Nothing to do in Brunei?

Many people who do not know Brunei say there is nothing to do in Brunei which I thought was a bit shortsighted. Let me describe my Sunday yesterday which was a very hectic day. In the morning was a round of golf at the Executive Course at JPPC in Jerudong. Some derisorily called it the kindergarten course. It's not as easy as some people say though this is the first time in about 6 weeks of

Does oil come in barrels?

One of the interesting thing you find about Bruneians is that a lot of us don't know much about oil which is the lifeline of this country. Practically everything we touch in Brunei owes its existence to oil. And yet there is so much about the oil industry that we don't know. All we know now is that the world oil price is about US$70 per barrel. And yet ask this question - how do we export oil?

Questions Confusing Mankind

1. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"2. Who was the first person to say "See that chicken there....I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's butt."3. Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?4. Why is there a light in

So, you want to complain about public services?

My golf partner, Mr. K* had an accident when he wanted to join me to do some golf drives at a driving range a few evenings ago. Apparently his right back tyre suddenly blew up and he couldn't control the car and hit the crash barriers. It was raining heavily too. When he filed the report at our friendly law enforcement agency, he was advised not to say anything about the tyre as he was told that

24 phrases of wisdom

1. If you're too open minded, your brains will fall out. 2. Age is a very high price to pay for maturity. 3. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. 4. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before. 5. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance. 6. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious. 7. It is easier to

Nothing Is Certain In Life

Eugene O'Kelly died last September. Who was he? When he died, he was the CEO of KPMG, a US$4 billion company with 20,000 employees and one of America's and in fact the World's Big 4 accounting firms. He enjoyed great power and was held in great respect and prestige. He was told by his doctor in May 2005 that he had brain cancer and will not live to make it to September. During the 100 days he had

Movie Censors

I forgot to mention yesterday when I blogged about HBO's 'Constantine' movie that countries can control what movies are being shown in their own territory even though it is broadcast via satellite. In Brunei, that authority is under the Broadcasting Act and the assigned Director of Broadcasting will tell the local provider that certain movies are not to be shown. So during that time, the local

The Wild - Sequel to Madagascar?

I took my wife and 6 year old son to watch 'The Wild' at the Mall yesterday. It's a story about zoo animals going to the wild. It has a lion and a giraffe as its main characters and they go on this boat with a bunch of other animals to an island in Africa. Sounds familiar? Yup, it's exactly like 'Madagascar'. For anyone who has not watched it but has watched 'Magadascar', save your dosh. It ain't

Food is an Interesting Topic

I was surprised to see my name being mentioned twice in BB this week - one for attending an IT sales seminar and the other for meeting a foreign delegation. My office did not issue the news releases, it was done by the other parties. Sometimes I forget my official position. The one thing one realised after a while is having to be very careful what one does and where one goes. I used to be able to

Yayasan SHHB

Yesterday was the 4th Friday in a row I have played golf on the nearby Golf Club. It was a bit upmarket as I played with the Chairman of the Club and the other two colleagues of mine were almost professional players. The one thing I realised is that the more I played, the worse I get. Must be pure psychology or something. I think it's the more things I know phenomena. You can't help it. Beginners

How many children does the Prophet has?

Yesterday afternoon was our agency's celebrations of Prophet Muhammad SAW Maulid celebrations. The speaker started by asking how many children does the Prophet has? I have to admit I was a little bit lost. I know he has a couple of daughters and a couple of sons who died in their infancy but I don't know the exact number. The speaker threw the question open to the audience and there was no brave

Wanderer in Brunei Darussalam

I found a new book on Brunei about two weekends ago at one of the Indian run book/stationery store at Supasave Gadong. It was indeed a rare event as I went there to have a quick look at some golf magazines and this book seemed to fly out of the shelf to me. I have always been in the lookout for Brunei books and have bought practically all there is that are available out there.The book is entitled

What? Me, an electricity and water meter reader?

I was chatting with one of my gym mates at JPMC Gym last Sunday. He used to work at the Empire Hotel but now runs his own workshop. He was telling me how most motorcar workshops in Brunei have of late gone very quiet. Apparently Bruneians who used to go to car workshops to do minor repairs and servicings and other things needed for cars have stopped going to workshops. The concensus among

Medical Tests

Two children were sitting outside the RIPAS Hospital.One of them was crying very loudly. 2nd Child: Why are you crying? 1st Child: I came here for blood test. 2nd Child: So? Are you afraid? 1st Child: No. Not that. For the blood test, they cut my finger. At this, the second one started crying.The first one was astonished. 1st Child: Why are you crying now? 2nd Child: I have come for my

Live on Radio

My agency is preparing its corporate video and I was having a discussion with the filming house that was preparing it. As usual, there was a national broadcasting agency's person with them moonlighting as their script writer. I have always wondered just how many of them moonlight, you see quite a number of them filming weddings etc. I used to moonlight too at the broadcasting agency many years

Does the bloody thing work?

