The medal tally for now for 8th June

Brunei’s SEA Games update: I’ve been missing a lot of the sporting events in Singapore lately and I can’t wait to go and watch other remaining sports. The one that I will covering is the Jumping Individual of the Equestrian competition where our national hero Pg Nasir reached the finals after qualifying in the heats yesterday. Well done, buddy 😀

So how did the rest fare? Currently there are three medals lesser than the previous Games in Myanmar 2013. Back then, they had one gold, one silver and six bronze medals. I believe not all competition have completed yet. There are chances still for equestrian and pencat silat categories for Brunei to win medals.

The Wushu Team was unable to achieve their target of gold as the team of Faustina Woo Wai Sii and Lee Ying Shi settled for bronze. The same also went for the Men’s Duel, the first medal achievement for the men’s category won by the brothers – Mohd Adi Sya’rani Roslan and Mohd Sufi Shayiran Roslan.

Another worth mentioning is The Royal Bees, Brunei’s netball team, who reached their target for a podium finish after beating Myanmar and the Philippines for a top four finish. Well done to the team, the head coach and the management team behind Royal Bees. I’ve seen the hard work they have invested in terms of training and even flying overseas to compete against other countries.

Sepak Takraw also saw Brunei bagged two more bronze medal finishes. Good luck to the remaining contestants from Brunei. Though the numbers of Brunei contestants have been lowered, Brunei still showing some positive results. A gold medal would be a huge bonus for the country. Let’s hope Brunei to finish on a high note.

The Men’s Duel and Women’s Duel for Wushu achieved bronze medal status. Image courtesy of Lee Ying Shi.

The Sepak Tekraw team winning two bronze medals. Image courtesy of The Brunei Times.

The Royal Bees achieving a podium finish as well as bronze medal

A proud moment for two best friends – Tia Jaafar and Hafizah. Image courtesy of @redtwone

Mohd Abdillah failed to qualify for the semi finals in petanque. Image courtesy of The Brunei Times.

The men’s fencing lost out in the quarter-finals against Singapore in the Men’s Team Sabre last weekend

Brunei u-23 team lost all their matches in the football tournament. Faiq Jefri Bolkiah scored one of the overall two goals. Image courtesy of SEA Games Facebook Page.

Taufiq Murni lost his chance for a top 8 finish in the 9-ball pool category. Image courtesy of Borneo Bulletin.

One of the Wushu contestant. Image courtesy of SEA Games Facebook Page.

Brunei sailing team didn’t manage to impress as debutant Lim Jenn Kiat finished last in the youth laser radial (sailing). It will be a good exposure for him for future competition. Image courtesy of of SEA Games Facebook Page.

Another potential medal achiever for Pg Nasir. He breezed in the qualifiers yesterday and looking forward for the finals tomorrow (Wednesday). He said in a short interview that he’s very proud to represent Brunei where it’s an international show in Europe or in the SEA Games. He feels very blessed despite the challenges of not riding his own personal horse but still managed to bring the best of his performance. Good luck, bro, and see you soon.

The Brunei contingent during the opening ceremony. Image courtesy of of SEA Games Facebook Page.

One of the performances during the opening ceremony of the SEA Games 2015 in Singapore. Image courtesy of of SEA Games Facebook Page.

What an opening!! Image courtesy of of SEA Games Facebook Page.

 

Only now until 6th June. Prices are cheaper than usual and only last for four days. What are you waiting for? Thank you RB and congratulations on your 40th year of flight 😀 Click image to enter website.

 

Brunei lost to Thailand yesterday 40-45 in the preliminary round of the netball SEA Games 2015. Image courtesy of Yee Chun Leong of The Brunei Times.

Ah, I wasn’t even in the netball match between Brunei and Thailand but I was up to date with the progress of the match. It was quite unfortunate that Brunei didn’t manage to squeeze that victory over Thailand. At one stage, Brunei was leading by 5 points at half time but the third quarter, Thailand upped their game and outscored Brunei and finished the game, winning by 5 points (40-45). The result meant that Brunei must beat the Philippines to be in contention for the semi-final berth.

In the other match, host Singapore failed to capitalize on home court advantage as they drew 35-35 in the preliminary round of the netball competition. This would mean the top of the group will be determined by a better goal difference. Singapore had the edge when they were leading 30-24 coming into the fourth quarter but the host blew their lead and the visitors capitalized on Singapore’s errors to stage a come back.

That’s it from for my updates on the current netball competition.

The Singaporean fans supporting their team in netball. Image courtesy of Netball Singapore.

Singapore vs Malaysia. Image courtesy of Netball Singapore.

Singapore vs Malaysia. Image courtesy of Netball Singapore.

 

When Brunei Speakers’ Club was awarded with President’s Distinguish Club, we invited other Brunei toastmasters club to join the celebration. Thank you all for showing the true value of a toastmaster.

This is the Brunei dancing group – Brendan, Supatra, Jack, Farhan, Seng Yee and I. Thank you to Nora and Joanna from KK for helping us to coordinate the dances. It finally paid off 😀

Late post: Two weeks ago, around 25 members from Brunei Toastmasters Club attended 3-days Toastmasters International District 87 Annual Conference held in Kuching.

Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches communication and leadership skills through a worldwide network of more than 14,650 clubs in 126 countries. In Brunei, there are 4 Toastmasters clubs – Brunei Speakers’ Club, Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club, Oil Town Talkers Toastmasters Club and the newly chartered UBD Toastmasters Club. So far, the journey and the growth have been great and the number of members gradually increasing.

During the 3-days conference, camaraderie between members have developed phenomenally and meaningful friendships have been strengthened. But to me, what is great about Brunei toastmasters is that we are great as a unit and we are united as one. I do observed how the Brunei toastmasters in different clubs operate but we all have the same agenda, to grow and to learn together and not see each other as competition.

In the Award Ceremony, Genevieve Lai, one of the founding members of Brunei Speakers’ Club made Brunei proud when she was among the few who was awarded the Distinguished Toastmasters Award (DTM), the highest education and leadership award from Toastmasters International. This would mean that she completed 40 speeches and completed four leadership manuals and also taking up higher positions in the ranks of toastmasters. So this is no easy feat at all.

She has also achieved Triple Crown awards along with Reuben Chin, Pranika Lama, Jason Koo and Allen Ang. Triple Crown awards were given to achievers who had accomplished three or more education or leadership programmes in one single term. I’m aiming for one next year so we will see how it goes 😀

What do all of them have in common? They all achieved triple crowns 😀 Reuben Chin (UBD Toastmasters), Pranika Lama (UBD Toastmasters), Genevieve Lai (Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club), Jason Koo (Otters) and Allen Ang (Otters). Genevieve was also awarded Distinguished Toastmasters title that time.

Shawn Cassidy Narcis pitched why we all should go to Bali this November for the semi-annual conference. I’m definitely going 😀

I successfully pitched for the next convention to be in Brunei Darussalam. Now that’s a huge project for me but I’m confident that we can do this 😀

Brunei Speakers’ Club (BSC) was awarded President’s Distinguished Club, the highest rating that Toastmasters International gives to its clubs, in recognition of the club’s effort to maintain high quality meetings and good membership. BSC also achieved it last year and this shows great leadership in our club in recent years.

Brunei toastmasters hit milestones after milestones. During the District Council meeting, Shawn Cassidy Narcis was elected the Club Growth Director for District 87. District 87 is a region of Toastmasters International including Brunei, East Malaysia and Indonesia. It comprises 7 divisions with more than 150 corporate and community clubs.

“I will be working with every member in District 87 to have a greater experience in the Toastmasters journey, where friends help friends to grow and support each other. Every journey begins with a single step. And with every single step we can accomplish and reach our destination” said Narcis, incoming Club Growth Director 2015/2016.

To me, Shawn is our pillar in Brunei toastmasters. He has been a great role model for many and this is one reason why toastmasters is very strong in Brunei and I’m happy that he was elected as Club Growth Director.

Another leader in our community, Reuben Chin, stood up as the Division (K) Director where he will be serving 7 Areas which include Brunei, Labuan and Sabah.

“Over the coming years, we will see a rise in membership as the Toastmasters Program continues to make an impact on more and more peoples’ lives. And as that happens, it is our responsibility to focus on the learning aspect of Toastmasters. The focus on of the coming term will be an emphasis on education” said Chin.

Allen Ang, the incoming Area Director (K6) also added that sharing of best practices among clubs is essential for the club growth and success within Brunei. The current Area Director is Ruey Chong Narcis.

Pranika Lama with world champion of public speaking 2014 Dananjaya Hettiarachchi

So Dananjaya wants to be like me?? 😀

Seng Yee with the charismatic champion

During the conference, Education Sessions were also held where the World Champion of Public Speaking 2014, Dananjaya Hettiarachchi gave a motivational speech highlighting his journey to the World Championship last year. In his speech, he quoted “When you want something as bad as you want to breathe, then you will achieve it”. Best part about Dananjaya was that he actually invested his spare time in Kuching to be with the Brunei toastmasters and wow, he is such an inspirational and charismatic individual. We were all so blessed for him showing up.

Other speakers include Shurooq AlBanna (first Arab woman who won third place in the World Championship of Public Speaking), Johnny Uy (International Speech Contest Semi-finalist), Zaharom Naim (Professor of Media and Communication Studies), Raju Mandhyan (Coach & Learning Facilitator) and Alex Wong (ex-CEO of Pan Global, adventurer, author).

The next District 87 Conference will be held in Bali from October 30th to November 1st organised by Brunei Toastmasters, Shawn Cassidy Narcis. On a better not, I, as a member from Brunei Speakers’ Club also pitched in the District Council Meeting to host the District Semi-Annual Conference in November 2016. To me, it is my deepest intention to spread the awareness of Toastmasters in Brunei for the benefit of the community and I believe this event will bring a new chapter to Brunei.

Brunei Speakers’ Club meets regularly each Tuesday at 7:30 at SEAMEO VOCTECH. For more information about the event and club, please visit www.bruneispeakersclub.com and thanks VPR, Seng Yee for the write up.

We are not just toastmasters, we are family

During the Gala Dinner with the Brunei toastmasters

Rano Iskandar, the organizing chair for Semi-Annual District 2016 in Brunei, Reuben Chin, newly elect Division Director K, Shawn Cassidy Narcis, newly elect Club Growth Director (District) and Allen Ang, Area K6 Director