A great turn out at Radisson Hotel on the 1st day of Chinese New Year and there were quite a number of expats who witnessed the lion dance performance at the lobby of Radisson Hotel.

Present were the General Manager of Radisson Hotel, Peter Feran and Director of Sales, Paula Munoz and the associates of Radisson Hotel.

A few days before CNY, Laneige (Brunei) hosted a small prize giving ceremony for the successful Broadway Musical Charity Competition which was organised by Laneige (Brunei) with the support of the Ministry of Education. The fund raising competition was intended to raise funds for KACA and Pusat Bahagia.

19 schools participated in the 2nd Laneige Broadway Musical Charity Competition which involved 700 students and teachers (coaches) and it was held back in November 2011 at the International Convention Centre.

Presenting the trophies and prizes was Cheong Huat Joo, Acting Senior Special Duties Officer for the Department of Schools (Secondary).

I noticed this when I was covering the 2012 Regatta Brunei Darussalam last Sunday. There were tons of umbrellas seen in public as people were carrying them to shelter from the hot scorching sun. So I thought to myself why not have a post on the different types of umbrellas they carry. I was using my reliable HSBC black umbrella which can withstand strong winds. So peeps.. What umbrella are you? 🙂

Click image to enter Royal Brunei Airlines website

Many reasons why the Regatta competition should be an annual event. One of it is because this will build up the name of the capital of Brunei and give Brunei River a good brand among the locals and tourists alike. With the facelift of the BSB Waterfront, we need more activities at bandar to attract more locals.

Another reason is the cleanliness of the Brunei River. I belive the river was considerably clean and the relevant authorities have been proactive prior to the 2012 Regatta Brunei Darussalam to make sure that the river is clean from rubbish and man-litter pollution. With more government activities at BSB Waterfront, this could enforce the authorities to educate the public on disposing of their rubbish. I have to tell you that the Brunei River does collect a few rubbish here and there and it’s not good sight to see them floating by the edges of the platforms along the BSB Waterfront.

It was a great turnout today and everyone was enjoying the activities of the 2012 Regatta Brunei Darussalam. There were boat, powerboat and jet ski races to name a few. It was also great to see His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei rowing in a friendly race with other boats.

I hope to see more of activities at BSB Waterfront and kudos to Ministry of Home Affairs and the organisers for making this event possible. This is indeed a historic moment to see the Regatta event being revived.

PHMD Publishing Company will publish another product called The BruneiQ PuzzleTM . It is specially designed and created for all ages so everyone can have a FUN and EXCITING experience. It also motivates those who try to solve the puzzles to not give up and keep trying to find the best solution. Anyone and everyone can solve it. If you can read, then you can definitely solve these puzzles. Make sure that you read all the instructions, hidden clues and hints in each of The BruneiQ PuzzleTM.

Click image to enter Royal Brunei Airlines website

Indah Sejahtera Development and Services Sdn Bhd, the site developer of Where2kerja.com announced the Lucky Draw Winner, Dyg Maslina Kula, 24, out of 2,500 entries registered on where2kerja.com, during the Oil and Gas Sector Job Fair which was organized by the Department of Energy-at the Prime Minister’s Office in last December.

Ms. Maslina, visited the Job fair and registered with where2kerja.com on the last day and emerged as lucky draw winner of Samsung Mini Tab.

The prize was presented by Marketing Manager of Indah Sejahtera Development and Services Sdn Bhd, Mr. Christopher Ng. According to Mr. Ng, over 2500 jobseekers registered to the site where2kerja.com and where enrolled to lucky draw contest.

Mr. Ng, also highlighted that there will be roadshows and more events to encourage and support local professionals jobseekers to register themselves on W2K.

Where2kerja.com is an online directory of local professionals and businesses that caters for the Bruneian market.

Today is the opening of Each a Cup at The Airport Mall and this will be their 3rd branch (One at The Mall, Gadong and the other at Times Square). The interesting concept for this particular outlet at Airport Mall is that it offers a new revolutionary concept of “Each-a-Brew” where brewing tea on the spot to bring out 100% freshness of the drink. Awesome, huh? You can check out Cuterabbit’s post on Each a Cup too.

Do expect spme wider varieties of healthy drinks such as peach oolong tea, millet mush (mashed wholegrain) and cranberry flavoured drinks to name a few. Their green tea is made from the sprout of tea leaf which contains significant amounts of Vitamin C. Not only they have nutritional energy boost but are delicious (sakura, orange, mango, jadeite, pineapple flavour).

Check out their new toppings too – almond, coconut jelly, korea apple bits.

