This is it. After many months, the contest is back again for toastmasters. This time it will be International Speech (Inspirational) Contest and Table Topics Contest (the impromptu ones). With many seasoned speakers giving way for the newbies, I’m delighted to see participation from new faces of the toastmasters club that I’m currently in – Brunei Speakers’ Club.

The likes of Syatrah, Heidi, Adah, Maudena, Faiz, Jidun and the list goes on. So do come and support the contest which will be held tomorrow night (Tuesday 8th March) at Seameo Voctech and do refer to poster for details. Seameo Voctech is currently opposite the Gadong market and after the simpang of Taurean Arch. Good luck to all the contestants and I truly admire your tenacity and courage to be part of the contest.

Below are just some of the events that have been happening in relating to toastmasters. In Brunei Darussalam, we have four toastmasters club. It could have been five but the HSBC speakers’ club is now defunct. The existing ones are Brunei Speakers’ Club (the mother club for Brunei), OTTERS (Oil Town Talkers) Club in Seria, UBD Toastmasters Club, the youngest club of them all and finally the Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club.

Recently there was a joint meeting (collaboration) with Brunei toastmasters and Miri toastmasters which was held at OGDC in late February. It was led by new member of OTTERS, Naj Tarif, who was the organizing chair for this event. It was very courageous of him to take this heavy role especially since he is still a new member. The joint meeting went pretty well and the members from Miri truly learnt something from the Brunei toastmasters. I do hope for more collaboration between Brunei and Miri to further strengthen the bonds and relations while learning from each other.

Recently Delwin Keasberry, popularly known as @bruneitweet, gave an insightful presentation on being a good public speaker. He is currently a member of the Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club and he is also an accomplished speaker, involving in many conferences locally and abroad. Keep it up, dude.

Congratulations to our newest member Afwa Mawawi for her first speech ice-breaker last week too and yes, I do agree with your points in your speech about “Embracing Change” for the betterment of our future. You can read more of the recaps of our Brunei Speakers’ Club meeting and who knows one day you can experience being a member of toastmasters.

The joint meeting between Brunei and Miri toastmasters held at OGDC in late February.

The toastmasters from Brunei Darussalam. Image by Reuben Chin.

The toastmasters from Miri. Image by Reuben Chin.

Shawn documenting the speeches during the joint meeting

Delwin Keasberry, a member of Brunei Advanced Toastmasters Club, delivering a talk on being a public speaker during a meeting at Brunei Speakers’ Club at Seameo Voctech

Afwa Mamawi breaking the ice with her first speech last week at Brunei Speakers’ Club.

 

The winners and consolation winners of the Brunei Darussalam Tennis Association Open Singles first leg with John Chia, BDTA Treasurer and Rasheed Abdullah, Tournament Secretary of BDTA at the National Tennis Centre

Aiman Abdullah taking a wefie with his tennis buddies

Late post: Last week, Aiman Abdullah claimed another trophy to add to his many list of collection when he dominated his young opponent Rajvir Jutla from the UK 6-0 6-0 in the finals of the Brunei Darussalam Tennis Association Open Singles first leg. He had a tougher encounter against Billy Wong in semis but he was mentally prepared for the finals and he congratulated Rajvir for making it this far.

The best part for the tournament was the emerging of younger tennis players and they showed that they can play in a competitive environment, giving them more confidence and exposure. For instance, Ben Sii (13 years old) won the consolation bracket against Darlin Sia in straight sets and now Ben Sii is currently in Sri Lanka for the the ITF World Junior Tennis Competition in Sri Lanka. Over there, he lost to his Iraqi opponent 6-0 6-2.

In the ladies’ open, powerhouse Australian Leah Gander dominated the tournament with convincing victories in the semi-finals and finals. She beat Japanese Hiromi Okochi 6-1 6-1 to claim her first title of the BDTA Open Singles. Lena Ang won the consolation trophy as she overcome her opponent Sharon in tie breaker after finishing in a 1-1 set.

BDTA treasurer John Chia handed the prizes to all the top winners of the tournament. The competition consisted of 22 players in the mens and 7 players in the ladies.

In other tennis news, there will be a Junior ITF tournament hosted at National Tennis Centre which started yesterday. Hence, the courts won’t be available until 13th March after the conclusion of the tournament. Good luck to the Brunei representatives in the Junior ITF tournament.

Ben Sii and Lena Ang winning their consolation matches last week. Well done 😀

Monica and Ben supporting Lena’s match

Darlin Sia played his consolation match against Ben Sii. He has a strong first serve.

Ian volunteering to be a temporary ball boy in Lena-Sharon’s match

Hiromi Okochi in action

The women finalist – Leah Gander and Hiromi Okochi

The men finalist – Rajvir Jutla and Aiman Abdullah

 

Congratulations to Hj Saifullah Hj Ramli for finishing 2nd int he 2016 60km Ultra Marathon Sabah. He is also an ambassador for Tri-ULTRA, a sporting local stor in Brunei Darussalam.

Haji Saifullah Haji Ramli #gpul made the nation proud after he finished second at the 2016 60km Ultra Marathon Sabah yesterday.

The Bruneian ultra-marathoner completed the 60km race with a time of five hrs 52 mins 20 seconds behind the champion from Malaysia Jifree Pulok who recorded a time of five hours 27 mins 29 seconds.

The Ultra Marathon attracted a total of 140 runners from – the hosts Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Sweden, USA, United Kingdom including 16 from Brunei – competed for the top honours.

You can read more of his comments here from The Brunei Times. Image courtesy of Yaty Yassin and story by Azri Metussin of The Brunei Times.

 

The management unveiling the logo of Swoop Dart’s, a newly established for electronic darts in Brunei. Congratulations.

Dart has become a new trend in Brunei Darussalam. Ever since the emergence of the soft tip darts. It has become popular hobby and I know a few of my friends who have taken up the hobby with the introduction of the soft tip electronic dart game.

Yesterday was the launch of a newly opened dart establishment called Swoop Dart’s which is located just behind Taurean Arch and it’s located on the first floor.

The management unveiled the logo to officiate the opening of the business and also present were the management of VSPhoenix Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Brunei Dart Association. The machines used are from VSPhoenix made in Korea. The Managing Director of VSPhoneix Malaysia Sdn Bhd talked briefly about the VSPhoenix Electronic Dart machines and its benefits.

There are many modes to choose from such as fun-goers, amateurs and even up to the professional level. What makes it interesting is the “Global” mode where you can challenge others and the webcam makes it more interesting so you won’t be caught cheating *lol* I kinda like the idea that the value of the Phoenix Card starts at $1 dollar and it can be topped up by using tokens which are available at the store.

The mission of the Swoop Dart’s is also to bring our local talents to abroad to compete in the international level which is a great sign indeed.

The Swoop Dart’s company is opened daily from 12pm to 10pm. So Hui Chiet, let’s play some darts, shall we? 😀

The crowd yesterday at the opening

A Malaysian darter being invited to play

Angus of Panacom doing the honour as being the emcee for the opening ceremony. Nice one.

The VSPhoenix Electronic Dart Machine.