The new bridge was officially opened this morning. After a few months, it’s ready for public usage.

This morning I covered an interesting ceremony – the official launch of the Chung Hwa Middle School Bridge in Bandar. This is a privately funded bridge with the objective of parents and students of CHMS to cross the road in means of the bridge. The project was initiated by Ong Tiong Oh who is the Chairman of CHMS Board of Directors and he is looking at a bigger picture – to ease the traffic congestion. Do you know that traffic congestion has been a recurring problem especially during lunch hours?

According to inside source, Ong Tiong Oh forked out approximately BND 850,000 for the construction of the bridge alone. If you ask me, that’s a lot of investment and you can even get two residential houses or even three. Now why is the CHMS bridge expensive? This is not just another bridge like you see at other places like the school bridge at SOAS. This bridge has a special design and the materials they used are of high quality.

Ong Tiong Oh engaged Bolton Hennesy Sdn Bhd (Consultant) and Pro Builder (main contractor) and yes, the total was BND 850.000 where the bridge cost BND 770,000 with an additional consultant fee of BND 80,000. The whole project is totally financed by Ong Tiong Oh, who is also the director of Low San Hardware Company (and Toolbox). I’m quite impressed that he stills remembers me as we met once during the opening of Toolbox a few years ago. Amazing memory!!

According to The Brunei Times article, Kho Guik Lan, principal of CHMS Bandar was very excited with the bridge as it will be quite convenient for parents and students to cross the road especially during rush hour.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman, Minister of Development, was very thankful to Ong Tiong Oh, for sponsoring the bridge near CHMS. All the bridges in the school in the capital have been identified as prone to congestions and this includes the CHMS bridge. The only difference is that the CHMS bridge is privately sponsored.

The Minister shared that the ministry will still continue to review the aspects of safety involving students and also road users from time to time. He will also monitor schools outside the capital if they would require bridges in the near future.

Now despite the bridge being built, the traffic lights for pedestrians are still active and the public can still use the pedestrian walk to cross the road. It’s soon to say if the majority prefer walk on the bridge (more effort required) or wait for the traffic light to cross the road. I do encourage parents and students to make use of the bridge for safety reasons and smoothen the road congestions during peak hours.

Before I end, I would like to give my full appreciation to Ong Tiong Oh for initiating this project and making it a reality. The idea was highlighted back at the Legislative Council meeting back in 2009 and to see the idea being materialised is awesome indeed. Furthermore, this is totally a generous offer of him to invest almost a million dollars in constructing this bridge. All I can say is “You’re the Man” 😀 and appreciate you remembering my presence a few years back #highlightoftheweek

Note: The high in school fees of CHMS Bandar is not affiliated with the construction of the CHMS bridge. It is fully sponsored by Ong Tiong Oh.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman, Minister of Development and Ong Tiong Oh (right) doing the honour of officiating the launch of the CHMS Bridge

The man of the moment – Ong Tiong Oh

Invited guests during the launch

Ong Tiong Oh and his family and friends

The event took place at the car park area opposite Radisson Hotel

City Neon making sure the event ran smoothly

Media frenzy trying to steal a good shot for the newspaper

Some of the behind-the-scene moments during the construction of the bridge

The CHMS bridge looks solid

Taking a photo on the bridge

The Minister being briefed on the journey of the construction

Good job by Bolton Hennesy Sdn Bhd, the consultant of the CHMS project

Group photo with the Minister with the CHMS Bridge

The view from the bridge with Radisson in sight

Guests heading for refreshments

The CHMS end of the bridge

Peng the photographer needed to improvise with the help of the engineering team from Radisson