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BND 10,000 worth given to Baiduri cardholders

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in bank, lifestyle, Social News

 


25 customers were in delightful mood as they were in for a treat from Baiduri Bank for the “Shop & Win Lucky Draw Bonanza” at Hua Ho Department Store (Manggis Mall). Handing over the prizes were Pg Azaleen Pg Dato Hj Mustapha, the Head of Retail Banking and Branch Network, Baiduri Bank and Mr Lau Soon Tiong, Manager of Hua Ho Department Store (Manggis)
 


The grand winner – Mazlan Bin Haji Zaini
 

Baiduri Bank hosted the prize presentation ceremony for the “Shop & Win Lucky Draw Bonanza” promotion in collaboration with Hua Ho Department Store. The event was held at Hua Ho Manggis recently.

During the promotion period held from 14 December 2018 to 14 February 2019, with every BND100 spent and paid using a Baiduri Bank issued credit or debit card in participating Hua Ho outlets, customers receive one chance to enter the draw and win shopping vouchers.

25 customers were shortlisted and after a final draw. Additionally, the remaining 10 winners received consolation prize of a Tefal Infiny Press Juicer each.

Presenting the prizes on behalf of Baiduri Bank was Pg Azaleen Pg Dato Hj Mustapha, the Head of Retail Banking and Branch Network and on behalf of Hua Ho Department Store, was Mr Lau Soon Tiong, Manager of Hua Ho Department Store.

To be in the know of Baiduri Bank current promotions and events, the public can visit Baiduri Bank website at www.baiduri.com under the Promotions section, or on the Baiduri Bank mobile app – Baiduri Deals, like the official Baiduri Bank Group Facebook page or follow @baiduribank on Instagram and Twitter.

 


Playing some games at Hua Ho Department Store
 


Second prize winner – Bong Tjiap Fha
 


Hjh Siti Raihani Haji Abdul Hamid, one of the consolation winners.
 

Are you ready to be the “New Me”?

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in community, health, lifestyle, Social News, Sports

 

 


Devin Edwards, Chief Marketing Officer of Progresif with Wu Chun, Managing Director of Fitness Zone, during the exchange of documents as Progresif being the title sponsor for “Fitness Zone New Me Transformation Challenge 2019”
 

I remember the days of B.Fit organized by b•mobile (defunct) and Fitness Zone back in 2012. Whoaa. That’s like 7 years ago. Now there is a different and better version known as the “Fitness Zone New Me Transformation Challenge 2019”, an initiative by Fitness Zone Managing Director, Wu Chun.

FZ is always looking ways to create and faster an environment that will make Bruneians fitter and healthier by changing their habits and lifestyle. Wu Chun has seen how social media has been distracting many of us in our daily habits.

“Internet and social media seems to get out of control and that what makes people get lazy sometimes. Spending 30 minutes on just scrolling down on our feeds, we could use it more productively by working out, “ said Wu Chun.

Doing exercise is a good initiative and it could be a life decision benefit and also allow one to be prioritize his or her life on what is more important that could reap you in a long run.

This time, Fitness Zone, has engaged Progresif as the Title Sponsor for the “Fitness Zone New Me Transformation Challenge 2019”.

The transformation challenge is set to fun from April to October 2019, limiting to 300 participants for each category. Each month, an elimination process will be undertaken after the Weigh-In session.

Venue: Fitness Zone Kiulap.
Registration Period: 8th March to 31st March 2019
Challenge period: 1 April to 12 October 2019

There will be a $50 fee to join this competition and do see the poster to see what is inclusive in the $50 registration fee.

 

 

 

 

 


The old bFit competition back in 2012. The winner was Azim and now he is a successful spinning instructor.
 


The good old days when bFit was very popular.
 

IIT’s improved helpline and new mobile app

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in technology, lifestyle, Social News

 

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Marketing Manager of Insurans Islam TAIB Holdings Sdn Bhd (IITH) Shameon bin Tamil and Executive Officer of Teletakaful and Support Services (SSV) Norshahrul Azim bin Haji Abdul Rahman during the press conference of Insurans Islam TAIB General Takaful Helpline and their latest mobile app at Insurans Islam TAIB headquarter last weekend
 

Are you tired of queueing up? Do you want to simply pay for the services with your finger tips? Fret not. Insurans Islam TAIB has upped their game by introducing two new services – 1) Using their hotline services, General Takaful Helpline 222 3004 and 2) Insurans Islam TAIB Mobile Application (IIT App).