By the way, there are only some drinks available at Airport Mall outlet.

• Coco Raspberry for chocolate lovers
• Red/Green tea with cream if you like whipped cream
• Earl Grey Milk tea (Singapore all time favourite)
• Summer Mango Mix with Peach (fruity and refreshing)
• Matcha with Red Bean is back

It’s never an easy thing to run a newsletter or page leaflet of the happenings in Brunei. Yesterday iBudaya introduced a new publication of newsletter called DuaMinggu which is a two-week publication. They have printed at least 10,000 copies for the 1st issue. You find the copies at Bello Cafe, Jerudong International School and Fitness zone for the moment. Do expect for wider distribution in the next few days.

Yesterday, Sheikh Jamaluddin, CEO of Brunei Tourism Board, lauded the efforts of Anais Maro and Cecilia Castilla of iBudaya for making DuaMinggu a possible project and the launch event took place at Radisson Hotel.

We shall see what the next edition will contain. Keep up the great work, ladies and congratulations on the 1st issue.

The Authority for Info-communication Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam (AITI) will be participating in the prestigious CommunicAsia 2012 which will be held from 19 to 22 June 2012 at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. A briefing was conducted at AITI last Friday (14 January 2012) and 28 companies from the ICT Industry attended. AITI’s Assistant Chief Executive for International Relation, Wallace Koh Hoe Aik, kicked off the briefing with a welcome remark. Mars Enterprise and BruGPS then shared their success stories from their participation in CommunicAsia 2011 last year. Ms Claudine from Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd, organizer for CommunicAsia 2012, was on-site to brief the ICT companies with regard to the venue and preparation for the event.

CommunicAsia 2012 will feature a comprehensive myriad of key and emerging technologies from backhaul network, system integration to software and applications to end users. AITI is confident that CommunicAsia 2012 will provide an excellent opportunity for our local ICT companies to get maximum exposure to potential buyers and to strike partnerships and deals. Local ICT companies can also leverage this event to establish business networks and alliance with prominent ICT players from all over the world.

All the goals were scored in the first half. DPMM FC thriumphed over Chiang Rai United, a club from Thailand, in a charity match where the proceeds will go to the humanitarian fund for Thailand and Cambodia flood funds.

First of all, congratulations to DPMM FC on their victory last night but sadly there were no points to win as it was only a warm-up match and this is a great build-up to the upcoming S.League season which kicks off in February 2012.

Vjeran Simunic’s tactic paid off as he deployed three strikers – Shahrazen Said, Rodrigo Grahl and Osman Bashiru in the first half. It took them a while to get the fluidity of the game and Chiang Rai United are no pushovers too as they have seven import players at their disposal.

After a 0-0 draw last Monday, I’m pretty sure there will be some goals in the match and it was the Thai club that drew first blood. DPMM FC were caught off guard as they were complaining to the referee. While being distracted, Chiang Rai quickly passed the ball to the unmarked Chiang Rai No. 40 Wasan Nathasan who raced to the keeper and slotted the ball between the legs of Wardun for a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute. DPMM FC and the fans were furious that the goal was allowed but the referee maintained his calm despite being confronted by DPMM FC players.

It was not long before DPMM FC sparked to life. The fans were able to witness the pace of Osman Bashiru who drew many fouls from his opponents. I believed he was the most fouled player on the pitch *lol* DPMM FC leveled the score when Grahl was rammed (or the term I would like to use “speared”) by goalkeeper Arthit Thanusorn in the box and the Brazilian cooly slotted the penalty kick to make it 1-1.

What I’m impressed are not only the import players but the re-emergence of Shahrazen who lost his scoring touch back in 2009. His glancing header connected well from an excellent whipping cross from captain Rosmin Kamis (Bobby) and the keeper had no chance to save it in the 26th minute. Though he was substituted by half-time, the goal will bring some confidence back to the striker who have won many hearts of DPMM FC supporters. The substitution was made because Shahrazen told the coach that he felt some pain on his ankle and Simunic was happy that he was honest with the injury.

The second half was slightly a let down compared to the first. There were some lovely exchanges between Grahl and Subhi at one point and Osman was one of the busiest man as he was fouled at many occassions. What I noticed about DPMM FC was that they couldn’t capitalised on the number of freekicks outside the box. I believed they had like 6 or 7 opportunities but their efforts hardly troubled the keeper. There is a lot of homework to be done despite the narrow victory. It could have been a 2-2 draw if it wasn’t for the heroics of Azwan Salleh (Param) who cleared a goal-bound effort in the dying minutes of the match.

