New and bigger things at ICON Design Store. Click to enter

 

Grand Raya Package at Peugoet and promotion ends 15th September. Click image to enter website.

 

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Introducing the 787 Dreamliner. Coming soon!!

 

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’Izzadin Waddaulah the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam graced the launching of Brunei’s very own Online Supermarket ‘SocialMart.com.bn’ during the Royal tour of the ICT Gallery at the Hari Raya Banquet Ceremony hosted by Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at the International Convention Centre on 27th August 2013.

Accompanying His Majesty during the event was His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at Prime Minister’s Office, His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Malik, His Royal Highness Prince Sufri Bolkiah and His Royal Highness Prince Hj Jefri Bolkiah.

Hiro Tien, founder of SocialBuzz was among the few ICT companies selected by the AITI to present to His Majesty on their company’s latest achievements and contribution to society through technology as a whole. SocialBuzz currently has 10,000 members and its growing steadily.

Speaking to the press on the Royal visit’s experience, founder Hiro Tien mentioned: ”During the Titah at the banquet, His Majesty gave extreme recognition and high emphasis on ICT themed competitions and grants such as the BICTA, Ignite, LEAP Grant by BEDB & AITI Grant for digital & multimedia industries among others, for their contribution in spurring innovation within ICT industry in Brunei. When we put up a slide of the company bagging awards in BICTA & nabbing champion at Ignite recently, His Majesty immediately recognized them with huge smiles. It was a mind-blowing experience to us!”

”We shared about how we were able to leverage on the strong internet penetration and widespread 3G deployment in Brunei Darussalam to channel collective purchasing power on the web. We also shared the fact that more than 300 local & regional SMEs have benefitted from the social commerce marketing experience by SocialDeal” said Hiro Tien.

“We went on to share a little bit about our recent Ignite & AITI Grant winning project, The Gigland, and its grand vision to bridge talents & vocational skills via location-based technology given that Brunei has massive counts of undiscovered talents in arts, music, speakers and others”.

Socialbuzz showcased their latest product – SocialMart (http://www.socialmart.com.bn) – an online supermarket in Brunei. The product was launched by His Majesty and he grasped the concept immediately and was excited about what it can do to the public, further commenting: ‘People are getting busier nowadays, and its great that you (provide online services that) delivers to them!’

His Majesty the Sultan launched the SocialMart product two weeks ago

HRH Prince Jefri with Hiro and his team

So how does the SocialMart works? Well now you can order grocery and get them delivered on the same day. According to Hiro, if a shopper checks out (an order) before 12pm noon of any day, they have the option to receive their orders on the same day from 2-8pm. If a shopper checks out after 12pm noon of the day, the latest delivery slot is the next day, 2-8pm.

It is mentioned that Buyers also have the privilege to opt for delivery anytime within the next seven days shall they wish to.

In regards to how the great savings are even possible with groceries, Hiro mentioned: ‘‘It’s simple. Without cashiers, sales attendants, parking lots, aisles of shelves, rental and many other traditional retailing expenses to pay for – we are able to sell cheaper when we do it online!”

It is understood from the new red color themed website that every midnight at 12am, 3 selected products from the range of food and beverage, household, personal care and baby products will be ‘knocked down’ drastically in price & shown at home page.

“This is possible by leveraging on the PWP model (purchase with purchase) widely practiced in supermarkets. Since SocialMart operates on a membership and minimum cart amount checkout of B$30 – which department stores can’t really implement on daily basis – we’re able to go about with prices not seen before in Brunei for some items since the minimum order condition is always a requirement for orders” explained founder Hiro Tien.

The online supermarket currently delivers to Brunei Muara District only, with very near term to open up for other districts within the year. SocialMart charges a flat-rate delivery fee of B$5 throughout Brunei Muara District and offers free delivery for orders above B$75.

SocialBuzz is a 2year old startup company currently incubated at the iCentre. iCentre is a successful initiative by the Brunei Economic Development Board to grow and nurture tech startups in Brunei Darussalam. AITI supported the launch of the company’s latest product via the ICT Gallery Showcase at the ICC during the Hari Raya Banquet Ceremony hosted by Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on the 27th August 2013.