With the helpline, you can simply call the General Takaful Helpline 222 3004 and get a quote for your Takaful policy and after approving the quote, you can pay online without the need to go physically over the IIT counter. The customer can also opt for free delivery or Takaful policy pick-up at Insurans Islam TAIB General Takaful Head office (Kiulap) or their other branch in Kuala Belait. Now that’s very convenient and you don’t have to worry about queueing as much anymore.

Even better for IIT customers is that they have introduced a mobile app for the customers’ convenience. You can already get a quote and even pay online (through BIBD) without having to visit their counters where you also avoid the long queues. I have navigated on the IIT app and it was quite straightforward and simple.

The approval of the application of the takaful will take a maximum of one day but usually it can be done with 10 to 15 minutes after you confirm your takaful quotation. Its IIT way of providing a seamless service after listening to the feedback of customers especially when dealing with long queues over the counter.

The app was actually launched during Insurans Islam TAIB Holdings’ 25th anniversary back in November 2018.

Present during the conference were  Marketing Manager of Insurans Islam TAIB Holdings Sdn Bhd (IITH) Shameon bin Tamil and Executive Officer of Teletakaful and Support Services (SSV) Norshahrul Azim bin Haji Abdul Rahman who briefed the media on their ongoing services.

It was also announced that the first 100 customers with confirmed participations of the Comprehensive Motor Takaful and the Home Owner Takaful, through these facilities, will be rewarded with Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) vouchers while stock lasts.

 

 

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Executive Officer of Teletakaful and Support Services (SSV) Norshahrul Azim bin Haji Abdul Rahman briefing the media on the steps when using the IIT app
 

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How the IIT apps look like. Very simple and easy to navigate.
 

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Choose your policies and get a quote
 

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Fill in the details before you get the final quotation
 

LiHO official opening

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in lifestyle, food, Social News

 


Group photo with Syfulnizar Hamid, Political Secretary from the Singapore High Commission in Brunei Darussalam (3rd from left) as the guest of honour during the official launch of LiHO first outlet at Times Square Shopping Centre.
 


My favourite drink for now – Brown Sugar Pearl Milk Tea and the pearls are kinda chewy
 

LiHO is still a new player in the town, making its presence in Brunei back in October 2018 and the Singapore home-grown bubble tea brand by RTG Group only started in 2017 and already have 93 LiHO outlets across Singapore and Vietnam so far. The official launch happened last week at the first LiHO outlet located at Times Square Shopping Centre.

Gracing the ceremony was Syfulnizar Hamid, Political Secretary from the Singapore High Commission in Brunei Darussalam accompanied by LiHo founders Rodney Tang and Janice Chew. Also in attendance were the Appointed Master Franchisee of LiHO Brunei, Jeffery Chia and his spouse, Rachel Chew.

Jeffrey began with his opening remarks – “How are you?” Or “Apa Khabar?” which describes LiHO in the Hokkien Chinese dialect to show that regardless of the differences in language, culture and beliefs, a simple greeting for LiHO can bond people together.

Now the most popular drink at LiHO is the Brown Sugar Pearls and I love it too. What’s good about it? Firstly the brown sugar pearls are slowly cooked with pure brown sugar over a long period of time to achieve softer and chewier pearls. Some people like to drink the way it is to feel the warmth of the pearls or some would prefer to shake it to have a cooling effect. I prefer the latter.

Jeffrey also announced the Customer Loyalty Program via the Rewards Stamps allocation where all customers need to do is download the app, scan it at the outlet, spend and earn points. Awesome!!!

Jeffrey felt blessed that the response has been great since October 2018 and hope by having more marketing and presence, there is still more room for growth for LiHO to grow.

Rodney Tang spoked of the Brunei market, “We have been in operation for a while and from the response the customers really love our flavours. We are confident that we can further build our business here and open up to six to eight branches in Brunei.”