All in all, the fans were ecstatic and we all had fun too. I can’t wait for the S.League season to kick off soon. This was a great teaser of what to expect at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium in weeks to come.

Over 90 guests attended BruONZ Gala Dinner last Saturday night, which drew the BruONZ Summer Games to a close.

The night began with a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, before continuing with welcoming remarks from BruONZ President, Shazrinah Shazali.

Guest of honour, Madeline Chmura, the Second Secretary of the Australian High Commission to Brunei Darussalam, also spoke at the event, and acknowledged the positive relations between the two nations and the increasing numbers of Bruneian students based in Australia.

Students from New Zealand and Australia also performed musical and dance acts at the event in the build-up to the prize presentation and announcement of the overall winners of the BruONZ Summer Games.

Brisbane claimed gold in mixed and men’s doubles in Badminton, with Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand winning the women’s doubles, men’s singles and women’s singles categories respectively.

In the Games’ Futsal competition, Perth 1 claimed the gold medal, with Sydney B’s Mohd Syafiq Haji Kassim nominated as the tournament’s MVP with six goals in total. Elsewhere, Melbourne beat off stern competition to be awarded gold medal in the Basketball event, with Elwin Chong of Melbourne claiming the MVP award.

To round off the sports awards, New Zealand was awarded first place in Netball, with Dk Azzah Pg Metussin being nominated as the MVP, and were overall winners of the Games and claimed the BruONZ State Champion Cup Trophy 2012. Text by Jake Ten, images by Dean Kassim of Borneo Bulletin.

DPMM FC will not take this game lightly after coming off in a stalemate 0-0 against Chiangrai last Monday. Tonight DPMM FC will fire all cylinders and treat this match as a competitive one as they are preparing for S.League tournament starting February.

Yesterday a press conference was held to promote the charity match between DPMM FC and Chiangrai. The match will take place tonight at Hassanal National Stadium and it has been a while since we caught DPMM FC playing at the national stadium. Do expect a huge crowd tonight and the fans will be able to see DPMM FC’s new import players in action.

Captain Pg Sallehuddin and full-back Sairol won’t be featured as they are still recovering from their injuries. Shahrazen Said will pair up with import player Osman Bashiru up front with Brazilian Rodrigo Gral in attacking midfield. Rosmin (Bobby) will captain DPMM FC tonight.

Vjeran Simunic was very pleased with Monday’s performance and he said that the players are gaining their fitness. The confidence in the dressing room is very high as well. The Croatian said his players will put more effort tonight as he’s aware that the Thailand club failed to score last Monday. He also hopes for another friendly match with another regional club before the S.League season kicks off.

Chiang Rai United’s team coach, Alessandro Stefano Cugurra Rodrigues, believed that performance of their players are important and they hope to gain a good result out of their performance. He highlighted Osman and Shahrazen as the main threats. Chiang Rai will use this match as a preparation for their final game in Thailand on the 28th January. Did you know that Chiang Rai has 7 import players?

So guys, do show your support for DPMM FC tonight.. and let’s hope it doesn’t rain too as it’s raining right now at noon time.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE BRUNEI (AF Brunei) held an Opening Ceremony for Francophonie Week 2012 at the Empire Hotel and Country Club on the 16th of January 2012.

Present as the Guest of Honour of the ceremony was Mr Bernard Regembal, First Secretary of the French Embassy in Brunei Darussalam.

The ceremony commenced with the opening speech by Ms Aurelie Dutrey, Director of Alliance Francaise de Brunei which was then followed by the viewing of the exhibition to mark as the opening of Francophonie Week 2012.

This year Alliance Francaise de Brunei showcases the works of Yapp Poi Chee, Sayfuddin, Abby Lim, Faizal Hamdan, Syen Sofian, Doris Lee, Annatasha, Pcyh Hyun Su, Redzuan Rusli (Wan) and Sam Siren for their Francophonie Week Art Exhibition both in Empire Hotel and Country Club as well as Alliance Francaise de Brunei Main Office.

All artworks are based on the 10 words of Francophonie which are: Âme soul, autrement differently, caractère character/nature, chez at, confier entrust/confide, histoire history/story, naturel natural, penchant fondness/tendency, songe dream, andtransports transports.

Internationally, this event aims to celebrate the French language and culture, and create more awareness on the different regions of the Francophone organization. It also serves to create dialogue among these various regions that shared the French language and culture.

Alliance Française de Brunei utilizes Francophonie Week with the hope of providing a platform and support for local Brunei artists to exhibit their work to the public and to venture further into the artistic and cultural endeavors between Bruneians and Francophones alike.

