The event that took place last Friday evening at Sejahtera Hall, Royal Brunei Recreation Club

The performers and their mentors. Image courtesy of PTE Meragang Facebook Page.

What I am amazed are the talents we have in Brunei Darussalam. I can’t stress this enough. Maybe this should be even highlighted in the LegCo to see how far our talents can go. Earlier in the year, I attended a broadway play “Othello” performed by students from Pusat Tingkatan Enam (PTE) Meragang and I was quite impressed with their talents. Last Friday, I witnessed another aspect of their talent – music – and I was surely entertained from beginning to the end. My only minor issue were the noisy youths in front of us whom I wished could have respected the performers and audience alike.

The Performing Arts Club in PTE Meragang has active in showcasing their talents around for 5 years and hence it was fitting that for the club to organize the 5th Poetry and Music Recital entitled “Chances”.

PG Hjh Maimunah bte Pg Hj Osman, Principal of Meragang Sixth Form Centre, was very happy with the efforts put in by the students and teachers involved in the project. She believed that this project won’t be possible without everyone’s effort and it was definitely not an easy task. She also thanked the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports for their advice. The guest of honour was Yang Mulia Hj Abd Rahim bin Derus, Director-General of Education, Ministry of Education.

It wasn’t also a music showcase but also some poetries to the delight of the audience. Perhaps the students can also engage with @theartofwrite (IG) where they are looking for writers to share their loves for people, words, art and earth.

Kudos to the working committee, volunteers and most of all, the vocalists and the musicians. It was a well spent Friday evening. We need more avenues like this for Brunei. The event is supported by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Gearing up for the opening session

The musical performers from the Performing Arts Club in PTE Meragang

Many shots were taken that night. Great memories indeed.

Great presence from the choir

It was full house event last Friday. Good to see the locals supporting such event.

Dk Aina Syasya Bte Pg Amiruddin has great vocal

One of the poetry readers

One of the scenes from the night

One of the audience being interviewed by RTB

Spotlight on the singers

Heal the World 😀

The finale – November Rain. Love it to the max.

The violinists added some great touch to the musical performances

 

 

The JIS choir prelude before the main event at the JIS Arts Centre at Jerudong International School

Shana Holmes and Yasmin Riches belting out “The Writing’s on the Wall” with Rafeeqa Teo and Eden Chiam

Tope Ayodele singing “If I Were a Boy”

Music to my ears. Yes, it was another musical moment for me as I experienced the wonderful talents from Jerudong International Students in last weekend’s JIS Showcase 2016 at the Art Centre of JIS. It’s been a tradition that I catch the JIS Showcase (musical performance) every year if I happen to be in the country. It’s not surprised that the standard of the performance is on par with other regional performances.

Every single detail and thought have been invested in the JIS Showcase 2016. What I truly admire is the high professionalism taken into the performance which made the overall performance seemed flawless. I also love the transitions between songs and performances as they didn’t waste any seconds to carry the momentum from start to finish. I could tell how important JIS values music and art in their school and last weekend’s performances were a great indicator for their progress for music excellence.

It’s great to see Barnaby Sandow, principal of JIS, to continue the mission in music and art excellence. It sets the benchmark in terms of music education and I myself feel proud of where JIS is right now – not just excelling in studies but also in arts and music. Sandow shared that the Showcase 2016 is a celebration of artistic creativity. It was a pleasure to have met you as well last weekend.

There were many favourites performers that caught my attention. Willam Brien’s “Born in the USA”, “Strong” by Eden Chiam, Evan Chiam, Krish Punjabi and Nayumi Reduan, “Rude” by Jay Baek and Christian Osharode, “Beautiful” by Aziz Harun, “Say Something” Shana Holmes and William Brien and “I Dreamed a Dream” by Yasmin Riches were just some of the performances that blew me away. I also want to commend on the orchestra, the dancers, the choir and the cute Jerudong singers to make the overall performance wholesome.

JIS have raised the bar each year on their Showcase and I look forward to future ones. Well done to all of you and good job on Paul Edgeler, the producer and music director of JIS Showcase 2016. You can follow @JISbrunei on IG for updates.