“Since we founded LiHO Tea in June 2017 (Singapore), we have been restless in our research and development and launched many new flavoured drinks such as the Avocado series, Salted Egg Milk Tea series to name a few.”

So peeps, do try the Brown Sugar Peals and also the Avocado series (using fresh avocado). Don’t forget to download the app too. You can also follow their update on Facebook.

 

 


Jeffery Chia, Appointed Master Franchisee of LiHO Brunei, giving his opening remarks
 

 


Members of the media and friends attended the opening
 

 


Cutting the ribbon ceremony. Congratulations LiHO Brunei.
 

 


The other drinks series available at LiHO
 


Trying out samples of other drinks
 


Ruby’s favourite drink – Brown Sugar Pearl with Avocado
 

 

Bee Thing wins flight to Bangkok

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in automative, lifestyle, Social News

 


Pong Bee Thing, represented by her daughter (2nd from right), won the grand prize, a return ticket to Bangkok as part of the “Test Drive & Fly” promotion. The prize presentation was held last Friday at Indera Motors Showroom.
 

A lucky draw event was held at Indera Motors Showroom yesterday for the “Test Drive & Fly” Promotion. The Campaign was held in conjunction of 2018 Year End celebration which was held from November to December 31st.

Pong Bee Thing, emerged as the grand prize winner and took home a return flight ticket to Bangkok. Muhd Nurul Hafiz, announced as the first runner up and won a return flight ticket to Bali and Hisyamuddin Hamzah, the second-runner up won a return trip to Manila, while the rest all went home with Jaguar and Land Rover merchandise.

There to draw the 10 lucky winners were Ms Anisahatiajar Zaini, Marketing Officer of BIBD At-Tamwil and Mr Eugene Tan, Business Support Assistant Manager of Baiduri Finance. The grand prize was presented by Mr Pierce Lim, The Marketing Manager of Indera Motors Sdn Bhd.

 


Drawing the finalists during the lucky draw
 


Mr Eugene Tan, Business Support Assistant Manager of Baiduri Finance drawing a name
 

Day 5. Social Media Purge.

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in lifestyle, Social News

 


Sending off Derby who will continue her final year in Vancouver after completing her first two years in Melbourne University. All the best, Derby xx
 


Having guys talk over Jollibee. Now will these boys be “tested” one day? (Inside joke)
 

Day 5. I’m actually getting used to this haha. I feel freer and lighter at least. Temptations to be curious gets lesser and we normally kill the curiousity through social media or gossips. True or not? I’m a sucker for new information as it has become part of my job to know what’s going on in our community. With the ongoing purge, I’m beginning to see the other side of the spectrum. Do I like it? Yes. Will I change my perspective? Maybe yes, maybe no. It’s still early days but it’s kinda a good to have this kind of awareness.

Have I been eating a lot and napping lately? Not as much as the first two days and I’m kinda blending in with my daily routines. I still have the habit to carry my phone in my hand though this time, I hardly check my phone because of the absence of notification. I still anticipate for SMS though. Ah, speaking of SMS, it’s so different from Whatsapp. People then to reply slower on SMS as compared to Whatsapp. I would say 70% of them are slow repliers LOL. I am yet to determine why they would take their sweet time to reply through SMS.

I’m now 7 days away from the end of my social media purge. I have friends who have been very encouraging on my journey and it’s kinda ironic that some of them can’t even live without IG and Whatsapp for a day. Well, there’s a way to go about this. What you can do is build your purge through having shorter hours to begin with. Say, start with 4 hours without playing with your phone (in your waking hours, of course) and build it from there. Perhaps, that could be another challenge I might just take within this one week – not to touch my phone for a day. Hmmmmmm… Scary but that’s a different ball game to deal with.

Enjoy the 5th Day updates of my Social Media Purge journey. Adios.

 

 


I told Reuben about the recent awful Robin Hood movie starring Taron Egerton and I told him that I preferred Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when I watched it as a kid. Reuben was right that back then that Prince of Thieves is cheesy after I rewatched it on HBO yesterday. But yea, it’s still way better than Robin Hood (2018).
 