After emerging as the grand-prize winner of a high-specification Kia Sportage at the Red Bull ‘Win-A-Car’ lucky draw at the entrance to the International Convention Centre, Azizah Ahmad drove her prize home.

The 53-year-old housewife from Kampong Lampai instantly jumped with joy after selecting the correct key and opening the door to the sports utility vehicle. The mother of four said she had only purchased two clusters of Red Bull drinks during the Consumer Fair Part 9 (CF9) in order to be eligible for the lucky draw and that the car will be given as a “present” to her daughter.

Crowds of people bought Red Bull canned drinks and Sunsnack boxed food during the Consumer Fair 9 (organised by Sunlit Advertising), entitling themselves to enter lucky draw. A minimum purchase of $5 also enabled visitors to stand a chance to win daily prizes of two Samsung Tab P100 and a Samsung Galaxy S II.

Other prizes during the grand draw included an Apple iPhone 4S, Apple iPad2 as well as consolation prizes of Red Bull ‘unblended fan’ and a Red Bull one-of-a-kind egg-shaped freezer.

On hand to present the prizes to the happy winners was the local distributor of Red Bull, Kingston Beverage and Creamery’s Managing Director, Mr Malcom Lim. Text courtesy of Aziz Idris of Borneo Bulletin.

The following is an article by Haji Kamal Bahrin bin Jamal, the 2010-2011 CfBT Chevening Scholar who just graduated with a Distinction in MSc in Mathematics from the University of Sussex. Haji Kamal Bahrin is an Education Officer with the Ministry of Education, Brunei.

Chevening Scholarship is a prestigious and highly competitive scholarship scheme for international students offered by the British Government. Haji Kamal was fully funded by CfBT Education Services. More information is available from the UK in Brunei website at: www.UKinBrunei.fco.gov.uk The deadline to submit Chevening applications for the 2012-2013 session is on Monday, 23 January 2012.

By: Hj Kamal Bahrin bin Jamal, 2010-2011 CfBT Chevening Scholar

Time has flown by so fast and I’ve completed my postgraduate studies in 2011. For a time span of one year, I have experienced a lot of things there in the UK. I believe that my experience is not much different from that of many other scholars. Let me bring you my journey as a Chevening Scholar 2010/2011.

The call & the reception

Recalling the phone call I received from CfBT about the scholarship award was the happiest moment in my life. I saw it as a blessing from Allah as the announcement came during the holy month of Ramadhan, which is a fasting month for the Muslims. The day when I was awarded the scholarship was the proudest moment in my life and I am immensely grateful to the British High Commission, British Council and CfBT for the Chevening-CfBT scholarship and also to the Ministry of Education and SPA/JPA for the in-service training scholarship. A few days before I left Brunei, it was a bittersweet memory. For this journey, I left behind my beloved family, friends, colleagues and my dear students. Then I reassured myself that this is my lifelong dream and I need to be physically and mentally prepared for this positive change.

This is it.

The day I left Brunei was a memorable day as families and friends came to bid me farewell, reflecting their moral support. When I touched down in London on 27th September 2010, I was exhausted from my long flight and the chilly weather in London was not helping as I tried to overcome my homesickness. However, I constantly reassured myself: ‘This is it, my life as a Chevening Scholar begins.’ The vibrant, colourful and creative city

After spending a night in London, I was transported to Brighton where I studied. Brighton is a major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England. Its famous landmarks include the Royal Pavillion, a majestic palace, which to no surprise was once a royal residence in the 18th century. Then there was the pier with its long jetty walkway and most interestingly, one gets to savor all sorts of yummy delights which can be found on sale in small booths and has some pretty scary amusements rides as well. And then there was this beautiful pebble beach, which I considered unique where the sand is not in sight and seagulls rule the skies. Brighton is such a picturesque place and considered to be a popular destination as it is less than an hour from London by train. Brighton is also a vibrant place, full of life and colour and anything by the sea would always be a winning combination.

There were few halal restaurants that cater food for the Muslims around the area and halal meat or poultry made available at certain shops. And for gastronomic adventurers, an array of seafood dishes and most notably, the famous fish & chips were readily available.

A really great university

For the scholarship, I was studying at the University of Sussex which was established in 1960s and situated on the edge of Sussex Downs. The University campus is a large, self contained village, where lecture theatres, seminar rooms, library, labs, accommodation, restaurants, bars, shops and sports facilities are all within walking distance.

Apart from being a leading research university, as reflected in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, it was also ranked 8th in the UK, 16th in Europe and 79th in the world; mentioned in the 2010 Times Higher Education magazine’s World University Ranking. In the aspect of learning, I had some incredibly interesting, accommodating and engaging lecturers.

