bin Hj Menudin, Chief Executive of AITI. Signing on behalf of AITI was Awang Queh Ser Pheng and representing Detecon was Thomas Wehr. The project will be conducted in 4 phases which involves multi stakeholders’ engagement from telecommunications and broadcasting service providers, ICT industry players and government agencies. AITI seeks cooperation from all stakeholders to ensure that the project runs smoothly hence meeting the intended objectives.

Queh Ser Pheng, Deputy Chief Executive of AITI gave his welcoming remarks

Representatives from Detecon

The signing ceremony between AITI and Detecon witnessed by Hj Yahkup

The milestone for the project set by Detecon

Thomas Mehr, Managing Director of Detecon doing a quick presentation

Some of the objectives and challenges highlighted by Detecon

 

Don’t forget to submit your videos. Stand a chance to win BND 500. Click image to enter Facebook for terms and conditions

Check out the submission by Fiz Damit. Click image to watch

Check out the submission by The Last Minute Crew. Click image to watch.

This evening His Majesty the Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam hosted dinner reception for ASEAN leaders at the Prime Minister’s Office Building in conjunction with the 22nd ASEAN Summit Working Dinner.

The dinner kicked off the 2-day ASEAN Summit where all the 10 leaders of 10 ASEAN member states are present to discus issues pertaining to expediting the implementation of ASEAN Community formation in 2015 in the areas of economy, peace and culture.

The only leader that isn’t present is Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as Malaysia is heading for a general election in early May. His Excellency Senator Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, President of Senate, Parliament of Malaysia, will represent the Prime Minister.

This year’s theme is “Our People, Our Future Together”. Tomorrow’s session will have 6 meetings including a press conference by His Majesty the Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam which is programmed from 2:50pm to 3:20pm on Thursday 25th April.

More updates on that tomorrow and the outcome of the meetings.

His Majesty the Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan waved to the media before the arrival of ASEAN leaders at the Prime Minister’s Office for the 22nd ASEAN Summit Working Dinner. Image courtesy of InfoFoto, Prime Minister’s Office.

His Majesty the Sultan welcomes His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines

His Majesty the Sultan welcomes His Excellency Lee Hsein Loong, Prime Minister of The Republic of Singapore

His Majesty the Sultan welcomes His Excellency Dato Laila Utama Dr Haji Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia

His Majesty the Sultan welcomes Her Excellency Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand

His Majesty the Sultan welcomes His Excellency Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

His Majesty the Sultan leading the way for the ASEAN Summit Working Dinner at the Prime Minister’s Office

His Majesty the Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan hosted the 22nd ASEAN Summit Working Dinner last night. Image courtesy of InfoFoto, Prime Minister’s Office.

His Majesty the Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan hosted the 22nd ASEAN Summit Working Dinner last night. Image courtesy of InfoFoto, Prime Minister’s Office.

Let Your Body Drive Dance Competition 2013 brought to you by Peugeot Brunei. Click image to enter Facebook page to find out more. 

 

Click image to enter website

Malaysia Tourism. Click image to enter website.

 

Special promo at Prosperity Burger

McDonald’s is proud to share with you the Special Double Prosperity Promotion at a very special price. The Double Prosperity Burger comes only in Large McValue Meal which include an Orange McFizz drink and French Fries at the affordable price of B$8.90 instead of B$11.20.

Nothing is better and hotter than biting into succulent beef dripping with lip – smacking black pepper sauce which is topped up with slivered onions in a sesame seed bun and you have got the original “hot stuff”.

For more enquiries or McDelivery, please contact them at 2449669 or dine in at their outlet which is located in Gadong.

 

The new extended area of Fitness Zone Kiulap in conjunction with their 10th year anniversary

Ten years is a milestone that was marked by Fitness Zone, Brunei’s number one health club, yesterday with the opening of a new wing in its main branch in Kiulap.

Supporters of the health club made their way to Fitness Zone’s biggest branch in Kiulap to celebrate the happy occasion. Present at the event as the guest of honour was Minister of Health, Yang BerhormatPehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato SeriSetia Hj Mohd Yusof. Also present at the event were Yang Berhormat Pehin Kapitan Lela Diraja DatoPaduka Goh King Chin; ambassadors and high commissioners to Brunei; senior officers from the Ministry of Health; and members, family and friends of Fitness Zone.

A buzz of excitement filled the air as the event began with drums and Wu Shu performances by students from Chung Hwa Middle School, BSB.

