With my toastmasters buddies Supatra Lee and Jason Koo during the 31st National Day celebration at Taman SOAS

Generasi Berwawasan. That’s the theme this year’s National Day, the 31st for Brunei Darussalam. I attended the parade once again at the Taman SOAS. As usual, I woke up slightly late but still managed to catch the marching parade. I caught the boat from Batu Satu and had a drop off at Yayasan area. It seems I have finally found a solution to parking woes should there be a Royal event at Taman SOAS. Otherwise, I would have to find parking at a distance which requires a lot of walking to the event at Taman SOAS. So if you are planning to cut short your trip to town especially events like His Majesty’s birthday or National Day, use the boat. It will save you all the inconvenience.

Almost 30,000 people were involved in the National Day celebration and one great thing about our community is that we are united as a country. Brunei has grown from strength to strength and it boils down to the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan. This year, the National Day logo is a shape of a blossom-flower which represents the country’s vision as a Zikir nation and also supporting and upholding His Majesty’s titan towards achieving 2035 vision.

Generasi Berwasan which means “Generation With a Vision” represents greatness and patriotic values of our youths and they will help to achieve Brunei’s Vision 2035.

My thoughts of Brunei: Though many has showed their complains about restrictions such as entertainment in Brunei, I’m still proud of the country because of its peacefulness. The implementation of the Syariah Law last year may have installed fear and some opted to reside outside Brunei. It has been a year since the implementation but business (and life) goes on like normal. The only strange outcome from my findings is that small petty crimes seemed to be on the rise as I kept reading the local newspaper every now and then.

Oil prices have dropped significantly worldwide and it will definitely affect Brunei in a long run if oil prices keep dropping. With the current Vision 2035, it is still a long way to go and we shouldn’t simply rely on oil and gas for economy growth. Unemployment among the youth seems to be on a slight increase, reading from the papers a few weeks ago. With the upcoming LegCo happening today, we will see what issues are being addressed and how the Ministers of the respective Cabinets respond to the issues being raised.

Nonetheless there are so many great things to appreciate about Brunei. We have an awesome, popular iconic figure of Brunei – His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei. We don have to pay taxes especially income tax. Education and health is free. Traffic congestion is minimal. Cost of living is cheaper compared to regional countries. Petrol is still subsidized by the Brunei Government. Brunei is a very family oriented society and high tendency parents will pick their children from school during lunch hours.

We live in a laid back community and I have foreign clients who commented similar accounts as well. My foreigner friends are used to the fast paced environment and they said the slow pace in Brunei has its ups and downs. For the past two years, we have been experiencing new franchisees such as Starbucks and Burger King to name a few and more Bruneians are beginning to grasp the concept of franchises.

I could go on and on. Let’s just stop here for now. It is time for the youth to step up and contribute to our country in achieving His Majesty’s Vision of 2035.