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RA says It has been a while since I wrote about the Ugly Truth. Well, honestly speaking, there isn’t much that ticked my mind that’s worht bringing up for now.. Maybe there are a few bits and pieces that of importance.

One of the things I want to highlight are the popular “purple buses”. I do applaud the public bus proprietors for their initiative for rebranding the public bus service with the full support of the Ministry of Communications. Yes, now the buses are colour coded. I came across a pink one on the highway with yellow interior seats. Well, apparently it was quoted as Magenta and not pink in the paper but the pink effect registered as my first impression of the bus.

Anyway, the upgrades that were done were mostly the “cosmetics” of the buses and now the said public buses have seats for the handicap, request stop/flag stop buttons and of course, the refurbished interiors. The only question that spurred my mind is who will benefit in using the public buses in Brunei? From my quick observations, majority of the bus passengers are foreigners. They are the so called expert in using the bus services and for them, this is an added value bonus for them for having new facilities and upgrade on the buses.

Interesting colours that have caught the eyes of the public but it’s not enough to encourage us to depend on buses just yet
 

The Minister of Communications said that there must be continuous upgrading for the public buses
 

Now with these upgrades, will it entice us locals to change our mindset that the buses are a good recommendation to take us to Point A to Point B? The answer to this will be obvious. I have ridden in public buses in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia and why I take them is because of the system in place. The bus information is well placed at bus stops with all the routes and timings and the buses will only stop at designated bus stops and not simply stop at the will of the bus driver to pick and drop passengers.

These like these do matter to me and I can guarantee you that those who have never been on a bus, that will be a tough sell to encourage them to even get on the bus and give it a go. I guess it’s our mentality as well that we will be judged by others if we are caught seeing using a public transport. However, if you look at it differently, you can also be proud that you are willing to make use of the public buses and not many will have that courage to follow that footsteps.

The other question that I want to bring up is the maintenance of the buses. Last year October, I hopped into one of the purple buses for the first time but not for a ride experience but to check out the conditions of the buses. Well, purple buses have been around for many years but I was appalled by the conditions of it and it will definitely make me think twice even though this is one of my bucket list to ride on the public bus. So this is something that needs to be looked at as we do take hygiene pretty seriously. I remember coming across a bucket and a mop which was placed at the back seat of the bus as I was wondering about the stench once I stepped inside the bus. To top that up, the seats of the buses had different colour shades (and I won’t go into details of my assumptions *lol*).

I saw a mop in one of the buses and I’m not sure if this applies to all the buses. This was taken last year October 2012 so I’m not sure if things have changed for the better.

So these factors I believe influence our mindsets and it will take some level of awareness and education to change the mindsets. With a better bus route system with appropriate schedules would probably have more impact in the public’s decision to hop on the bus.

The Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies have done studies apparently and this plan falls under the 2008-2017 Strategic Plans of the Ministry of Communications. I still feel we are off the mark with only 4 years left to reach such milestones especially urging public transport usage and tackling car dependency.

Oh man, I didn’t know I was gonna type this long for a single topic. You can check out some comments from the public here and here. Ok, why don’t I just leave it here for my UG moment. If you have anything that you feel like expressing or be opinionated about, feel free to email me at ranoadidas (at)gmail.com and have a great week ahead, guys!!

Oh before I sign off, I want to highlight one titah that His Majesty delivered yesterday in conjunction with His Majesty’s 67th Birthday celebration. Just refer to the image below and you will know what I’m talking about. This would be mean more enforcements from the relevant agencies especially from the Ministry of Health and perhaps the Royal Customs. It will be interesting how this will unfold.

Taken from the paper’s this morning. Cigarettes will be hard to come by in the next few weeks or so.

Are you ready to go crazy on AirAsia’s website this midnight?

 

Another Time Out with Liz episode this September

“With the successful pilot launched on the 31 Aug 2013, the public now can look forward to a different type of Saturday night entertainment at the end of each month.

“Time Out with Liz” provides a platform for local talents of all kinds and inspiring people to engage, entertain and connect with the public. This month everyone has the opportunity to get close and personal with Jenny Malai Ali, find out more about Fakhrul Razis’ story thus far and enjoy a live cooking demonstration by one of our local food blogger and food enthusiast, Thanis Lim.

Registered audience will also walk away with this months giveaways and much more. So be a part of the live recording audience by calling or texting 8826013. Limited seats available.

Kevin Lo, co-host with Liz. Image courtesy of Wanee.

The audience from the Liz’ debut talk show

Liz giving out freebies

A happy camper with a souvenir from Liz

Kevin Lo with his version of scrambled eggs

I see my buddies there supporting Liz’ talk show

One of the guests was Eia

Zainal thrilled the audience with his comedic antics

Thanis was also a guest on the show