During the Berinai ceremony last night

The beautiful Nisaa

Nisaa and her SF buddies

The car for tonight

Don’t forget to tune in to my social media updates for tonight’s Azeez & Nisaa’s Bersanding event

During the launch of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Referee Preparatory Course for the AFC Under-14 Regional Festival of Football

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Referee Preparatory Course for the AFC Under-14 Regional Festival of Football was launched at the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) headquarters in Berakas earlier this week.
Fourteen young referees from Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are taking part in the five-day programme that will conclude today.

The course aims to prepare and assess the participating referees for the festival that will be held at the Balapan Track and Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports and the Berakas Sports Complex from August 18-22.

The course will be conducted by two referee instructors; Mohammad Rodzali Yacob and Michael Hanania.

NFABD General Secretary Hj Muhd Zamri Dato Paduka Hj Hamdani in his welcoming speech highlighted the importance of having the course for the upcoming festival.

“I understand that prior to the AFC Festival, an AFC Referee Preparatory Course is to be conducted first whereby the referees are from the participating countries,” said Hj Muhd Zamri.

“I believe this course will be beneficial to all participating referees as part of their individual development as well as for the development to their respective countries.

Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam are the among the countries that will compete in the tournament.

Among the aims of the festival are to provide a continuous player development pathway from the grassroots at the school level to the elite level and ensure a smooth transition for elite players to the national team.

Sanctioned by AFC, the festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and other related government agencies.

Admission is free and a lucky draw will be held during the event.

The referees for the upcoming AFC Under-14 Regional Festival of Football

Hj Muhd Zamri Dato Paduka Hj Hamdani, NFABD General Secretary (centre) with the organizing committee and referees

Yves Grosjean, General Manager of Total E&P Borneo B.V. in green attire hosting guests at Total Hari Raya Open House

Recently Total E&P Borneo BV celebrated their Hari Raya Open House for their clients and guests. It has become an annual event as they host a corporate open house. The host was Yves Grosjean, General Manager of Total E&P Borneo B.V.

Total has been have very busy this year alone. Earlier in the year, Total has achieved 15 years in recording zero Loss Time Injury (LTI) and they have operated at least millions of man-hours in several operation sites, drilling campaigns, repair and modification operations, oil platform operations, logistical operations – including the use of helicopters – and other kinds of operation. Good job to the staff and contractors of Total.

Also recently last month, Total launched the jacket of the third platform of the Maharaja Lela Jamalulalam (MLJ-3) field. Jacket I am referring to is a steel frame fixed to the seabed, forming the support structure of an oil production platform. . The jacket was on the Muara Yard in just one year. It is 100% Brunei made and it required around 500 000 man hours of work. Great work by Petrovietnam Technical Services of Vietnam (PTSC M&C) with the assistance of Sahid, Adinin, Megalift, Teca, Velosi and Petrokon.

Keep up the great work, Total.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office during the launch of the Load Out of the MLJ-3 Jacket last July

Muhammad Radzuan bin Hj Madali, the chairman of the AFC U-14 Football Festival 2015 in Brunei Darussalam

It has to start somewhere.. Back to basics. Even in sports. It’s good to know that NFABD the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam is working its way up to improve the development of our popular sport in Brunei – football. Things have been definitely improving and it’s never easy as 1-2-3. It’s not just about the results and performance. It’s also about the development of the sport. So I’m quite happy to know that Brunei Darussalam has been given the opportunity to host the AFC U-14 football festival for this year and next year as well.

Yesterday was the first official announcement from NFABD chaired by Muhammad Radzuan bin Hj Madali, the organising chairman for the AFC U-14 football festival. The press conference took place at NFABD House yesterday for the members of the media.

For NFABD and Brunei Darussalam, this is considered a huge opportunity as Asian Football Confederation has entrusted Brunei to host such event. This is also the first time that Brunei host such a prestigious sporting event.

According to the chairman, there will be no competition or a trophy to play for despite being drawn into two groups. The objective of the football festival is to expose the young footballers to play against another regional country and gain more experience which can help the development of football for the future.

The chairman is thankful for the media for the coverage. Check out today’s newspapers too.

Fadhil Yunus asking a few questions to the organising chair

Holding the official match ball for the football festival

The official ball Lotto

The AFC U-14 Football Festival will take place from 18th August to 22nd August 2015 where it will have the opening and the closing ceremony. The participating countries apart from the host Brunei Darussalam will be Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor Leste.

The Chairman also pointed out how the other youth team has shown improvement recently as the score lines were very minimal despite all the loses. On previous years, the gap of the score lines were bigger. This time round the U-14 Brunei team will consist of 18 shortlisted players and in this football festival, every listed player will be given the chance on every game as part of the rules sanctioned by AFC.

The current players are under the guidance of Takao Fujiwara who have been training the boys tirelessly for the past few months. They have been placed at the Games Village and undergoing intensive training. I’m very pleased to know how serious NFABD is in developing the young players especially at a very young age. Give it another few more years, we will definitely see results especially performance wise.

Brunei Darussalam will be grouped together will Malaysia, Timor Leste, the Philippines and Myanmar.

For your info, the matches will only be 30 minutes per half with a 15 minute break. The match field will be smaller than the usual standard.

Entrance will be free and it will be played at both at the Track and Field of Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex and the Berakas Sports Complex.

I’m quite excited and I can’t wait to see the boys show all the training put into the matches. Good luck.