Did you know Guardian has 22 outlets in Brunei? The 22nd one opened at Annajat Complex. Image taken by Azrol Azmi of Borneo Bulletin.
 


Cooking is therapeutic indeed. I went grocery shopping and here’s the menu for yesterday’s lunch
 

 


…. And I ended up cooking Chicken Garlic Tomato Rice. I love it 😀
 


It was stated in the news that it’s gonna be rainy in the next few days. I was supposed to play tennis but it rained.
 


After a grueling 96 hours, a winner was crowned for Brunei Film Blitz. Wan Amiurl Azizan Hj Ibrahim, won for his short film, Yang Hilang Akan Berganti (What is lost will be replaced) and he won himself a two-year Diploma in Screen and Media scholarship sponsored by Progresif. Image by Wardi Wasil from The Scoop. Click image to read full details.
 


The Gala Night hosted by Brunei Film Blitz with the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism. Image by Wardi Wasil from The Scoop.
 


Behind the scenes at a wedding recently. The waiters were prepping before dinner at Mulia Hotel.
 

 


Congratulations Valen and Cristal on your wedding celebration
 


A unique wedding as I witnessed a traditional gesture. The bride side has Murut ethnicity.
 


Always a pleasure to video Ruby on stage. My favourite number was Versace on the Floor. Awesome!! And good job to The Sequence for lifting up the warm audience.
 


I was nervous when Arsenal broke the duck early in the game but Liverpool came back stronger and gunned off Arsenal 5-1 with a rare Firmino hat-trick. Liverpool lead the table by 7 points.
 


Day 5 status so far. Not bad.
 

Day 3. Social Media Purge.

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in lifestyle, Social News

 


I woke up early in the morning of Day 3 and headed off to give my blood sample of my routine health check. Let’s hope everything is fine and hopefully my cholesterol is lower than before.
 

Normally people say “Time flies fast”. Well, not for my case. Day 3 began and it was not as challenging as the first two days I must say. It still felt longer though and I have nine more days to go before I break the purge. Now, I did mention earlier that I was looking for distractions, positive ones, like reading or writing for a start. Well, I haven’t gone down that line just yet. Maybe in Day 5 or Day 6.

The temptations to play with my phone is still there. The most active apps I used are Football Manager, Words with Friends and some Zynga games and not forgetting SMS. I’m glad that I didn’t have the urge to check my IG and Whatsapp for that matter. I know it felt that I am missing out a lot of what’s going on in Brunei or those hot topics on group chats. Yea, aren’t we all addicted to those too? I will be lying if I should I’m not.

Sometimes I wonder if it will make a difference if I were to carry out the purge on a non-holiday season. I find it slightly less challenging at this period because most of us are in the holiday mood and not much work can’t be done anyway.

I bumped into a friend last night and she gave me some morale support on my #socialmediapurge (Thanks, Ida). She sees the benefit as we are all too caught up with social media and forgetting what’s in front of us. It’s good to see that this movement is raising awareness on how social media has impacted our daily lives.

Let’s see what Day 4 brings. Thank you once again for the support and encouragement.

 

 


This is truly a sad case and I hope the culprits will be dealt for. I am totally against animal cruelty.
 


Congratulations to Qurratu’aini Qayyimah for her solo expedition in the Himalayas. This is tough bucket list for me.
 


I have been catching news online and this was one of the headlines on the CNN app. With Brunei’s economic growth slightly down this year and with the recent oil plunge, year 2019 doesn’t look promising. Furthermore, there have been cries of unemployment here and there. There’s still hope indeed. It will be interesting how the upcoming LegCo in 2019.
 


How Day 3 looks like now on my social media folder
 

 


I had a short swim and did some laps. It was great to be in the pool again, relaxing and listening to music.
 


One thing I realised is that I don’t have to bring my power banks around as much because my phone life is quite healthy since I don’t use my social media which can take a lot of battery juice.
 


Pranika trying out the mochi from Japan. She loves the cinnamon ones. Yumm!!! We had Japanese dinner before heading off for a movie.
 


We took away some milk tea from Liho. It’s getting popular after its soft opening and I love the drinks too. My fav to go is the Avocado ones because they use real avocados and not the powder version.
 


