Hj Omar Abdul Aziz and Siti Rashidah Hassan, co-owners of ZA Barakah with their children during the launch of the pop up event at The Mall

Siti Rashidah Hassan officially launching the pop up sale event

It has been three years since the company has been in fashion/lifestyle industry. ZA Barakah boutique started since 1st February 2014, managed by Hj Omar Abdul Aziz and Siti Rashidah Hassan. Due to their success, the entrepreneurs have also ventured into tailoring under ZA Tailor (hint, hint for those who wants to do their Baju Melayu or Baju Kurung for Raya).

Yesterday they launched a pop-up event leading into Hari Raya, having a concept of a modern Muslimah, showcasing some local and international brands. Do expect items such as Hijab, Jubbah and kids versions from Malaysia (Shazzmin, Dezahra and Julia Betty).

Perhaps the two major brands that are being showcased and sold are MochaFashion and LilyPetuna. Do check them out as they do look quite elegant and affordable.

Lily Petuna brand has a Pario concept, design that suits the modern era and ZA Barakah has made it easier for the locals to have access to their products. The same could be said for Mocha Fashion that has different range for ladies, kids and also men (top). Do expect great quality from both popular brands.

ZA Barakah is also the sole distributor for Capster (Hijab Sport) from the Netherlands. The brand has sold over 1,000 pieces alone in Brunei and that shows how popular Capster is.

Apart from that, ZA Barakah is also a distributor for Nashata Sports ranging from tops and pants for the ladies. The brand hails from Malaysia.

The pop up event is located on the 1st floor of The Mall, Gadong (near the escalator above Chang Ein Hong) and it will be there for the week. Do follow them on instagram @za_barakah for updates.

Some of the ranges from Lily Petuna

Mocha Fashion also have range for the men

Some of the children lines from Julia Betty

Pen this date. Well, pen this month – August 2017. Why? Because a new shopping centre is coming to town.  You may have been familiar with my updates on social media that Aman Hills is near its completion in a few months’ time. Awesome, huh?

The new shopping area called the Aman Hills Shopping Centre offers a plenty of varieties, notably recreational facilities such as an ice-skating ring, bowling and premium cinemas. Of course, there are standard commercial shops to rent out.

But today, I’m gonna focus just on Aman Hills Residence (apartments). This is the first ever integrated development which compromises of apartment and a shopping centre. The common one we have seen are hotels and shopping malls being integrated. Hence, it’s something different to have an apartment and a shopping centre next to each other.

Aman Hills Shopping Centre & Residence

Staying in apartments is relatively a new concept in Brunei but it’s a common practice in neighbouring countries. Aman Hills Residence gives a different experience to owners or renters. Everything is just at your finger tips – a cozy apartment, a shopping mall for grocery shopping needs and more, easier access to entertainment such as heading for the movies, heading for recreational activities such as ice skating and bowling and not to forget a wide variety of eatery places to dine. Yes, you will be definitely be spoilt for choices within walking distance from your apartment.

I have just shared you one of the perks of being an occupant at Aman Hills Residence. Well, actually there are a few plus points if you go beyond than renting a space at Aman Hills Residence. There are also options for investing in Aman Hills Residence.

In other countries, apartments have been a preferred choice than (renting) houses. This demand is notable among higher income group and it has become a trend, a lifestyle worldwide. Introducing this new concept in Brunei, investors who are interested in buying rental properties, this is the best time to invest to cater to the new trend and lifestyle for families and residents in Brunei Darussalam.

During my short visit during their showcase, I’ve noticed how young families are opened to the idea of investing in apartments due to the returns of investment. Investors can benefit 5% per annum rental income which is guaranteed for 5 years and furthermore, this plan is also available to foreigners. So basically you can be a landlord and earn a 5% guaranteed rental returns per year for 5 years and to add to that, you will get 5 years free maintenance fee.
The price range starts from BND 288,000 for a two bedroom apartment which I feel it’s a good deal to begin with. Aman Hills Residence have up to four bedroom apartment.

Apartment residents will enjoy a dedicated covered car park with security access, modern amenities such as a well equipped gym and swimming pool, maintenance and not forgetting the access to shops and dining places.

I believe the maintenance and cleaning needs are vital when it comes to rental. These are the major perks for residence of Aman Hills and these allow occupants to focus more on important matters and have a peace of mind.

