His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, as personal representative of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, bestowed medals to 636 recipients yesterday at Istana Nurul Iman.

Six hundred and thirty-six individuals including government officials and staff, uniformed personnel and members of the private sector were awarded with state honorary medals yesterday in a ceremony held at Istana Nurul Iman.

By command of 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, His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office, represented the monarch in conferring the medals. Text by Azlan Othman of Borneo Bulletin. Images by Azrol Azmi of Borneo Bulletin and Zaim Kasmat of The Brunei Times.

Congratulations to all the recipients. A well deserved accolade and thank you for your contribution to Brunei.

The cabinet ministers in attendance

Faustina Woo Wai Sii, Lieutenant Ade Roddiane bin Haji Mohd Rosdi, Frankie Ngu and Vivi Rohkininissmah binti Hj Mahmud

 

The winners of the 2nd round lucky draw of Red Bull Boost & Win at SKH Airport Mall

25 winners were feted for the 2nd round of lucky draw for the Red Bull Boost and Win contest. The event took place at Sim Kim Huat Department Store at Airport Mall. The prizes given were identical to that of the first round – 3 shopping vouchers, 5 PowerKad value of BND 30 each, 7 Prepaid Card worth BND each and 10 consolation prizes of Red Bull gift packs.

Don’t worry, there are still on going draw where the final draw will be after end of May. So keep buying Red Bull until the 31st May and who knows you will be enlisted to participate in the draw.

Present were SKH director Hou Leh Hui, Valentine Hon, general manager of Kingston Beverage & Creamery, and Kevin Robin Jon, sales and marketing manager of Kingston.

To join, just purchase a can of Red Bull Energy drink (gold or less sugar), attach the pull ring tab to the contest form and drop it in contest boxes in participating outlets nationwide.

Participants can obtain the contest form at over 200 retail outlets in the sultanate, or download the form from its Facebook page at ‘Red Bull Brunei’ or you can get the form from the participating outlets. For more updates, check out its Instagram @redbullbn

Kevin Robin Jon, sales and marketing manager of Kingston Beverage & Creamery (left) with Hou Leh Hui (2nd from right), SKH Director and Valentine Hon, general manager of Kingston Beverage & Creamery (right) and the winner of the SKH shopping voucher

 

Luminox Spec Ops Challenge 3053.SOC.SET

44mm, carbon reinforced polycarbonate case and case back, tempered scratch resistant mineral crystal, water resistant to 200 meters, signature black PU strap, and Luminox self-powered illumination. Swiss Made. Retail price: BND 743.65

I know there are many fans of Luminox from Brune Darussalam. You can get them at Chang Ein Hong watch dealer at The Mall (Gadong) and Yayasan Complex. Last year, Luminox made its presence felt in the Sultanate by having a Luminox “Space and Time Converge” Exhibition at The Mall and it was a great timing to showcase to the public what’s great about the Luminox brand.

For you info, Luminox has a strong relationship with the Navy SEAL team for over 25 years for the reason being that SEALS discovered the unique self-powered illumination technology found in Luminox watches and the rest was history. Luminox continued to enhance the technology and specs to meet the demanding requirements of the Navy SEALS.

To make it more interesting, Luminox created a special event for the journalists called the Luminox Spec Ops Challenge, a programme developed by Luminox with retired Navy SEALS to give a chance to civilians to train like a SEAL for a day. The event took place in Langkawi in September last year.

I know my friend Aziz Idris had the opportunity to part of the programme which lasted 6 hours which was trimmed from the a 24-week programme, dealing with basic underwater demolition. From this programme, the journalists will understand the experience the Navy SEALS have to go through and get a glimpse of the mental and physical challenge throughout the procedure.

Aziz Idris (2nd from right) of Borneo Bulletin participating in the Luminox Specs Ops Challenge in Langkawi last year

The 6 hour intense training conducted by retired Navy SEALS person

Hence this is where Luminox introduce the Luminox Spec Ops Challenge (L.S.O.C) watches, sold in two different sets.

One featuring the traditional 3050 Navy SEAL Colormark (3053.SOC.SET) design with its trademark “Colormark” bold numerals on the dial and bezel on a PC carbon dial and PU strap, and the other, on the 4220 Authorised for Navy Use (A.N.U.) (4223.SOC.SET) model which was a direct collaboration with the SEALS, refined to specifically address the needs of maritime commandos, featuring a stainless steel case, with screw crown and case back, sapphire crystal, multi-jewel Swiss quartz movement and 10 year lithium battery.

Do check out other Luminox models at Chang Ein Hong outlets in Brunei. Images provided by Luminox.

 

Liyana Yus addressing the media on her role as ambassador for Jollibee

Liyana Yus with team Jollibee during the launch

I’m a huge fan of jollibee because of their chocolate sundae and not-anymore-available Nasi Lemak (due to low demand). Of course, their Chicken Joy is still one of their best sellers and I would it rate it my top 3 fast food chicken in Brunei.

Last Friday, Jollibee unveiled their latest project where the Philippines fast food franchise appointed its first local brand ambassador Liyana Yus famously known for her role in Brunei’s first featured film “Yasmine”.

The event took place at Times Square Shopping Centre and it was a press launch event to officially introduce Liyana as the face of Jollibee in Brunei.

Liyana has been a huge fan of Jollibee since she was a kid and her favourite is still ChickenJoy. Did you know that Jollibee in Brunei was the first ever international outlet outside the Philippines? And yes, the first outlet is at Utama Bowling back in 1987. Amazing!!!

The signing ceremony between Liyana Yus and Jhing Perais, Country Head of Jollibee Brunei.