SocialMart.com.bn is managed under locally registered company SocialMart Technologies.

www.SocialMart.com.bn’s first delivery starts on 9th Sept 2013. Stay tuned to their facebook page at http://facebook.com/SocialMartBrunei too for knockdown announcements!

How the SocialMart looks like

How the SocialMart looks like

How the SocialMart looks like

 

Sometimes it’s the priceless moment to see a person’s reaction whenever he or she wins a grand prize such as a car. Yesterday Baiduri Bank gave away a Toyota Vios 1.5 as part of the Sungkai with Baiduri’ dining promotion. The promotion was applicable for Baiduri cardholders and they had choices of restaurants to choose from during Ramadhan.

All you have do is spend $50 and above and you are entitled to a lucky draw. The other consolation prizes were Samsung Galaxy Camera, an Apple iPad Mini or an iPod Touch 5th Gen.

So yesterday was the prize presentation for the Sungkai with Baiduri’ dining promotion. Present was Pierre Imhof, CEO of Baiduri Bank who gave away the prizes.

Hajah Hasnah binti Mohammad won the grand prize, the Toyota Vios 1.5 while the runner up was Mary Teo Bee Li who walked away with a Samsung Galaxy Camera.

The third place went to Rasool Beevi Salahudeen who won an Apple iPad Mini and in fourth place was Nurul Nabilah binti Osman who walked away with an iPod Touch 5th Gen. The prizes were presented by Ti Eng Hui, Deputy General Manager, Retail Banking and Branch Network Division.

Hjh Hasnah couldn’t believe it when she won the Toyota Vios

She’s now a proud owner of the Toyota Vios

Mr. Pierre Imhof, CEO of Baiduri Bank talking to the grand winner

Mr. Pierre Imhof with Ti Eng Hui with Hjh Hasnah and her daughter

The press covering the event

The top winners with Baiduri Bank’s CEO and Deputy General Manager

 

A sum of $53,633.35 was raised during the “Be Bold! Go Bald!” head-shaving campaign held as part of the recently concluded Asean Year Consumer Fair for the Brunei Breast Cancer Support Group (BBCSG).

Datin Hjh Norlina bte Dato Haji Abu Bakar, the wife of the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya, in her capacity as the guest of honour presented the mock-cheque to Datin Hjh Sahaidah bte Awang Taib, the President of the BBCSG.

A total of 67 individuals comprising 22 women, 39 men and six children (under 12 years) signed up to be sponsored for their heads to be shaved on August 25 in a show of compassion and solidarity with breast cancer awareness. Direct donations to the support group were also made via the donation box set up before and during the fair.

Datin Hjh Norlina bte Dato Haji Abu Bakar – the wife of the Minister of Industry and Primary Respurces, presents the mock cheque to President of the Brunei Breast Cancer Support Group, Datin Hjh Sahaidah (L), as Dato Danial and Managing Director of Sunlit Advertising, Jackson Ting looks on

A group photo with the guest of honour, organisers and shavees for the head shaving campaign

In his welcoming remarks, Managing Director of Sunlit Advertising, Jackson Ting stated that the company was very pleased to able to help spread awareness of breast cancer by organising the activity for the BBCSG and to donate all proceeds of the activity to the support group. He also noted that several Sunlit staff members also made the bold move and shaved their heads.

Meanwhile, Datin Hjh Sahaidah also expressed her gratitude in tears of joy for all “shavees”, organisers and the generous individuals who donated to a good cause. She prayed to Allah the Almighty to repay the good deeds from all those who have made the event a success. Top show her appreciation the BBCSG President also presented certificates to the event’s organisers Sunlit Advertising Sdn Bhd and the event’s partner, IA Saloon.

Also present at the ceremony were representatives of the charity event’s activity partners, the BBCSG and IA Salon, who provided the hairdressers to shave the participants.

The “Be Bold! Go Bald!” charity head-shaving campaign became one of the main highlights of the Asean Year Consumer Fair held from August 21 to 25, at Bridex Hall in Jerudong. Text and pictures above courtesy of Aziz Idris of Borneo Bulletin.

Teddy Wong was one of the participants and he even announced that he’s giving one scoop of Haagen-Dazs ice cream to those who shaved their heads. Cool!!

Bee Yee being interviewed by the Brunei Times

Jenny Yap with her son also shaved for the occasion

Gavin and Ivan also braved themselves for the cause. Thumbs up!