Now for the month of June 2017, Aman Hills Residence is having a special promotion with a few units left. They are having a special deal that if you sign up for the three-bedroom package, it comes with a new Proton Saga or Proton Exora depending on the package. Check out the poster for more details. Contact +673-8827887 for more details.

The Aman Hills Properties Management, PROLAND, has been very active in promoting the apartments and shopping complex. For more information, you can contact 882 7887 for details and you can also follow them on instagram @amanhills_brunei for updates. They also have their official Facebook Page if you want to follow.

Aman Hills Residence

Aman Hills Shopping Centre should be ready by August

The progress so far

The mock terrace for public viewing at Terrazzo@Tanjong Bunut

Terraces and other resident developments are on the rise now. Yes, it might be a perfect time to invest or buy in property before it rises again. The latest one that I visited recently was called Terrazzo. It’s a property development run by Precise Development under the leadership of Jake Goh.

There are 19 units, consisting of modern terrace houses and a few have been sold. Location wise, it’s pretty good, located at Tanjong Bunut, just minutes away from Hua Ho Tanjong Bunut. As you know, this area has slowly become a prime area with many recent developments.

The Terrazzo is a modern double storey terrace house. The net area is approximately 2,200 sq feet. It consists of family living area, dining area, a store, a dry kitchen, a maid room and even bathroom at the ground floor. All the bathrooms are fitted with water heater.

The whole terrace will be fully furnished as well. Every bedroom is fitted with wardrobe. For the kitchen area, there will be a stove, an oven, a hood and cabinets. For the car porch area, it can fit two cars and also inclusive of lights and fittings. The windows are fitted with white powdered coated aluminum frames with light green tinted glass.

With the recent launch from Precise Development, they are offering a house package. Which means that it comes with living area furniture, living area table, living area cabinets, dining set table, king size beed, bed tables, queen size bed, single bed, carpets and more.

For more info, you can visit their main office at Menglait – Unit No.20, Ground Floor, Bangunan Hj Hassan Abdullah, Kg. Menglait, Gadong, BSB BE3719. Or you can visit their website at precise-development.com.bn or their Facebook Page.

You can also reach them at 889 00002 or 242 0418.

The construction is expected to complete this September if I’m not mistaken

The home package will include this as well at the living/sitting area

The dry kitchen is fitted with stove, hood, oven as well

The dining area

The master bedroom

The area outside the master bedroom

One of the rooms upstairs with single bed

One of the rooms upstairs with queen bed

Bilster Technologies, subsidiary of Concepts Group of Companies with representatives from Brother International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd during the MoU signing this morning

The signing begins for a new journey for Bilster Technologies

Brother International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a leader in consumer and business IT products and solutions that focuses on the “Customer-First” approach, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bilster Technologies (Brunei) this morning. As you know, Bilster Technologies is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Concept Group of Companies.

The MoU is a big milestone for Bilster Technologies as they become the only company to bring in the Brother brand to Brunei. Previously Concept Group of Companies have been involved with the service side of Brother and it’s no surprise that Brother has appointed Bilster Technologies (under the flagship of Concept Group of Companies) to be the authorized distributor for Brunei.

The MoU marks the commitment for both organizations towards a growing market as well as brand acceptance where Brother will be the brand of choice not only among home users but also to SMEs and businesses as well.

Vivian @ Norsurya Binti Hj Sabali, Business Development Executive of Bilster Technologies, Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Group of Companies, Itsuo Segawa, Country Head at Brother International Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Brian Low, Country Sales Head, Sales, Corporate of Brother International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Token of appreciation from Vincent Pao to Itsuo Segawa

Mingling with guests after the MoU signing

It was also Itsuo Segawa’s (Country Head at Brother International Malaysia Sdn Bhd) first visit to Brunei Darussalam and he believes this MOU is a stepping stone for a long term relationship with Bilster Technologies. He believes in Vincent Pao, the main behind Concept Group of Companies, as a reputable business partner and helping in growing the brand name of Brother in Brunei Darussalam.

Segawa shared how consumers and businesses are now looking for user-friendly, cost-efficient solutions with outstanding quality and Brother will listen to their needs and wants. This is Brother’s strength and what differentiate them from other brands.

For your info, Bilster Technologies will carry a competitive range of Brother products, from the award-winning inkjet, laser printers, multi-function centers to hand label and mobile printers.