This was followed by a speech from Fitness Zone Managing Director, Wu Chun, popularly known as Chun, where he said, “Working in the fitness industry for such a long time isn’t easy… In the past 10 years, I am confident to say that Fitness Zone has brought a major change to the fitness industry in Brunei.”

He added that that being in the fitness industry, one of the challenges has been creating fun in the traditional exercise regime. “Nowadays, the equipment is better and we see innovations that make exercise more interesting and inspiring. Instead of being a chore, Fitness Zone introduced new ways of training and has become something that Bruneians love and then it becomes a part of their lives,” added Chun.

Following his speech, Chun also presented the guest of honour with a token of appreciation which was a life time membership at Fitness Zone. This was then continued with a tour of the new wing where the guest of honour was guided around the new facilities at the health club.

On the first floor of the new wing, members can find two new group exercise studios, a comfortable lounge area for members to relax and unwind, boxing and martial arts training zone and more state-of-the-art cardio and fitness equipment. Chun acknowledged that apart from the normal exercise, people were also looking for other fun ways to keep fit, such as mixed martial arts, yoga and many more.

During the press conference, Minister of Health YB Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri SetiaHj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Haji Mohd Yusof congratulated Fitness Zone for its 10th anniversary. The Health Minister also said that the ministry has supported and will continue to support Fitness Zone in its efforts to create Brunei into a healthier nation. “Fitness Zone has systematic and professional instructors. We are looking forward to working with them more in the future,” said the minister.

Fitness Zone started back in 2003 at The Mall in Gadong and since then it has a household name in Brunei. It currently has two branches located in Kiulap and in Serusop. Text by Zatty Joanda of The Brunei Times.

 

The winners of the National CHAMPS Challenge on 2013

KFC Brunei held their annual National CHAMPS Challenge on 15 April 2013 at the Airport Mall outlet.

This yearly event sees all 14 outlets select their best staff to create a team and challenges the other teams on a national level in terms of speed, hospitality, accuracy, etc.

The highlight of the competition finished with the top 5 teams going head to head with the CHAMPS Cheer performance which saw some creative costumes and colourful choreography. Many passersby who chanced upon Airport Mall that day stopped to witness the event as well.

After this competition the management will take the best 5 staff from the 14 outlets, let them undergo training and prepare them for the much anticipated Regional CHAMPS Challenge which will be held in one of the Asian countries in October this year.

 

I kinda love the 3rd trailer for Man of Steel. Click image to view trailer.

It’s still early days but Iron Man 3 have a perfect score from 9 reviewers so far on Rottentomatoes and most of the reviews show promise. I foresee this movie to better the disappointing Iron Man 2.

Oblivion. This was another great outing for Tom Cruise. I kinda enjoyed Jack Reacher but his latest outing as Jack Harper in Oblivion was way better I thought and it also gave me a new hope for Joseph Kosinski the director behind Tron: Legacy was a big disappointment for me. This is a sci-fi movie where action only comes in patches but the pacing of the story was nicely done so I didn’t feel that it was a draggy movie. My interest point never faded along the way. However, there are some flaws that might affect the overall scoring for me.

I also learnt one or two messages from the story which is always a plus when it comes to my final verdict. And of course, the music score is another added bonus. I just downloaded some of the scores by M83 for Oblivion and it also made my movie experience a better one. It has the feel of Hans Zimmer (Inception, Dark Knight) though. I recommend you to catch Oblivion. It’s a movie not for everyone as I heard some mixed reviews. Verdict: 7/10 lilmopiko 8/10 Rottentomatoes: 57%.

The Croods. This is long overdue review indeed. I watched this way back in March and I’m still surprised how well it’s doing in our local cinemas. The same goes to GI Joe: Retaliation and Olympus Has Fallen. I have to say this is one of the animations that I enjoyed in a long time. I was pretty involved from beginning to the end and this is one solid entertaining movie that hardly disappoint. Surprisingly this is also one of Nicolas Cage’s biggest hit in a long, long time. His past six movies combined couldn’t reach USD 100 million in the box office. Though this doesn’t much of him on-screen presence since it’s only his voice as the one of the leads.