Cecelia Lee of IA Salon (in kebaya) was in vibrant mode

We were the last ones to be shaved off

Jackson Ting donated $1,000 for both of us to be shaved. Awesome!!

Almost there..

Thumbs up from Cecelia Lee

A great successful event. A good start and who knows next year it will be bigger.

 

The Audi A8L. Always first class.

 

Yet another remarkable achievement for the Find It Fast contest at the recent CF12 held at Bridex Jerudong.

Md Qhairul Azrul B Alik was able to clock an impressive 7.81 seconds to win over other participants. He has won himself a voucher worth B$2000.00 of home décor. 

Participants of the contest were asked to locate the required answer from the YP app at the shortest possible time. The aim of this contest was to show the public the features of the app, it’s convenient and easy usage to look for business contacts, subscribers listing and addresses.

The 1st runner up Mr Yung Yun Khiong took home a shopping voucher worth B$1,000 of furniture while the third prizeXavier Lee An won a voucher worth B$ 500.00 of interior décor.   15 other winners bagged meal vouchers worth B$20.00 each.

Our main aim of this contest was to encourage all to download the YP app.   All names of winners for FIF contest version 2.0 are posted on our website www.yp.com.bn Text and image courtesy of YP Brunei.

James Lee, Managing Director of Yellow Pages (Brunei) with the winners of the Find it Fast contest

 

In continuation to DST’s Ihsan Kasih Raya Celebrations with Special Needs Children, DST on Friday 6th September 2013 continued its Hari Raya celebration at the final week of Syawal to 880 special needs children from Temburong and Brunei Muara district. The celebration in Temburong kicked off the festivities in the morning at the Bumiputra Phase 2 Building in Bangar, while the final celebration which hosted over 2000 invited guests commenced in the later part of the day at the Indoor Stadium in Berakas.

In the Temburong District, DST’s Ihsan Kasih Raya Celebration welcomed the children, the families and members of staff from Pusat Bahagia and KACA. Leading the DST Ihsan Kasih Hari Raya Team was Awang Haji Matnarudin Ibrahim, General Manager of DST Group Subsidiaries.

The four-district festivities ended in the Brunei-Muara district marking the final DST’s Ihsan Kasih Hari Raya Celebration with special needs children. With the collaborative effort between DST and Community Development Department (JAPEM), up to 800 special needs children, their families and the staff from Learning Ladders, Pusat Bahagia, Pusat Ehsan, Smarter, and KACA filled the Berakas Indoor Stadium with enthusiasm. Present as Guest of Honour for the event was Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Awang Haji Hussain, Chief Executive Officer of DST. Images courtesy of DST.

Haji Suhaimi bin Awang Haji Hussain, Chief Executive Officer of DST presents a DST green packet and goodies to one of the children during the celebration in Brunei-Muara District

Hj Matnarudin Ibrahim, General Manager of DST Group Subsidiaries presents a DST green packet to one of the children during the celebration in Temburong District

DST Staff in a group photo with Head of Pusat Bahagia, KACA and some of the recipients during the Hari Raya celebration in Temburong

Click image to enter flyroyalbrunei.com

 

The country’s potential in producing highly academic and intellectually exceptional students capable of competing in the global arena was deepened further as two gifted students who were nominated by the Special Education Unit at the Ministry of Education (MoE) achieved top awards at the 5th Apec Future Scientist Conference in Changwon City of the Republic of Korea. It was held from July 22 to July 26.

Their achievements were praised by Choi Byung Koo, South Korean Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam who hosted a luncheon for the gifted students and the lead teachers at his residence in Jln Muara.

Lim Chai Tze of Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College (MSPSBS) won a gold medal and a Best Presentation Award for her research work during the Poster Competition while Dk Umi Kalthum binti Pg Hj Muhd Sazali from Jerudong International School (JIS) received the bronze award during the Team Project Competition.

South Korean Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Choi Byung Koo with the gifted students and lead teachers in a group photo.

During this period, five research articles written by gifted Bruneian students have been selected for publication in the prestigious Apec Youth Scientist Journal including Converting Harmful Gases released from Factories into Useful Substances by Awg Muhammad Hazman bin Muhammad Iskandar (2010), Cyanobacteria: Solutions to Global Warming by Law VI Yen (2011) and Solar Distilator: The Solution to Water- Related Deaths? by Sum Yi Ren (2012).

