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RA says hey peeps.. it has been weeks since I posted the Ugly Truth and I’m just lost for words and direction to what should I bring up on my blog. There are simply so many talking points here and mostly it kinda put our country to shame. Perhaps the biggest incident that has been getting people’s attention is the local video which captured the confrontation of the youths and an Indian shopkeeper. So what it is, here is my 2 cents of my point of view.

Firstly, I’m kinda appalled by the content of the video and it’s kinda sad to see our youths reacting in such behaviour. This really shows how the family upbringing have influenced them. In actual fact, no one has the right to react in that manner and regardless if you are the customer or the salesman or anyone for that matter.

Secondly, I’m against racial discrimination. Yes, sometimes it’s a normal that we use “kaling” in our daily conversations without being aware that it is actually a discrimination and racial one. This is the point that I want to raise. People seem to use it like it’s a normal thing to say. That word is ban word in my vocab and I do hope parents and friends also stop using such word to describe an individual.

Thirdly, the Indian shopkeeper is in a tricky situation where he ended up not pressing charges against the youths. Normally in a case like this, foreigners might think twice to take action. The same case when the Filipino guy was beaten up by local lads a few weeks ago too and he didn’t want to press charges. If the victim is a local, it would have been a different story. I would understand why foreigners find it difficult to find to take such actions for their own protection.

Fourthly, despite the fact that no charges were taken from the victim, the Attorney General’s Chambers are looking into this matter and possible action will be taken. Prior to this, the Royal Brunei Police Force have already brought this matter into investigation and they have identified four male youths aged 25 to 39. The video itself has received more than 75,000 hits in a space of 10 days and that’s quite a huge growth for Brunei. It was also one of the videos that has more dislikes than likes too.

Taken in today’s Borneo Bulletin

Now the responses have been mixed as of late. There was further development after the video went viral. The locals were starting making memes to poke fun at the youths and even the Indians. Yes, it may seem funny to read it but when you look deeper and when the memes become too overpopulated, this situation may just blown out of proportion.

The t-shirts are being pre-ordered

There is one SME actually cashing in on this popularity of the memes and the famous tagline has been “Keluar Eh Betumbuk” and that has been the talking point among the locals. There are even pre-order t-shirts with an icon with the wordings Keluar Eh Batumbok. Yes, it’s catchy but it may also backfire in a sense that we are idolising such incident that represents our youth or even our country. I won’t buy this t-shirt for the record.

Taken from Airil Shamril Event Management Facebook page. Click image to read comments posted on my Instagram.

Another situation that caught my attention is one of the event management company who dared to invite the Indian guy as part of a kids carnival event at Tutong. In my opinion, such gesture is already going overboard and why would you want to have a meet-and-greet and secondly why at a kids’ event? It was blessing that it didn’t happened and the comments on my post were 100% not in favour of the meet-and-greet gimmick. You can check out the comments and replies here.

I do hope the culprits are punished for their misbehaviour and let this be a lesson to all that our society don’t tolerate such behaviour. I also do hope that the relevant authorities also look into the matter of the racial language that was used by the youth. It’s about time that such word should not be tolerated especially in the football scene where it’s commonly used.

Even Dj Daffy had a photo opportunity with the Indian shopkeeper

Ok, I got this off whatsapp and I believe this photo alone is inappropriate hmmmm….

 

Check out the four speakers this Thursday on the seminar: How to create Apps and this seminar is part of UBD Career Forum Series. The invited speakers are Rongen Roble, Project Brand division, ThreeGMedia Sdn Bhd, Andy Lai Boon Ho, Creator of the app “mypaypass”, Ak Mohd Khairi, CEO of PHMD Publishing and Khairul Anwar, Marketing Executive of PHMD Publishing and owner of Fanboy Infinite.

This is a good platform for those who wants to learn the steps on what is necessary to make a mobile app. This is also ideal for future mobile apps developer. I hope I’m able to check this out.. It will take place at The Core Theatre Hall, UBD on Thursday 21st March at 2pm.

 

They are getting ready for Thursday’s launch

If you can’t make your way to Japan, the next best thing is a visit to the Japan Festival.

Organised by Times Square Shopping Centre, the festival will be held at the atrium of the shopping centre from Wednesday, March 21 to Sunday, March 24 from 10am to 9pm.

The Japan Festival will showcase traditional and contemporary Japanese culture, technology and lifestyle, which include Wadaiko (Japanese drums) performances, martial arts demonstrations (Kempo, Kendo, Aikido, Karate), cooking demonstrations, Origami (the art of paper folding) and Furoshiki (the art of cloth wrapping) demonstrations, Japanese toy games, and Cosplay, among others.

Various high-quality Japanese products will also be on sale at the festival. Kitaro Restaurant, Misato Restaurant and Sno Food will showcase healthy Japanese food products; Royce will be selling Japanese chocolate, THA and Multitrons will display Sharp and Sony electronics respectively; and if the festival has whet your appetite for more, Pan Bright Travel Service will be on hand to help you plan a fascinating trip to the country. Tourism information will also be available at the JNTO exhibition booth.

The event is supported by the Embassy of Japan in Brunei, the Japan Foundation, the Japan Tourism Organisation (JNTO) and the Brunei-Japan Friendship Association (BJFA) Universiti Brunei Darussalam Chapter.

For more information, please call Times Square at 2338208 or the Embassy of Japan at 2229265.

The festival brochure, with a detailed schedule of the programme, can be downloaded at the Brunei Times Square Shopping Centre Facebook page.

The seats for the cultural performances are free, but are on a first-come-first-serve basis, so don’t miss this chance to immerse yourself in all things Japanese! Text courtesy of The Brunei Times.

 

Danny and Harrisman at the Rome Marathon 2013

Two representatives from Team GT (Brunei) participated in the full marathon (42.195 km) in Rome, Italy yesterday and I believe there are the only Bruneians there participating in the famous Rome Marathon 2013. It started and finished at the Colosseum and guess what, it’s a self proclaimed event that is the most participated sporting event in Italy.

Danny and Harrisman did Brunei proud by participating and they finished the race and that was their target though they were also targeting their personal best. According to the Danny, it was a great adrenalin rush at the starting line where they played the famous gladiator song to psyche up the runners.

Rome was surrounded by seven hills and that was the challenging part for them. Also making it challenging was the chilling weather with temperature of 3-6 degrees and they had some brain freeze moment too. Apart from that, the scenary was spectacular and they were fortunate enough to explore the inner and outer skirts of Rome.

Their intentions were met nonetheless and that was to finish the race. The final kilometre was a special moment for them where they carried the Brunei flag which was a great exposure for Brunei in the city of Rome (Hmmm they should have requested sponsorship from the Brunei Tourism Board).

They had people coming to them and asking which flag the country belongs to. So that’s a good sign that people are willing to find out more about Brunei. So guys, I don’t know how you did it but well done on making a successful run in the city of Rome. Not many will have the privilege like you guys. I’m still struggling to practice for the SCB 10k run which is less than a month’s time *lol*

Below are pictures courtesy of Danny and Harrisman during their participation in the Rome Marathon 2013.