People say “finder’s keeper”. I saw a dollar note on the toilet floor. I picked up and just left it by the basin. If it was a 1,000 note, will it be a different story? Hmmmm
 

 


I caught the Indonesian horror movie last night. My overall take – horrible. Why? Many reasons – the lead actress was really bad on screen. All the whiny laughs and her two-dimensional acting. Just terrible. Secondly the plot was just meh. Some scenes were really silly and illogical. The only redeeming factor are the home workers who brought comic relief on screen. The scares were also subdued. Verdict: 4/10 Pranika 3/10.
 


To detox after watching the totally crappy horror movie, I went on online and caught Upgrade movie which was released back in August. Wow, wow, wow!! I was totally impressed and if you thought Venom was cool, this is way cooler and I love the plot (original). It was humorous too for a much violent movie. This could be one of my honourable mentions for Top 10 movies of 2018. Verdict: 8.5/10
 

Day 1. Social Media Purge

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in games, lifestyle, Social News

 


The #SocialMediaPurge that I have accepted for the next 12 days as my next challenge. You can still reach me on SMS, email and you can surely be updated through my blog.
 

DAY 1. Now it hasn’t been 24 hours yet and I’m already feeling weird and restless when I’m awake. My sleeping pattern totally changed. I’m still awake and it’s 4:15am. Maybe because I had a super long nap in the late afternoon that lasted 4 hours maybe (not a good way to nap and not recommended).

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it took a long hard decision to accept this challenge – #socialmediapurge – something I thought won’t be possible because half of my social media content relates with work. It is still possible if you can compromise and work your way around and the most important is to be mentally prepared.

The Maggi Purge was already a tough challenge where I have been addicted to Maggi Curry for more than 30 years and I treated it as my staple food. To simply cut the addiction wasn’t an easy task but I’m super glad I made the journey this far. It has been more than a year and I’m proud of it.

Now I have upped the game by challenging myself to a social media detox for 12 days which started from 12:00pm on 25th December 2018. Hence, I will be documenting my daily journey without social media and see what changes (internal and external) that I will go through.

A big thanks also to my friends who are also joining the #socialmediapurge for 3 days in supporting my cause. You can also give it a try and see how you feel about yourself. I’m sure you can do it. You just have to be mentally prepared.

 

 


Have you wondered how much time you spend on your phone? Just look at my stats which was a summary of my usage last week. Instagram has been part of my social media life and the stats shows how addicted I am.
 


I have shifted all my social media apps in a specific folder. The unread messages have been average. I shall only view them after the purge is over on 6th January 2019.
 

 


I did some shopping yesterday for my family friends’ children for the festive season. I also ended up receiving gifts from my friends too. Thanks Reuben, Allen, Fen, Ruey and Pranika for the gesture and the gifts. Thanks also to Nana for the lunch invitation. Love the food 😀
 

 


Awwwww… Thanks Pranika for this wonderful gift. Fitting to my current challenge indeed 😉
 

 


I spent too much time napping. Maybe I was tired from the night before or maybe I wasn’t use to not being able to access my social media, knowing that I still have access to my phone and wifi. Then again, I felt good after a good nap but I hope next time, it won’t be a long one as one of my aims of this purge is to make sure that I increase my productivity.
 


I spent time lazing in bed and caught some series and movies on Netflix. By the way, I caught Bird Box, Netflix original film, and I give it a 7. It had potential to be one of my Top 10 movies or even my honourable mentions. But it didn’t live up to my expectations.
 


Ah yes, I lazed too much in bed that I missed my dinner time. I had soto around 10:30pm and I kept munching here and there. Maybe it helped me to ease my withdrawals of this current purge and it has only been less than 12 hours.
 

 


Yay!! A good news though is that my friend is on the way back to Brunei. At least something to look forward in distracting my withdrawals. See you soon 😀
 


One of my friends joined the #socialmediapurge and this was her SMS tonight. Keep it up, my friend, and thanks for the support. It means a lot 😀
 

 


This was the state of my room at 1:00am and I was thinking to do something productive. I decided to clean up my room and I already had a long nap earlier in the day. So, why not? I purposely darkened the image so it won’t be an eye sore to you all :p
 


Yars!!! 50% done and I hope to continue tomorrow again. Shot taken at 4:10am today. Alright folks!! Time to head to bed..
 