Vincent Pao is very excited with the partnership. The General Manager of Concepts Group of Companies shared that they are delighted to be able to work with Brother, a reputable Japanese company that focuses on quality and consistency. He is very confident that Bilster Technologies will increase the awareness of Brother in Brunei and make the consumers confident on Brother products. On top of that, they also have a after-sales service centre that will benefit customers of Brother.

Congratulations once again to Bilster Technologies on the milestone.

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman Bin Haji Ibrahim, Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Minister Of Finance II exchanging documents with Mr Qiu Jian Lin, Chairman of Hengyi Company

Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd (Hengyi) yesterday reached another milestone in its progress to develop an Integrated Oil Refinery and Aromatics plant at Pulau Muara Besar with the signing of the Implementation Agreement for this project between the Energy and Industry Department, Prime Minister’s Office (EIDPMO) as regulator, Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) as facilitator and Hengyi as project proponent respectively.

The Hengyi company Chairman, Mr Qiu Jian Lin also announced the Final Investment Decision (“FID”) for Phase 1 of this project value at USD 3.445 billion. Present as the Guest of Honour was Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman Bin Haji Ibrahim, Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Minister Of Finance II, senior government officials and industry partners. The Implementation Agreement outlines amongst others, the execution requirements of the project including Hengyi’s obligations in terms of employment and business opportunities to the country and its people.

During the peak construction phase, 10,000 workforce is required in which no less than 5,000 job opportunities will be opened to locals. During the operation phase, Hengyi will employ 971 permanent workforce and over 75% locals during its operation. This is part of Hengyi’s commitment to support local jobs, local content and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. Further, the Implementation Agreement highlights Hengyi’s obligation on health, safety and environment (HSE) requirements for the protection of Hengyi’s employees, contractors and the community.

The Hengyi plant will process annually approximately 8 million tonnes (175,000 barrels per day) of crude and condensate and produce approximately 1.5 million tonnes of paraxylene, 500,000 tonnes of benzene as well as refined products such as gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. The plant will ensure Brunei Darussalam’s self-sufficiency in refined products and boost spinoffs for further high value-added downstream industries.

My thoughts: It’s good to see more Foreign Direct Investment coming in to Brunei. It’s a good sign for the country that we can have more source of revenue than relying merely on oil and gas. I believe this project has been pending for quite some time as it’s never easy to deal with multi billion project. Many talks and agreements will need to go through between the shareholders and relevant agencies to make sure it’s a win-win situation.

So this is a big milestone for Hengyi Industries in Brunei Darussalam after a long delay. I do hope all the sub contracting companies involved in this project will open doors for more employment in Brunei Darussalam. Do also watch out for Hengyi Industries website for career opportunities.

In celebration of Women’s International Day, four women from various industry and career background will come on stage to deliver their talk at the Womenpreneur Talk event happening at the Ground Floor of the Sentral Shopping Centre (KBSentral) in Kuala Belait this coming Saturday, 11th March 2017 starting 10:00am to 12:00pm.

Organised by KBSentral’s Event Management Team (EMT), the event will be attended by students from various schools in Belait District, members from youth associations as well as members from the women’s associations such as PERTIWI to name a few.

In following the theme of this year’s celebration which is Be Bold for Change, the four speakers namely Fatin Arifin, Monasalieana HMS, Liyana Zakaria and Safa Omera Nazihah will each spend 10 minutes delivering their motivational speech on becoming brave in making changes in their lives for a better future. Each will tell their stories of big courage, deep passion in their interest and their ultimate willingness to push forward.

“It’s all about making a big impact in the audiences’ lives, and it is with my hope that these four speakers, all from various background in entertainment, business, sport and career-wise will help young women to realize their potentials,” Ahmad Anwar Rosly, KBSentral’s Marketing and Event Manager.

The aim towards the audience is to influence, interact and inspire them to take a step forward, he added.

“We believe young women nowadays can strive further in their career and passion onto a larger scale, learn to push the limit and aim for the sky so to speak,” he further stated.

The Marketing and Event Manager is extending the invitation to everyone who are interested to attend the talk, which is mainly inspired by the concept of TedTalk.