These amazing achievements reflected strong commitment of the Special Education Unit of MoE in ensuring that exceptional Brunei students were provided with opportunities to attend internationally gifted programmes and competitions which further extended as well as challenged their abilities while developing excellent leadership skills within international fora.

Meanwhile, gifted Bruneian students also demonstrated an impressive level of accomplishments and standard parallel to their regional and international counterparts at the 2nd Asean Plus Three Junior Science Odyssey (APTJSO) in Busan at the Republic of South Korea.

The Special Education Unit, in its endeavours towards realising Wawasan 2035, has selected gifted students to represent Brunei at various international gifted programmes including the Asean Plus Three Teacher Workshop and Student Camp for the Gifted in Science 2, Asean Plus Three Junior Science Odyssey (APT JSO) and the Apec Mentoring Centre for the Gifted in Science. Click here for more of the article. Text and image courtesy of Fadhil Yunus of Borneo Bulletin.

 

Winners of the Hari Raya Promotion 2013 by Cooltones

Cooltones held a Draw & Prize Presentation Event for Raya Promotion 2013 at iCrave Kopitiam in iCentre building, Berakas. Eligible winners were those who ordered Raya Tones from 1st August 2013 till 31st August 2013. Only Active Users of Cooltones were drawn.

  Representatives of B-Mobile Communications Sdn Bhd and Cooltones were Iskandar Haji Zulkifli and Haniah Haji Hamzah respectively.

  This draw is in conjunction of Cooltones 6th Year Anniversary and Raya Celebration where Top 10 winners will stand a chance of Hampers and Top-Up cards worth of $10.00 each. Following are the winners’ name;

   1. Pg Noorhanani binti Pg Sabli
   2. Abdul Aziz bin Hj Ahmad
   3. Mahani @ Nur Badri binti Denian
   4. Md Sahlan bin Hj Ruslan
   5. Rosnah Hj Othman
   6. Pg Halimah bte Ph Mohiddin
   7. Nasyran Musyrif Warid bin Salleh
   8. Dyg Sarinah binti Hj Aisa
   9. Nurainah binti Mohammad Noor
   10. Muhammad Danial Melintang
  
  

 

David Biggs with the dolphin by the beach. A rare moment indeed. Image taken from TBT and courtesy of David Biggs.

What are the chances of us seeing a dolphin just by the beach? Rare, right? Two expats came across the dolphin as it was stranded by beach at Seri Kenangan Beach. Both of them were jogging when they noticed an unfamiliar object at the shallows of the beach.

So they guided the dolphin as it was trying to swim back to the sea. Eventually it did after reaching the deeper water level. The Ministries and relevant government would be pleased to know of this. Scott Cassell, Luminox brand ambassador would also be a happier being if he reads the news. I myself is amazed by this. Kudos to both of you.

 

Few nights ago, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) hosted dinner in conjunction with awarding the top local travel agents in Brunei Darussalam. They are being awarded best on their achievements and milestones. 11 travel agencies attended the function which took place at Rizqun International Hotel.

The guest of honour was Teo Beang Soo, MAS Area Manager (Singapore & Brunei) and he appreciated the agents in reaching the milestones and hopes for a much stronger tie. Also present was Zainal Abidin, District Area Manager of Malaysia Airlines (Brunei) and Zurina Abd Samad, the new director of Tourism Malaysia (Brunei).

Ken Travel & Trading, JJ Tours & Travel, Darussalam Holdings, Anthony Tours & Travel, Southern Cross Travel and Continental Tours all received Six Tall awards.

PGGMB Travel earned the Highest Revenue Passenger Growth award. Century Travel Services, Pan Bright Travel and Straits Travel Agency earned the 1st, 2nd and 3rd million dollar award respectively. The big winner was Freme Travel Services for the RSVP award.

Teo Beang Soo, MAS Area Manager (Singapore & Brunei) giving his welcoming remarks

Teo Beang Soo and Zainal Abidin with representatives from travel agents

Freme Travel earned the biggest award of the night

Mindful of enthusiastic travellers who may not be able to make it the travel fair, Malaysia Airlines will also be offering these promotional fares through the airline’s website www.malaysiaairlines.com, Malaysia Airlines’ ticket counter in Bandar Seri Begawan or participating travel agents from 2 until 13 September 2013.