Evan Chiam one of the vocalists for “Love Runs Out”

Great performance by William Brien on “Born in the USA”

Shana Holmes wooing the audience, singing “Wings”

Shana Holmes, Eden Chiam and Katherine Wood during the “Wings” performance

Azemah Abd Rahman singing a duet with Aziz Harun on “Sempurna”

Some of the highlights from Aladdin

The cute choir group

The dancers for “He’s A Pirate”

In swashbuckling action during “He’s A Pirate” performance by the orchestra

Eden Chiam and Nayumi Reduan during the performance of “Strong”. I like this one.

Some of the artistic delivery during the performance of “Strong”. Quite creative.

Aaron Klein singing “Waiting for Love”

Yasmin Riches doing the vocals for “We Found Love Dance”

Awesome performance by both Jay Baek and Christian Osharode on “Rude”

The Jerudong Singers singing “Turn the World Around”

The combined choir for “Me and My Broken Heart”

Aziz Harun stealing the hearts of the audience with his original song “Beautiful”

Caught the JIS Showcase with Gary and Pranika. Both also enjoyed the performance.

 

Listen to the podcast review of The Hunger Games finale with co-host @delgoh and special guest Nee Khern

 

Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Amal Rakiah and Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Amal Jeffriah at the SMSS’ graduation ceremony yesterday

I’ve missed the event yesterday because I was attending another lecture on entrepreneurship by Mark Brown. Congratulations to Fatin, Ijah and Muazzam on their graduation and award ceremony from Seri Mulia Serjana School (SMSS) and it’s the 17th edition and the event took place at The Rizqun International Hotel.

In attendance were Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Amal Rakiah and Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Amal Jeffriah. The guest of honour was Pg Ayup bin Pg Hj Othman, the Acting Senior Special Duties Officer, Private Education Section, Ministry of Education.

Congratulations once again 😀 I’m a proud brother and uncle.

Ijah receiving her certificate from guest of honour

Fatin receiving her certificate from guest of honour

Congratulations Muazzam for receiving bronze on his academic year

Two plays will be happening this week and early next week. One is an adaptation from Shakespeare’s Othello and the other is inspired by a local with the play entitled “Jong Sarat”.

The first play I will brief on is the Shakespeare’s Othello which will be performed by the students from the English Department Literature Team from Pusat Tingkatan Enam (PTE) Meragang. It will be happening tomorrow, Thursday 26th November and 28th November at 10am at the Lecture Hall, PTE Meragang. You can get tickets (only $1) by contacting 710 7876 or 813 0577.

I’m most likely to come for one of the shows of Othello. I’m a big fan of broadway and plays and to see our local students perform is something I’m appreciative about. It’s a good thing that there’s an avenue for students to showcase their talents, let it be actors or those behind the scenes as they all showcase their talents and abilities in the creative industry. Kudos to the team and the organiser.

So come let’s support the future generations of our country by supporting the play. You can also follow their updates on Facebook (/ptemeragang) or instagram @ptemeragang for updates.

Jong Sarat. Next up is SEEDS’ 7th play to date. SEEDS stands for Students’ Extracurricular and Educational Dramatic Society and this was formed back in 2008 under Sekolah Menengah Awang Semaun with the help of Brunei Amateur Dramatic Society (BADS). These are also initiative from students and teachers in helping to nurture and unleash their creativity and talents to the eyes of the public.

They had a preview last evening and unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend. Here’s the thing though. I won’t be able to make it even for next week’s dates of Jong Sarat (The Dream that changes everything) as I already committed in doing my speech and role for Toastmasters. My apologies in advance for this matter. I’ve attended previous SEEDS play before and I was amazed. I trust they will produce another fantastic show.

Get your tickets for either of these production nights:
30th November 2015, 7pm
1st December 2015, 7pm

Tickets are available at Sekolah Menengah Rimba for the following days and times:-

Wednesday 25th November:
7pm-9.30pm

Friday, 27th November:
3pm-9.30pm

Kindly contact for more information (via message only):
Telegram: telegram.me/seedsjongsarat
Whatsapp: +6738678673

You can also follow them on their website www.seedsbrunei.com or Facebook Page or instagram @seedsbrunei and if you are on instagram, just see their updates on #seeds7

The cast of Jong Sarat #seeds7

The musicians of Jong Sarat #seeds7

The Props designers of Jong Sarat #seeds7

Get your tickets now for Jong Sarat