For further information, please call 3339889 or email to kbsentralmarketing@gmail.com

Monasalieana HMS

Safa Omera Nazihah

Liyana Zakaria (far right)

Fatin Arifin (middle)

Haji Sairul Rhymin C.A Mohamed, CEO and trainer for Getting Things Done™ (GTD) at the Young Executive Seminar (YES) 2016 at Sunway Putra Hotel, Kuala Lumpur last November

Young Executive Seminar (YES) 2016 was held from the 1-2nd November last year at Sunway Putra Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This prestigious event was organized by Irshad HR Consulting, an executive partner of our local coaching and consultancy firm Rhymin & Partners. Irshad believes that young executives should be inspired to develop their leadership skills, where in return these young executives will lift up the performance of everyone who works with them.

With “PURPOSE. PASSION. PERFORMANCE” as the theme for last year’s YES 2016, participants was served with an array of influential and experienced speakers and facilitators to meet the seminars objectives. Haji Sairul Rhymin C.A Mohamed, CEO and trainer for Getting Things Done™ (GTD) was invited to present a 2-hour taster of Rhymin & Partners’ franchise GTD training.

One of the testimonials from a participant

Getting Things Done™ is a work-life management system that has helped countless individuals and organizations bring order to chaos with stress-free productivity. In essence, GTD™ is a powerful method to manage commitments, information, and communication. It has earned a reputation as the gold standard in personal and organizational productivity. GTD™ has helped more than 40% Fortune 500 companies and their employees with a minimum of 20% improvement in the personal productivity and effectiveness. Implementing GTD™ will enable greater performance, capacity and innovation. It helps alleviates the feeling of being overwhelm by instilling focus, clarity and confidence with a simple, trusted and personal system.

Rhymin & Partners have offered services to help develop the public and private workforce not only locally but internationally as well, as they are the official franchise holder for GTD™ in Malaysia and soon to be Singapore. They also offer other trainings which are Effective Communication Skills which is led by Stuart Lee and also Coaching where they bring in Alex Tan from Avidity Malaysia to come in and help organisations improve their company’s health. Some of their well-known clients are Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Development, Telbru, JPH, RB, UBD ILIA, BIBD, Mixmedia, BAG, AITI, BEBD, TM (Malaysia) and Kaspersky (Malaysia) just to name a few. I even had a one day session of GTD two years ago and I find it quite useful and educational.

Should you require further information on how Rhymin & Partners can help your organization, please contact them at enquiries@rhyminpartners.com or at +6732450710.

The Yee Sang tradition during Gong Xi Fa Cai

Concepts Computer hosted its Chinese New Year open house at its establishment at Kiulap earlier today. The guests were among the business partners of Concepts Computer and Bilster Technologies as well as members of the media. As you know, this is the celebration in conjunction with the Year of the Rooster.

Present during the open house were Mr. Vincent Pao, General Manager of Concepts Computer and Alice Chan. Finance Controller of Concepts Group.

Thank you once again, Mr. Vincent Pao, on your invitation and your continuous support in the local SMEs here in Brunei Darussalam. His company has been one of my longest business clients and it boils down to the strong relationship and professional friendship that I have with Mr. Vincent Pao. He is one of my aspirations to be a successful entrepreneur and I’m truly happy where he is right now.

A photo opportunity with Concepts Computer management and Richard Soo who drove all the way from Miri 🙂

With the management and associates from Netcom Computer House

Another photo opp

Zul Abd Rahman, Marketing Executive of Concepts Computer (centre) with representatives from the Brunei Press

Group photo with the invited speakers and the participants

Shafique Hussain, CEO of Start-Up Hub with Nilam Sari, Owner and Marketing Director of Baba Rafi Enterprise (Indonesia)

In conjunction with TAIB 25th Anniversary, Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei (TAIB) has been conducting workshops for their 54 participants for the past two weeks. In collaboration with Darussalam Enterprise and Start Up Hub, the workshops aims to train and educate the participants on building business proposals and pitching to potential investors. It also ensures the participants have the ability to build and sustain their potential business ideas.

Yesterday, 16th January 2017, the participants are treated to an inspirational day at the D&T Auditorium. Moderated by Shafique Hussain, CEO of Start-Up Hub, the participants are able to learn from successful entrepreneurs: Nilam Sari (Indonesia)- Owner and Marketing Director of Baba Rafi Enterprise, Josan Astrid (Philippines)- Creative Director of Astrea Software Development and Shawn Hoon (Brunei)- Editor and Publisher of Inspire Magazine.

The TAIB 25th Anniversary Entrepreneurship program ends on the 18th January 2017.