All adult and child passengers travelling on Malaysia Airlines will enjoy 30, 40, and 50 kilograms free baggage allowance respectively for travel on economy, business and first class.

 

First prize for Open category (primary level). Image by Sim.

First prize for Regular Category (Komodo Island). Image by Sim.

First prize for Open Category (secondary level). Image by Sim.

I saw this once when STEP joined the Consumer Fair a few years back. STEP stands for Science, Technology and Environment Partnership Centre under the Ministry of Education and their role is to give opportunity to students to have hands on experience on creating mechanical robots using Lego Mindstorms products. So it’s up to the imagination of the individuals on what kind of mechanics they can create from the resources given.

The Brunei Robotics Olympiad (BRO) competition ended two days ago followed by the prize and certificate presentation. The guest of honour was Hj Abdul Rahman Hj Nawi, Acting Director of Curriculum Development Department, MOE. He toured the exhibition and gave the certificates and prizes. He was accompanied by Sarimah binti Abu Bakar, Acting Head of STEP.

The event took placed at Sekolah Rendah Perpindahan Kg Lambak Kanan, Jalan 10, and it was my first visit there too. According to the press release, there were 51 teams from primary and secondary school that took part. The idea of this competition is to challenge the students to come up with their creativity in overcoming obstacles using Lego Mindstorms products. By the way, if you are interested to get hold of Lego Mindstorms, you can contact Pentagram Design Sdn Bhd who is the distributor for Lego Mindstorms.

In Batik Challenge category, Deceptikons, the 5th’ team from Muhammad Alam Primary School was crowned as the champion, whilst in Borobudur Challenge category was won by Dazzwary team from Pengiran Isteri Hajjah Mariam Secondary School, Serasa and in Komodo Island Challenge, Ms-x3 team from Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan took the first prize.

In the open category, the winner for secondary schools went to SMB ONE team from Berakas Secondary School whilst for the primary schools; the award went to Anak Warisan PSN from Pengiran Setia Negara Pengiran Mohd Yusof Primary School, Seria.

 

I’m impressed with what ICON Design Store came up with – the Double Dutch Lounge Sofa. It came about through a brain storming session from the guys behind ICON Design Store and a lot of thoughts have gone into the design and I like the finished product. According to Gert of Icon Design Store, the sofa is more flexible, it’s modular and interchangeable without compromising the feel and the looks. If you are into L-shaped sofas (and you want to impressed your love ones *lol*), then this is a good sofa to invest in.

Let me explain more about the Double Dutch Lounge Sofa. It is all in the design of being able to interchange the L-setting to be either at the left or right whenever your mood tells you to. Available in a range of great colours and materials to suit every taste. And the beauty of it all is it does not stop at the L-shaped sofa; soon 3-seaters, 2-seaters and a single sofa will be added to the Double Dutch Lounge Collection. All available in leather and cashmere wool and linen.

The new Double Dutch Lounge Sofa is another great reason to visit the ICON Design Store on Jalan Batu Bersurat. 

ICON Design Store’s latest design – Double Dutch Lounge Sofa. You should check this out 😀

I asked Gert to show how the sofa is interchangeable

This can be done in matter of seconds or less than a minute

It’s not that heavy, right, Gert?

Before it was on the right side and now it’s on the left 😀

Ahh.. I’m in love with this sofa already

Comes in black too or you can have your own design and texture

Mixing top designers from all the greats like Eames, Jacobsen, Wegner, Bertoia, Yanagi, Noguchi, Corbusier, it’s like visiting a furniture museum where you can sit on the classics, talk to knowledgeable staff (you should meet Gert in person) and then take the exhibits home with you.

Come and visit the ICON Design Store for a test drive of the new Double Dutch Lounge Sofa. And the very first owner will also receive a complimentary gift. ICON Design Store is located near Fun Bee Park at Batu Bersurat. They have taken three or four units I believe so it’s a pretty big store. They also do interior consultation work too and they come up with quality work.

You can also browse their Facebook page and also their website (tons of European furtinure to choose from) for more information.

Some of the items at ICON Design Store

Gert working hard on his current interior design project

ICON Design Store at Batu Bersurat