The Good, The So-So and The Bad. Ah, Jakarta.. It has been more than 10 years since my last visit to the city. I remember my last trip was with regards to The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf trip, meeting potential franchisors in the region. I didn’t have much sentimental value back then but that changed over the course of the weekend during our toastmasters trip to attend the Jakarta Conference 2016.

I’m already feeling the pressure as I have volunteered myself to be responsible in running the Brunei Conference 2016 coming October. Then again, I have a reliable set of team in Brunei and it will also test my leadership skills in managing the event and striking the right chords with my team too.

Kashish Ajit Harjani (3rd from left) won the the Table Topics District Contest in Jakarta last weekend

Denish Vaswani (3rd from left)

Reuben Chin interviewing Pranika Lama

The contestants from the tables topic contest

With Allen, Fen and Pamela during Welcoming Dinner

So the Good… Well, I like the setting of the toastmasters conference. The venue was spot on for the toastmasters delegate and spacious as well (to a certain extent.. explain later). I can learn some pointers for the banner/backdrop that was used during the conference. The hotel we stayed at Santika Hayam Wuruk was pretty cool though the rooms were slightly small and it was about BND 650 for five nights.

The best part of the conference was the re-connecting with old faces and breaking the ice with new ones. Despite the minor friction from different divisions in our District, I made acquaintance with a few toastmasters members from Medan, Jakarta and Kuching. I learnt that I am able to get out of the comfort zone (as in being with my team members) and meet other members outside the Brunei contingent. That’s one way of expanding your horizons instead of imploding. This I have to take note for future conferences.

My final say of the juicy part of the conference was the actual speech contest, notably the International Speech category. Of course, we were all in Jakarta to support our Division champion Pranika Lama, a UBD Toastmasters member, and it was her first time reaching this level. I had faith in her speech because of her pure dedication and commitment to bring the best out of her.

To my surprise, the other contestants were equally good or better. They have just raised the bar for District 87 and sometimes it does pay when you have experience under your belt in this level. Dinesh Vaswani and Rebecca were no strangers and they had a 1-2 finish respectively and well-deserved too. As for Pranika, I truly grateful to witness you just being on stage and delivered a masterful delivery and many would be inspired to be a better speaker like you.

Now the so-so. It was cool know the fact that even a turnover of Chairmanship happened three times, things doesn’t necessarily will run smoothly. It means more transference and hand-over deals that could have been avoided before the actual conference. The Annual Conference is the second biggest after the World Conference and we could see teething problems along the way which I hope the organizing committee will bring it up during their post mortem.

Our rooms weren’t handled to a delicate manner and there were a few miscommunication with the logistic person and the front office of the hotel. It took me an hour to settle my room situation upon arrival.

Another teething problem was the actual contest. Yes, I did praise about the good quality speeches but behind the scenes, it was a total mess. There were no specific Organizing Chair for the contest. Nico from Medan was their standby emcee. Even the organizing chairperson asked me halfway during the contest if I could interview the contestants (But we all know that’s the task of the Contest Chair who happened to be Reuben and Pamela).

Among all these setbacks during the contest, I have to applaud Reuben Chin for lifting the energy of the audience when there was an unexpected delay before the prize presentation due to contestants’ protests on some matters. He was purely magical and charismatic in carrying the flow for at least 20 minutes to buy time for the Chief Judge to decide.

Like I said, just some teething problems that could have been avoided with proper communications. Something that we can’t take for granted.

Peter Voon from Bintulu and Gerald Goh

Yay, our area got awarded from Toastmasters International

Area K6, one of the strongest group in Division K, District 87

Now the Bad. Honestly, as a member of our toastmasters District 87, I was hoping for a better leadership from the District. The “Reaching Up, Reaching Out” but it didn’t reach the heights that was quite ambitious by our District Director. Perhaps the lowest point was when the District Director avoided a legit question by our Area K6 Director Allen Ang who raised concerns on the financial aspect of the District 87. A similar question was raised back in October 2015 in Bali but it was brushed off. This time, the District Director and the Finance Manager were put in the spotlight for a few minutes but their replies were fruitless and inconclusive. I felt embarrassed as a member that our leaders are not capable to answer a straight forward question and just be accountable for their actions. I hope the next term will turn things around with the newly elect Ivy Lau as the Division Director 2016-2017.