The first week

I was fortunate to meet a fellow Bruneian, doing his PHD in the Sussex University at that time. He provided me with great assistance, while I was settling down during my first week in Brighton. As a newbie to the place, you need to be a fast learner. It was such a fun experience hunting for a house to rent and at the same time attending the orientation week at the University. I admitted it was hectic but worthwhile, because the faster you settle down, the more time you have to focus on other significant matters.

The orientation week was very helpful, besides meeting new people from all over the world and to get familiarized with the buildings around the university, we were also informed on personal matters such as setting up a bank account, getting involved in social activities planned by the university and also to register with the local health services.

MSc in Mathematics

It is a one year course and a full-time taught programme assessed by written examinations, coursework, projects, a talk and a dissertation. We have the freedom to choose our own modules from a list of modules offered by the department where we had to choose four modules for the Autumn term and another remaining 4 modules for the Spring term. During my Autumn term, I had Probability Models, Method of Applied Mathematics, Measure and Integration & Monetary Theory Analysis. For the Spring term, I took Coding Theory, Random Process, Functional Analysis and Mathematical model in Finance and Industry. Personally, choosing the right module is very crucial as it should be relevant to the dissertation that I am going to do and also it should be very useful not only to myself but also to my nation back home in Brunei.

A Time of Self-Doubt

Honestly for the first two weeks, it was really hard for me to follow the course. At times I questioned my proficiency in learning this higher level of mathematics, wondering if I really had the ability to complete my postgraduate course since I left my undergraduate life for almost six years. My doubts intensified as time pressured and then exhaustion took its toll and my ability to learn, make decisions, and perform complex tasks deteriorated. At hard times like these, I sought solace by flipping through my family photos and that, had reminded me of their hopes for me to excel.

Time Management

I believe time, pressure and stress are common among postgraduate students. Since my course was a one-year course, I was able to manage my time well by meeting the assignment deadlines, disciplined myself to do revision and balanced it with productive leisure time. I am still amazed with my time management skills as I have also managed to squeeze time exploring around UK. With free time at hand I travelled around places in the UK which I love. So far my journey then took me to Bristol, Birmingham, Wales and also other parts in London. Besides, I also travelled around Europe that included Paris, Zurich, Amsterdam and some Italian cities. It’s amazing what one may find at these different places, considering that each place is distinctively beautiful and rich in its own history.

His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik yesterday flagged-off the Bandar Seri Begawan Go-Kart Race held to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the renaming of ‘Bandar Brunei’ to ‘Bandar Seri Begawan.’

The day-long event saw karters competing in three categories: ‘Novice,’ ‘Open’ and the ‘125cc Rotax Max.’ The heats and preliminary rounds were conducted in the morning, while the finals in each category were held in the afternoon.

Hj Harith bin Hj Abd Aziz, also known as Harith Aziz in the kart world, yet again added another trophy to his collection by winning his first ‘Bandar race’ at the capital yesterday.

Harith Aziz, on Kart 45, was declared champion in the National 125cc ROTAX MAX Category in the Grand Finale of the Go-Kart Race held in conjunction with the celebration to commemorate the 41st anniversary of renaming the capital’s – name from Bandar Brunei to Bandar Seri Begawan (Bandar Race).

Runner-up was Chan Key Hong, Kart 318, and in third place was Md Rafiee bin Junaidi, Kart 50.

Chan Key Hong, Kart 318, took the champion’s title in the Open Category. Runner-up was Md Jeffery bin Abdullah Suresh, Kart 111. Tang Hsu Chung, Kart 86, came in third.

Debutante Hj Fauzan bin PD Hj Abd Rahman, driving Kart 121, emerged champion in the Novice Category. Hj Zainur Asri bin Hj Abdullah, Kart 882 was in second place. Ishak Hj Mahadi, Kart 24, took third place. His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik witnessed the final races and consented to present the prizes to the winners.

A message from Care & Actions for Strays (CAS) Committee on their Facebook page: Thank you to those who showed up on our 6th Activity Day! 6 pups were adopted, pending for house visits. It was the highest number of adoptions on our Activity Day so far. There are also some medical and food sponsorships.

Great thanks to volunteers for your coordination too. Education is an on-going process. Continued to educate people around you regarding sterilisation. Choose to adopt and stop buying! Local mixed breed are equally as loving and beautiful as any pure bred.

Helping homeless strays is the best act of kindness. Every little effort counts!

For more info, you can email care.actionsforstrays@gmail.com and I’m proud of my buddy Winnie for her generous contribution in helping this cause. Keep it up!! and also to those involved behind the scenes.