Aquaman: Review

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in movies, lifestyle, Social News

 


Nabil Abd Kadir and I gave Aquaman a thumbs up
 

Aquaman review.

So have DC Extended Universe redeemed themselves for the lackluster product (Justice League, Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad)? Many would say that Aquaman could potentially be the deal breaker for DCEU in terms of its success and also the reception it will receive from movie-goers. I’m for one wasn’t all that thrilled when I watched all the trailers of Aquaman. I just happened to love movies so it was a no-brainer that I will eventually watch Aquaman.

Out went Zack Synder whom I really loved with his previous works such as Watchmen and 300. His influence on the DCEU have been so mediocre and I’m glad the studio decide to bring a fresher director and now we have James Wan who is well known for movies like the Conjuring 1 and 2 and let’s not forget, he directed his biggest movie to date in terms of box office revenue – Fast and the Furious 7. So to have him on board for Aquaman brings a fresher look on things and did he deliver on all fronts?

The Good. This, I have to agree, that having James Wan to direct an already troubled studio for DCEU, was a bold move but a better decision. The movie delivered higher than my expectations as I had reservations from their trailers. This is one of the those movies where you can excuse some of its cheesiness (many layers too) and also its silliness (aplenty). Other than that, I had a blast with Nabil who also gave an encouraging feedback because we both shared the same sentiments when it comes to the DCEU.

The half-Atlantean Arthur Curry aka Aquaman was played by Jason Momoa whom we all are familiar with from the Game of Thrones series. There were times his physique was purposely used to woo the female audience which I thought weren’t necessary. He was a much better representation of a superhero character and something that Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill lacked in this department.

I was also drawn by Mera, a princess from Atlantis played by Amber Heard (hottie) but I felt the movie tends to sexualize her presence on screen though it’s a PG rated film. It must have been all those subtle curves that raced the blood to our hearts :p I was surprised to see Nicole Kidman on screen and there was too much CGI on her to make her look youthful.

As for the storyline and action sequences, it was commendable. Perhaps, many would talked about the final act of the movie which was a huge improvement from an already well-received DCEU movie, Wonder Woman. Yes, this one I would agree and I would give an extra point for this.

And lastly, for the Good part, is the CGI effects on Aquaman. It wasn’t as messy and eye sore like that in Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel especially in the battle scenes. Even the portrayal of Atlantis was visually ambitious and stunning. Yea, yea, there were times when the CGI can be problematic and reminded me of our hit local movie, Bodyman. Kidding, kidding, but I was just saying how it wasn’t up to a blockbuster kind of CGI.

The Bad. Well, it’s a DCEU movie, right? Many could have gone wrong but it didn’t. James Wan managed to fix those broken pieces in DCEU but I can still feel the cheesiness and cringeworthy moments in Aquaman. It was almost at borderline but I was glad it didn’t go to Twilight level.

The silly moments were tolerable but I wasn’t totally affected by it. Definitely no “Martha” kind of materials in Aquaman. If you were to analyze this movie as much as I did, you will probably know what I am referring to on those silly moments. I guess the screen writers (Will Beall, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick) could have work better on this and I wouldn’t mind increasing my rating for this movie.

Like I said before, Aquaman has its silly moment, campy at times but it was a ridiculous fun ride.

The Ugly. I have no comments on this because I truly enjoyed this film from beginning to the end.

Final verdict: A movie that all of you should dived in to :p because it’s gonna be a great swim till the end. Rano’s score: 8/10 Nabil Abdul Kadir: 8.5/10

 

 


Aquaman on Rotten Tomatoes so far
 

JPMC introduces organ transplant in 2019

Written by Rano Iskandar on . Posted in health, lifestyle, Business, Social News

 

 


Mr. Santosh Kumar Sahoo, General Manager of Yashoda Hospital, Dr. (Prof) Balachandran Menon, Director of Liver Transplant of Yashoda Institute of Liver Transplant & Hepatobiliary Diseases, Dr. Kabeer Meera Saheeb, Medical Director of Jerudong Park Medical Centre and Mr. Varghese Paulose, Chief Operating Officer of Jerudong Park Medical Centre during the press conference on establishing organ transplant around in Borneo region
 

 

It is a great movement to announce, living donor liver transplantation facility is soon made available in Brunei Darussalam through Jerudong Park Medical Centre (JPMC) and Yashoda Hospitals, India.