Speaking to Effendi bin Hj Said; “What we aim with conducting this inspirational day is to give the participants more confidence in their business journey. Not only will they have the chance to listen to the journey from successful entrepreneurs, we hope that this will give them more ideas that can be added to their business plans in order to make their business development more sustainable with the current market.”

Nilam Sari speaking to the participants yesterday

Some of the participants during the talk

Shawn Hoon, Editor and Publisher of Inspire Magazine

Josan Astrid, Creative Director of Astrea Software Development (the Philippines)

Effendi bin Hj Said, Head of Business Banking of Perbadanan TAIB asking a question or two

Some Q&A from participants

NAME: Raizah bin Muhd Zaini
BUSINESS: RIZ KITCHEN

What made you join the T25 Program?
As local business, there is always so much to learn especially in this thriving generation and current economic situation. This business is my passion. I lover serving good food to other people, so I want to make my business a strong and sustainable one.

What did you learn from the program?
The program really gave me new insights on business management. Having plans and projections and the constant monitoring of my business. It definitely adds to my knowledge in making my business model grow and become sustainable.

How did the Inspiration Day help you in what you’ve learned over the past two weeks?
I can definitely relate to the experience of the speakers, especially Nilam Sari of Baba Rafi Enterprise since it’s also from the food and beverage industry, She showed me that in business, there are times of failure but what is important is to keep motivating yourself to succeed. There is so much to take away from the talk and I’ll definitely doing more research and homework even after the workshops.

NAME: Cheong Yee Kuan
YKS Crafts Paradise (Jewellery Making)

Why did you choose this business?
I love wearing jewelleries and I love customizing them. I see a gap in customising and repairs and since I have the skills, I decided to take it up.

How did the T25 Entrepreneurship workshop help you?
The whole workshop totally open up my eyes. The most important thing is I thought I knew what it takes to run my company. When I joined the workshop there are still a lot of things I thought I knew, but I never knew. The coachers share everything they knew and everything is so transparent and I learned so much from them.

How do you feel after attending the two-week workshop and then today’s inspiration day?
I am totally inspired. I love how they shared their journey- not just their successes but also their failures. It definitely gave me the confidence to move forward and make this business and my passion a success.

NAME: Saedah binti Hasnal
BUSINESS: bruvera.com

Why did you decide to join the T25 Entrepreneurship Program?
When talking about business, it never really was in my plan. I never thought, growing up, that I am going to open a business. But after graduating, and attending workshops and bootcamps, I started getting really interested in starting up my own business.

How did the T25 Entrepreneurship workshop help you?
It definitely helped me a lot. It really is targeted towards people who are just starting out. So it’s step-by-step and very beneficial for us start ups. The way of coaching as well goes in detail as to what we need to know to begin and then go into more detail about making it sustainable.

How do you feel after attending the two-week workshop?
I felt it was very beneficial. I did not want to miss this and I am glad I didn’t. Everyday I go to the classes and meet people who are on the same boat as me, with the same goal and I learned so much from the coaches as well as interactions with people from the class. T25 Entrepreneurship program provided me with this platform to expand my business and network and the coaches from Startup Hub really helped build my confidence.

NAME: Shafique Hussain CEO OF START-UP HUB

How did this collaboration came about?
Well, TAIB in conjunction with their 25th Anniversary had initiated this program and came to DARe who later recommended that we came in as coaches to the participants.

How was the selection process?
First of all, our goal collectively is to diversify the economy. So we’re glad that we have a wide variety of businesses applying for the grant from agriculture, retail to web development and many more.

What was your approach in coaching the participants?
Our goal is to ensure that the participants came out of the course with the essentials needed to start up a business. You can’t learn everything in two weeks, but our approach is to give them the basics and continue to monitor their progress even after the program ends.

What did you notice from the participants after two weeks of workshop?
We’ve definitely seen their mind shift. If you go back to the first part of it, we started with personal development and self-reflection cause it is the first step and after that comes the business knowledge. From what we’ve seen, we see a lot of them progress in terms of approach and their awareness of various aspects of their business.

What do you hope the participants take back from the Inspiration Day speakers?
I think what they need to know is in business it takes a lot of patience and perseverance. And to have focus; we as humans sometimes lack focus. We lose focus easily- for instance we lack interested in ideas and especially losing focus due to failure. We notice a lot of startups, once they fail they just give up. We hope that this inspiration day will help shift their mind set to persevere in their respective businesses.

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