It is still showing in our local theatres and they still have a few screening times despite being around for four weeks. Amazing!! It has a great plot with a nice touch of humour (not overly done) and the messages were great too for the young and adult. There are quite a few family values you can learn from here too. I can guarantee that you won’t feel slightness of boredom at all. A great animation before the much anticipated Despicable Me 2 this summer. Verdict: 8/10 lilmopiko 8/10 Winnie 10/10 Rottentomatoes: 68%

G.I Joe: Retaliation. One thing for sure, this latest flick is bound to surpass their first movie in terms of box office revenue worldwide. There are many who preferred the first movie to this and I would understood why. The plot may be short of class and it seemed pretty straight forward as it focused more on action stunts. I won’t focus too much on the flaws and this is one movie that I would give a wild card to excuse the flaws because overall I really enjoyed it. Some of the stunts and actions had the classy execution and I’m always a sucker for that *lol*

One thing I expected from this flick is a stronger adversary which was lacking. The number of action sequences might not well executed in terms of pacing too. Ok, it seems I’m talking about some flaws here. Anyway, like I said, this is a wild card movie which I would simply leave my brains home and enjoy my popcorn for an action thrill ride. Verdict: 8/10 Marul 8.8/10 because of the hot chick *lol* Rottentomatoes 28%

Olympus Has Fallen. Ok, hands down to the best action movie I’ve seen this year. This could be surpassed by upcoming movies such as Man of Steel and even Iron Man. I totally enjoyed this from the start. Maybe a good lesson for Jon Chu who directed G.I. Joe on how to make action movies more exciting and absorbing. Gerald Butler pulled off another great outing as an action icon. I kinda miss his heroics in 300 and his past movies have been failures to say the least. So it’s good to see him back in the limelight for the right reasons.

This is another movie that has been huge in Brunei. The screening times are still aplenty which tells a lot about the success of the movie. Positive word-of-mouth is also another factor and I posted my review on instagram fews ago. If you haven’t catch this flick, this is highly recommended. Forget about the lack of originality of the movie and just sit back and enjoy. Verdict: 8/10. Rottentomatoes 48%

The Host

The Host. Oh my…. I don’t know where to begin… You can tell where this review is heading, right? What an awful movie!!! The first quarter had me interested but it was mixed. Maybe the voice of the subconscious of the lead actor’s mind was a turn-off for me and that set the tone throughout the movie. I won’t really go depths about The Host. All I can say the second half of the movie just spoilt my ratings even further *lol* I was cringing and laughing on most of the scenes as it got ridiculous especially the threesome chemistry (or four for this case). It became a comedy of sorts for Mizah and I as we just kept laughing on the level of “cheesyness”. Oh, the script and dialogue were simply stale. If you are planning for some cheap thrill laughs on its cheesyness, this hits the spot. Verdict: 4/10 Mizah 5/10. Rottentomatoes: 9% …. yes 9% guys *lol*

Saving General Yang

Saving General Yang. There were some crazy fans who watched 7 or 8 times of this flick. A star studded line up with the likes of Ekin Cheng, Raymond Lam Fung, Adam Cheng and a few more and of course, our own Brunei icon Wu Chun. The premise is pretty simple and straight forward – brothers teamed up to save their ailing father from war. Ronnie Yu directed this movie and you might be familiar with his work such as Freddy vs Jason and Bride of Chuck.

My thoughts: Great adrenalin during fight scenes but I was lacking that emotion from the characters portrayed in the movie. Ronnie might just failed in the character development area. Yes, there are many stars in the movie to begin with but there’s no excuse not to firstly build that emotions and characters out of the cast. That could have made a huge difference. A good example is The Avengers where it assembles all the powerful A-list casts and even within that two hour movie, I was deeply connected to everyone of them.

Another pointer is that the movie execution seemed rushed. Before I could learnt the characters of the brothers, there was already a crying scene or a sad emotional moment within the family. I wasn’t emotionally invested then. So these are some flaws that I take very highly of. Apart from that, it has an awesome cinematography and Wu Chun shared how difficult it was to act in the desert and he also had to take up horse riding lessons. Ronnie could have explored more with the characters and the emotional experience from the audience would have paid off. A great effort still and you can only catch this at Times Cineplex. Verdict: 6/10 Rottentomatoes: 50% though only two reviews.

Broken City. Hmmmmm… I saw the trailer and it looked interesting. However, I was fooled *lol* Ok, that’s not the right word. Maybe my expectations didn’t equate to my interest of the trailer. The premise was interesting and it had some minor twist which was a nice touch. I was just a bit thrown back by the pacing of the movie. There were moments of restlessness and there were also tense moments. Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg had great outings with Les Miserables and Ted respectively but Broken City didn’t deliver to my expectations. It was a pity that I kinda like the premise. Something is just amiss. Maybe the script/dialogue was forgettable to begin with. Well, at least Del Goh enjoyed it. Verdict: 6/10 Cheelin 6/10 Rottentomatoes 30%