As we all know Yashoda Hospitals is with one of best track record for best organ transplant program and since three decades, Yashoda Group of Hospitals has evolved as a centre of excellence in medicine providing the highest quality standards of medical treatment to patients. 

“This partnership will further improve the quality and effectiveness of health care for all Bruneians and make Brunei Darussalam among one of the medical tourism destination for quality patient care, we are committed to provide an optimal treatment and to ensure that all our patients have the most pleasant stay possible at JPMC.” said Mr. Varghese Paulose, Chief Operating Officer of JPMC. “JPMC provides the most effective health care services, as well as individual attention and personal dedication from doctors and staff who foster patient’s confidence and hope.” he added.

“This joint medical partnership will bring a team of highly trained specialists with many decades of combined experience and continues a tradition of excellence with leading-edge health care capabilities, a team of experienced professionals, a team approach to patient care designed for your comfort, hope and most important of all, healing.” said Dr. Kabeer Meera Saheeb, Medical Director of JPMC. “This joint venture involves local medical and nursing personals. There will be technology transfer over 5 years for the advancements of surgical intensive care, radiological and laboratory services.” added Dr. Kabeer.

The Liver Transplant facility at JPMC, the clinical pathway jointly offers by Yashoda Group of Hospitals, India and JPMC.

Ministry of Health, Brunei Darussalam will be involved actively in pre-operative evaluation and screening for liver transplants and post-operative management to improve health for successful liver transplant outcomes.    

The doctors from Yashoda Hospital, Jerudong Park Medical Centre and RIPAS hospital   coordinates the care for optimal pre and post-operative treatment. 

To support the transplant care, JPMC will have a transplant coordinator who will work closely with doctors, patients, relative and donor throughout transplant care.

“Adult patients with end-stage liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and acute fulminant hepatic failures and pediatric patients with congenital liver cirrhosis, biliary atresia, and metabolic liver diseases are all indications for liver transplantation. Whether or not recipients are good candidates for liver transplantation is determined by examining and analyzing each patient’s medical condition and characteristics.” said Dr. (Prof) Balachandran Menon, Director of Liver Transplant of Yashoda Institute of Liver Transplant & Hepatobiliary Diseases.

Dr Balachandran highlighted,The liver is an organ that can be transplanted in part or in whole. Patients can receive a portion of the liver from family members. The donor’s remaining liver regenerates, allowing for the donor to lead a normal healthy life without risks. A donor and recipient must be of similar build and should have compatible blood types, and possibility for donation is determined after thorough examinations. A donor whose liver functions are normal and healthy is qualified as a donor candidate as long as the liver is without illness, infection and cancer.”

How long the patient’s need to be hospitalized

Patients will stay in the hospital for around three to five weeks after liver transplantation and will have regular outpatient visits after discharge. To prevent complications of organ transplantation, all patients must take an immunosuppressant drug every day.

My thoughts:

It’s pretty cool to see JPMC offering such services which will kick off hopefully in the first quarter of 2019. The specalists from Yashoda Group of Hospitals saw the opportunity to collaborate with JPMC and this will also help to bring international patients to Brunei waters which provides a great environment especially for recovery. It was also mentioned that the liver donor is ideally between the age of 18 to 50.

Did you know that our liver even cut in half can still grow in a whole liver overtime? Interesting. So it makes sense why liver can be transplanted to another person just as long as the liver has no complications.

 


Mingling with the doctors
 

Contact RA

ranoadidas (a) gmail.com
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Contact: +6738677773

About RA

A blogger since 2002, using platforms from blogspot, joomla and now currently wordpress. A readership that stands on average of 20,000 visits per month. Also on active on social media platform on IG, Facebook and Snapchat (@ranoadidas)

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