Another note, I wasn’t impressed with the Gala Dinner. We started quite early and we always know how draggy the Gala Dinner will be because of the award session. This is the time where toastmaster members and clubs will be recognized for their achievements and milestones. This is the time where delegates will sacrifice their personal time and fly to Jakarta at their own expense to receive their award.

However, it didn’t go as planned. The entertainment took bulk of the session over dinner where the awards should have given much importance. In the end, the award ceremony only started after 10pm which is pretty late and the overall experience seemed so rushed. It was probably the fastest award ceremony I’ve experienced as a delegate and it felt it was given less importance. Something for the organizers to look back and analyze on this event. The entertainment was already great on the Welcoming Dinner but to have on both nights, you will need to strike a balance on the Gala Dinner.

Brunei Speakers’ Club were awarded with two accolades

One of the energetic speakers at the Jakarta Conference. Cheeky too.

Our District leaders for Brunei, Indonesia, KK, Kuching and Labuan

During the District Council Meeting last Friday

Allen Ang raised a few valid points that still remains unanswered from District

The panels of District 87 leaders

The flag bearers for the opening ceremony

Some night activities during Welcome Dinner

There are many others that I want to highlight but I shall leave that offline. Overall, I had a splendid time because of the people around that I connected and reconnected with. Thank you, once again, to the organizers but don’t take my feedback personally but as a learning lesson.

Having said all these, it might backfire since I am the next organizing chair. I’m not raising any expectations for my conference either but at least, we as a team want to make everything run as smooth and make the delegates especially the international ones feel like home. That time will come and we will be ready to host all of you.

With the beautiful Pranika

Dinesh one of the most experienced public speaker. He will fly to Washington to compete in the World Conference this August. Good luck 😀

One of the table topics speaker

I was pitching for the delegates to come over to Brunie

Team KK are well ahead as they have secured 100 paying registrants for their convention next year

 

Congratulations to all the graduates. Catch me on Snapchat and Periscope.

The graduates of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam 27th Convocation

Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Indera Setia Diraja Sahibul Karib Pengiran Anak Hj Idris, Executive Chairman of Indera Motors (2nd from left) with British High Commissioner David Campbell, Hj Khairuddin Hj Abd Hamid, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (guest of honour) and Yang Amat Mulia Pg Anak Ghaffar during the launch of the Discovery Sport at The Empire Hotel & Country Club recently. Image courtesy of Azli Azney of The Brunei Times.

Late post: Recently Indera Motors Sdn Bhd, the sole distributor of Jaguar and Land Rover, launched the Land Rover Discovery Sport at the Empire Hotel & Country Club. In attendance were Executive Chairman of Indera Motors Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Indera Setia Diraja Sahibul Karib Pengiran Anak Hj Idris officiated at the launch ceremony, with Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources Hj Khairuddin Hj Abd Hamid as the guest of honour. Also present was Yang Amat Mulia Pg Anak Ghaffar and British High Commissioner David Campbell.

Noormala Othman, Senior Executive Manager of Indera Motors, gave a brief introduction of the Discovery Sport before the launch of the car. The Discovery Sport will be a big hit in Brunei because of its premium value and still affordable as the price tag starts at $73,800 on the road. As you know Land Rover has a 66 year history and it’s the first of its kind for the Discovery family to introduce a compact premium SUV in Brunei.

For more information on the new Discovery Sport or a test drive, visit the Indera Motors Showroom at Lot Q2, Q3 and Q4 at the Lambak Kanan Industrial area in Berakas. It is open from 8am until 5pm Mondays to Thursdays, Fridays from 8am until 11.30am and 2.30pm until 5pm, and Saturdays from 8am until 4pm. Images courtesy of Azli Azney of The Brunei Times.

Noormala Othman, Senior Executive Manager of Indera Motors

Unveiling the Discovery Sport

Ain’t that just a sexy car? 😀

It’s the competition of the Humourous Contest and Speech Evaluation Contest for Brunei toastmasters. For your info, Brunei has four toastmasters clubs, namely Brunei Speakers’ Club, OTTERS, UBD Toastmasters Club and Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club.

Two representatives from each club will contest and the winner of the respective category will represent Brunei in the Division Level at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in early October.