Jhing was very delighted to share the special moment for Jollibee

The ceremonial bite from Jollibee

Present during the launch were Jhing Perais, Country Head of Jollibee Brunei, Leony Rodriguez, Jollibee Head of Marketing and Din Kamaluddin, producer at Origin Artistic.

Jhing was excited to announce the new partnership with Liyana and he believes that the young talent of Liyana embodies Jollibee’s excellence in the fast food franchise.

For Liyana, this is the first opportunity for her to be an ambassador of an international brand. I’m pretty sure this will open doors for more opportunities in the near future.

So far, there are 12 Jollibee outlets in Brunei and it will be growing from time to time.

I did highlight to Jhing on the defunct menu item, Nasi Lemak, but let’s see what happens. Let’s hope it might make a comeback even if it’s a just promotional offer. Don’t worry, we have our social media team + Liyana to push your product too 😀 Congratulations Liyana and Jollibee on the new milestone.

Now that’s a lot of Chickenjoy

Congratulations Liyana

Hi-tea-ing with the media

The Jollibee drive-thru at Kilanas

The new chocolate sundae with nuts. Apparently it’s the bomb!!

Thanks Lena for recommending the new sundae :p

As you know, Jollibee is all about product quality at an affordable price. What more can you ask for? It’s crispylicious, juicylicious inside out and anyone can afford it. The family oriented fast food chain has made it one of the most popular fast food chain in Brunei.

I wasn’t aware also of their latest drive thru at Kilanas which will be a big hit among the residents residing near Kilanas. For this commitment, you can see that Brunei remains a key market for Jollibee in its vision to become one of the biggest QSR brands globally.

I still remember the founder and chairman of Jollibee Foods Corporation (the Philippines), Tony Tan Caktiong, addressing a keynote speech at Asia Inc Forum event at The Empire Hotel & Country Club back in 2007. What an inspiring story and the legacy lives on!!

What makes Jollibee another success is the ability to localise the taste for Bruneians and now, with the Jollisavers, patrons can enjoy Spicy Chickenjoy and Crispy Chicken Burger with rice. You can follow @jollibeebrunei on Instagram for updates and competition.

 

The Brunei athletes representing in the Special Olympics Summer World Games 2015 in Los Angeles, USA

Special indeed. So far great coverage on the Special Olympics especially for our Brunei representatives who are currently at Los Angeles for the Special Olympics Summer World Games 2015 (25th July to 2nd August). So 11 special athletes from the Special Olympics Brunei Darussalam (SOBD) flew off on the 3rd day of Hari Raya to Los Angeles and the team was led by Hj Mahrub Hj Murni, SOBD’s President.

And guess what? They have done tremendously well in the Special Olympics Summer World Games 2015. Even better than our athletes in the recent SEA Games and previous Olympics. This is in relations to the medals they have won Gold medals to begin with. Awesome!!!

Nurul Mimi Silawati won gold in Long Jump and she also came 2nd in 100M run. Another gold medalist is Muhammad Aminnur Rafie in the 100M walk and he also won Silver for the Softball Throw. So that’s really good to know that we have talents even for the special needs.

There were other medalist as well. Mohammad Nadihie Hj Abas won Silver in 100M run; Mickellyhelmie won two bronze medals for 200M run and 100M run and finally Siti Hazirah Zolkipli won Bronze fro Softball Throw. Mohammad Samri Mahli earned Silver for BC Bocce Doubles and the same goes to Siti Nursyazwani Hj Shamsudin in her BC Bocce Doubles.

Other notable mentions are Ahmad Zharfan Ahmadiah who came fourth in the Golf-Level 5 Stroke with a 317 score. He just missed out on the medal spot.

This shows that Brunei could have won more medals if more athletes participated but due to budget constraint, SOBD could only send 11 athletes and since it is held at Los Angeles, USA, it will be a high cost for the parents to fly over as well. Good job to the President in taking care of the athletes and also the coaches, trainers and a doctor. It’s not easy being away from home especially during the festive season.

It’s just a little sad that none of the senior officials from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports were present during the events just like how they attended the recent SEA Games in Singapore. Maybe it could be down to budget constraint. Even in the photo session (during the sending off at the Brunei International Airport), there weren’t any high senior officials apart from Hj Mahrub who came in the the capacity as the President of SOBD.

There should be a double standard for every Brunei athletes that represent the country in prestigious events such as SEA Games, Asian Games, Olympics and even Special Olympics. They all deserved a proper send off and further more, this is a Special Olympics (same level as the Olympics). This is just my positive criticism two cents.

I congratulate the athletes for their courage to accept the challenge to represent Brunei and you all definitely had a wonderful experience in Los Angeles. A big mention also to Hj Mahrub for leading and motivating the athletes and the other delegates for taking care of the athletes. They are due to be back soon to Brunei and I can feel that they can’t wait to be home again. Images below taken from SOBD Facebook Page and their instagram @specialolympics_brunei

Muhammad Aminnurr Rafie winning Gold in 100M Walk and also getting Silver in Softball Throw

Nurul Mimi Silawati winning Gold in Long Jump and also grabbing Silver in 100M Run

Nurul Mimi Silawati posing for the camera

Mohammad Nadihie Hj Abas, a Silver medalist for 100m run

Siti Hazirah Zolkipli won Bronze in Softball Throw

Mickellyhelmie is a double Bronze winner for 200M run and 100M run

The Brunei delegates with Hj Mahrub Hj Murni at the Brunei International Aiport

The Brunei delegates arriving the States two weeks ago

The sponsors from Wong Chain and Armtrix Enterprise as they sponsored equipment and apparels respectively for the athletes.