Raviseine, the new product launched at Paloma, The Mall

Paloma Perfumery launched Raviseine, a new non-alcoholic perfume from France and the ceremony was graced by the guest of honour was the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources Hjh Hasnah Ibrahim.

Also present at the event was Julian Wee, the managing partner of Paloma, His Excellency Louis LeVert, the French Ambassador to Brunei, Pierre Imhof, the president of the Brunei-French Business Association and Farrukh Raza, the Commercial Director of Raviseine France.

Julian Wee said, “Paloma has become well known as a perfumery that carries a wide range of genuine branded perfumes, but these perfumes all contain alcohol. A lot of customers have been asking for alcohol-free perfumes, so I was very excited to meet the Farrukh brothers and worked very hard at convincing them that Paloma would do a great job of selling and marketing the Raviseine brand.”

“I am confident that Raviseine will become the number one selling perfume brand in Brunei Darussalam,” she added.

Hjh Hasnah gave a speech during the event, explaining how the halal industry goes beyond the food sector. She mentioned of the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates, is currently the hub of halalcosmetics, with beauty treatment market segments projected to increase by 12.5 per cent per year.

“The market for halal products increases with the growth of the world’s Muslim population and the economy of the Islamic countries,” she said.”Out of the 6.8 billion people in the world, 1.6 billion are Muslims, which means there is enormous potential for halal products to succeed in the vast market.”

Invited guests during the launch

Julian Wee, Managing Partner of Paloma, in her welcoming remarks

The French Ambassador then made a brief speech on the importance of introducing French products into the local market, followed by a presentation on Raviseine by Farrukh Raza.

The internationally registered French brand has its roots in two cultures and got its name from the Eastern lands where River Ravi flows and Paris, the City of Light, which is crossed by the River Seine.

With its in-depth research and development, the company has come up with 12 different fragrances; six for men and six for women. Raviseine is now available at Paloma outlets around the Sultanate.

For more information on Raviseine, visit www.raviseine.com or any Paloma outlet to experience Raviseine’s “unique sensorial journey”. Source: Ammirul Adnan of The Brunei Times.

The first customer of Raviseine at Paloma.

The prices are quite reasonable as well

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The competiiton is back once more. Last year the winner were Victor and Stephanie Koh for the Most Photogenic Couple Contest. So this time will you and your partner be the one at the Musical Garden Wedding Fair 2012? The winner will win a fantastic package. The deadline of the submission will be on the 24th October 2012. Check out PDCA event page for more details.

For your info, the winner will win a two return air ticket to KK for a pre-Wedding photoshoot by Devin Kho Photography worth BND 980 incluisve of a complete set of photobook.

The Musical Garden Wedding Fair 2012 is brought to you by PDCA Events Co. and it will take place on 29th November to 2nd December 2012 at The Mall.

Great prizes to be won for Mr. Brown Moment Photo Contest 2. I shall be joining this for sure 😀

The news that grabbed headlines in yesterday’s paper

I believe the story won’t end here. Yesterday headliners saw “Komunis” shop owner being convicted and sentenced to six weeks in prison. With a maximum penalty of six months behind bars, Yong Teck Sang only received six weeks but allowed a stay of execution pending an appeal. According to the report, Judge Pengiran Hajah Hanani Pengiran Haji Metusain deferred sentencing the defendant on Thursday to invite the prosecution to make submissions on sentencing, and yesterday decided a custodial sentence was proper.

The court mentioned that Yong have been running a “dishonest business” and the court was of the view that he knew he was selling pirated DVDs. Him being described as showing lack of remorse didn’t help matters.

For your info, he was convicted of selling 135 copies of CDs and VCDS of Malaysian singer Siti Nurhaliza, a copyright product under the flagship of Suria Records Sdn Bhd, Malaysia. This case have been ongoing for more than two years and finally the verdict was in favour of the prosecutor, formerly handled by DPP Joe Chan Jin Yuh and also Suria Records.

Mr. Tan Ngiap Foo, CEO of Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) and I during the Anugerah Industry of Malaysia event back in November 2011

In a quick telephone interview with Tan Ngiap Foo, CEO of Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM), he was delighted that the defendant was convicted and he hopes that this will be a learning lesson for others who doesn’t comply with selling copyright CDs, VCDs or DVDS. This was the first case that was brought to the court. Nonetheless Mr. Tan still notices some flaws in the system.

In Malaysia, the copyright law was introduced and violators will be fined RM 2,000 per song as quoted by the CEO of RIM. So that would mean that Yong would have to be fined at least RM 270,000 or BND 120,000 and the jail term won’t be exceeding 5 years. In Brunei, it’s a different story as the punishment is not as severe – a maximum of 6 months and BND 5,000 fine. In this case, Yong was sentenced to six weeks jail term and a BND 5,000 fine only.

Mr. Tan hopes that the Brunei Government can look into this matter in making the laws stricter and use Malaysia or Singapore as an example in how they combat piracy. He also hope that the verdict will take Brunei off the “watch list” from the Office of the Uniter States Trade Representative (USTR) where the Sultanate has been in the list due to the violation of intellectual property rights.

During the interview, Mr. Tan expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Brunei Government, the Attorney’s General Chamber and most of all to DPP Joe Chan who have worked tirelessly for a long period of time on this particular case and also to ASP Naguib Dato Hj Ismail, Royal Brunei Police Force for his assistance and professionalism in carrying out the investigation in the case.

Dk Nurul Aina Syafiqah came third in the 10km category at BIBD’s CE ALAF charity run yesterday

I have never heard of her before and I just found out that she has been active in joining runs in Brunei and it was the first time that I took notice of her just because she made the podium finish. Only 8 years old, Brunei has a new rising athlete star in the making and she has already made headlines.

If she had finished a minute slower, I wouldn’t have known of her and even with a top 10 finish, it is already considered a remarkable feat for an 8 year old. She missed the second spot by 21 seconds and she is ranked 6th in terms of timing for both Women’s Brunei and Women’s Open categories combined.

I’m not sure what her personal best is but she clocked 10km run in under one hour with a time of 53 mins 38 seconds. Considering of her age and her height, this is still a remarkable feat. She even overtook my buddy @keeranj who ran using my bib number since I wasn’t able to participate. Let’s hope the Brunei Athletics Association will take notice of her or maybe they already have.

Let’s not put our high hopes and expectations too because she’s still incredibly young and let her enjoy her run knowing that she has a bright future ahead of her.

Click image to enlarge. SMS quiz last day on 17th October