The event will take place at OGDC, Seria this Sunday at 2pm. Yea, it’s quite a fair ride for those residing in town but if you have nothing better to do and also wanting to be entertained, then why not spare $5 to listen to eight speakers on their humorous speeches.

Jason Koo, one of the favourites for Humourous Speech. Good luck, buddy!

Elaine Tsang is also one of the finalists for the Area K6 contest

Humourous Contest

Supatra Lee – Brunei Speakers’ Club
Rano Iskandar – Brunei Speakers’ Club
Rozana Hj Yunos – Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club
Pranika Lama – Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club
Jason Koo – OTTERS
Elaine Tsang – OTTERS
Brendan Ti – UBD Toastmasters Club
Julius Hong – UBD Toastmasters Club

Speech Evaluation Contest

Supatra Lee – Brunei Speakers’ Club
Rano Iskandar – Brunei Speakers’ Club
Rozana Hj Yunos – Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club
Nina Kifrawi – Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club
Hazwan Kamarulzaman – OTTERS
Philip – OTTERS
Pranika Lama – UBD Toastmasters Club
Farhan Jaafar Ali – UBD Toastmasters Club

So good luck to all the contestants and the most important thing is to have fun, fun, fun 😀 The previous Area K6 winner was Allen Ang who bagged both the Humourous Contest and Speech Evaluation Contest.

This is the venue for the Area K6 contest at OGDC, Seria this coming Sunday at 2pm

The reason why I joined toastmasters – learning, leadership and friendship

Cool t-shirts for the test drive session of the Discovery Sport last August

Written and experienced by Aliya Zin, reporter from rano360.com: Indera Motors Sdn Bhd, the sole distributor for Jaguar and Land Rover in Brunei invited members of the media for a two day media escapade to Keningau, Sabah on 19th-20th August, to experience the new Discovery Sport, and the first member of the new Discovery family.

I was fortunate to have been part of the media group who went on the trip to Keningau, and experience what the new Discovery Sport has to offer. Full disclosure : I’m not a car aficionado, so if my opinion on the vehicle is seriously lacking in information, it’s only because I looked at it as a someone who views cars as a means to get from point A to point B, so I’ll do my best.

The seven vehicle expedition was flagged off by YAM Pg Anak Hj Abdul Ghaffar bin PISDSK Pg Anak Hj Idris, the General Manager of Indera Motors, from the Indera Motors showroom, and departed to Lawas, Tenom, Keningai and touring through the famous Crocker Range National Park in Sabah.

There were four of us road trip buddies in the white Discovery Sport : myself, Tiger Lim, Ragadah from BT and Alizan Maidin from Indera Motors. Tiger Lim was the first to take the wheel, taking us through Kuala Lurah all the way to Melasak Waterfall.

From a passenger’s point of view, the Discovery Sport is awesomely roomy. The rear compartment was able to fit 4 bags and a cooler and still fit some durian if we chose to carry back, but didn’t. For a passenger, the Discovery Sport is kind of a dream.. there are FIVE!, yes 5, USB ports to make it easy for you to charge your electronic devices, so there will be no arguing among passengers. The fully equipped infotainment system also allows you to connect your smartphone via Bluetooth, so you can listen to your favourite playlists and rock out on those long road trips without having to fiddle with long AUX cables. Another thing worth noting is there is a storage space between the driver and the passenger seat, which you can easily connect a USB hard drive to access an extensive music library, just like Alizan did.

Video of the Discovery Sport expedition. Reported and shot by The Brunei Times.

YAM Pg Anak Hj Abdul Ghaffar bin PISDSK Pg Anak Hj Idris, the General Manager of Indera Motors officially flagged off the Discovery Sport expedition

One of the Discovery Sport being driven

Among the features of Discovery Sport SUV are a Terrain Response system that includes a full suite of all-terrain technologies such as Hill Descent Control, Gradient Release Control (GRC) and Wade Sensing among others. This came in handy as we were headed down the trail to Melasak Waterfall, which had a rocky hilly terrain, and gave us the opportunity to test out the Hill Descent Control in particular.

What’s interesting about the Hill Descent Control is that you leave the speed up to the Discovery Sport. With feet off the accelerator, and hands firmly on the steering, and heart in my throat.. I took my foot off the brake, and let the vehicle do its thing. I was surprised at how easy it was to take my foot firmly off the brake and let the SUV take control of the descent. Not only was it capable of handling the terrain, but it took relatively smoothly. The speed of the Hill Descent control can be adjusted, so you can take it down as slowly as you wish. I had full trust in the vehicle and quite enjoyed the off-road experience.

Class-leading off-road capability stands at the core of Land Rover DNA. Naturally, the Discovery Sport’s body geometry has been optimised for even the harshest terrain, with excellent ground clearance, approach, departure and breakover angles, and an ability to wade through water to a depth of 600mm.

The Terrain Response system, meanwhile, allows the Discovery Sport’s steering, throttle response, gearbox, centre-coupling and braking/stability systems to be able to meet the demands of the challenging terrain. This is due to the fact that the system has four settings: General; Grass/Gravel/Snow (for slippery conditions on- and off-road); Muds and Ruts; and Sand.

There was also the test sampling of the durian

The rugged SUV

Nice shot of the Discovery Sport

The media representatives from Brunei

Our overnight lodgings were at the Dimie Pendalaman Resort Hotel, which takes a journey up a winding road up the mountain range, which the Discovery Sport handles with no problem. With its gorgeous, streamlined high-strength steel and lightweight aluminium bodyshell, it looks like in belonged among the green expanse and foggy views. I was definitely in love with the white vehicle, and not just because we had bonded inside it, but because the colour looked easy on the eyes, and just right in proportions of modern sleek and ruggedness.

The heart of the Land Rover Discovery Sport SUV is its engine: an all-alloy Si4 2.-litre with 240PS with direct fuel injection, thus providing power behind all the awesome technology. This six-cylinder engine cuts carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20 per cent, compared to conventional larger capacity engines with a similar power output.

All engine derivatives of the Land Rover Discovery Sport features advanced ZF 9HP48 nine-speed automatic transmission. Features include the next generation integral and advanced multi-link rear axle, all-new touchscreen infotainment system and state-of-the-art, and the Discovery Sport is fitted with a bold new headlamp design that integrates a slim, wraparound design and circular daytime-running lights (DTRLs). At the rear of the vehicle, the spoiler is crafted to optimise airflow for exceptional aerodynamic efficiency. The new Discovery Sport is well-armed with improved safety standards including the seven airbags inside the cabin and first-in-class pedestrian airbag that enhances pedestrian protection.

The fast bonnet line creates a distinctively compact profile that features significant interior space with optimal five plus two seating. This streamlined design allows all-round visibility, while the interior and load space areas are easily accessible.

The Discovery Sport’s interior has been designed to be premium and provide a versatile and calming space, with the centre being easily accessible from the Sports Command Driving Position.
After the two day trip, it’s so easy to see why the Discovery Sport is the world’s most versatile premium compact SUV. It’s just chock full of features that makes you want to get on the road and drive. But don’t just take my word for it, head down to the Indera Motors Showroom at Lot Q2 – Q4, Lambak Kanan Industrial Area and take her for a spin. It will a drive you will not regret.

Recently, a large crowd of supportive family and friends came out to support the opening of Lokalground, a collective store which is made up of 8 brands which made the step up from selling online on Instagram and Facebook to having a physical space to display their products to a wider audience.

Lokalground was the brain child of co-owner, Muhammad Abdul Najib Azhar bin Abdullah of Khalifahood, who pitched the idea to his clothing brand contemporaries. Eight brands, consisting of 7 local talents and 1 brand from Kuala Lumpur, make up the collective, namely : Khalifahood, Rule Clothing, VillieBeast, The Apparel Corner, Bruland Clothing, FWDs84, Roast and Roll Streetwear and Benua.BWN (Brunei stockist for Benua Clothing KL).

The store itself will serve as a focal point for the brands and allowing their customers to the have an opportunity to appreciate the wares instore and look at the other participating brands.
The store is located at #21.5, The Souq, 1st floor, The Airport Mall. Opening times are Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 am to 8 pm, Fridays 2 pm to 8 pm and closed on Mondays. Any changes to opening times will be updated on @lokalground instagram account.

These 8 young entrepreneurs have more exciting projects lined up in the near future and look forward to working with more local brands within the Brunei independent clothing industry.