Nobodies to Somebodies

Someone asked me once - how did you get promoted? That's what my colleagues would say - soalan cepu emas - the million dollar question. I can think of some reasons. But honestly speaking the real answer to that is I have no idea. I have always been quietly doing my work and minding my own business when things just popped out of the blue. Don't get me wrong. I am grateful for my promotion, it does

Reasons why the English Language is Hard to Learn

The bandage was wound around the wound. The farm was used to produce produce. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. We must polish the Polish furniture. He could lead if he would get the lead out. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. A bass was painted on

The Humble Headwear

When I was in Surabaya, I went to one of the crafts shop thinking of buying our Malay songkoks. For the non-Malay readers, songkoks actually come in a number of colours, shapes and sizes. Sizes obviouslylah. Some of us are small heads and some of you are big heads (figuratively as well as in reality). Colours too. Generally most songkoks are black, but Bruneians have come up with more colourful

Love, Lust and Marriage

LOVE - When your eyes meet across a crowded room.LUST - When your tongues meet across a crowded room.MARRIAGE - When you try to lose your spouse in a crowded room.LOVE - When *ntercourse is called "making love."'LUST - When *ntercourse is called "scr*wing."MARRIAGE - When *ntercourse is a town in Pennsylvania.LOVE - When you argue over how many children to have.LUST - When you argue over who gets

The Day Off

So you want the day off. You think a day is not too much. Let's take a look at what you are really asking for.There are only 365 days per year available for work.There are 52 weeks per year in which you already have two days off per week, leaving 261 days available for work.Since you work only 8 hours a day and spend 16 hours each day away from work, you have used up 170 days, leaving only 91

www.aseantourguide.com

Let me brag about www.aseantourguide.com for a while. One of the many verbal comments (you have to trust me on this) is that the website aseantourguide.com is an interesting website. Interesting is really an interesting word. I am not so sure whether to take it as a compliment or otherwise. I have yet to come across people who actually said the website is good or it provides fulfilment to their

Special Prayer For Selected Occassion

Dear God, I beg you to..give me the wisdomto understandmy boss.Give me the loveto forgive him.Give me the patienceto understandhis actions.But dear God,don't present me strength.Because if you giveme strength...I will break his skull!!

Being a Good Copier

Satu daerah satu industri (SDSI) is the latest buzzword in Malaysia. I saw it on TV3 last night. It sounded so grand and so exciting and as if it's the latest in-thing. To Malaysians, it maybe but to people living in Thailand, this so called latest promo is old hat. The Thais had been promoting their one tambon one product (OTOP) for the last few years. So, what's new?Someone says copying is the

I Did All That?

Last Friday, I went back to the fairways for the first time in about 17 years. I lost about 6 balls which is not too bad. This Friday, I took Mr. K* with me. He has been on the driving range for the past few nights. I know he is reading this blog so I am not going to count the number of balls he lost (hint ... he,he, much more than my first attempt last week - way way much more!) I did not do

Tourism Strategy

Our neighbouring country is extremely clear with what it wants. This year it targets some 100,000 tourists from the Middle East to come to Singapore. They have seen the effect in Kuala Lumpur where literally from July to September, it is almost impossible to get a hotel room. All the hotels will be filled with Middle Eastern people who thronged to the shopping malls, the restaurants, the

Brunei Government Bonds Sukuk Al-Ijarah (Update)

I thought I will give a little bit on update of the first ever issuance of the Brunei Government Islamic Bond - Sukuk Al-Ijarah. The first ever Brunei Government bond issuance of B$150 million was a total success and issued at 3.4%. The total bids were oversubscribed by about tens of millions of dollars.Having an official rate will now make life easier for other agencies and companies in Brunei

Management of Umrah

I don't remember when you were younger - in those days, there was uncertainty when the hajj flight is going to take place. There would be like rumours what the flight dates were and how you have to be prepared. Most see it as the trials and tribulations of going to hajj. It would not be the same if the flights are confirmed and there was no uncertainty. You take the fun out of it. Umrah in those

Excuses, Excuses

Have you even been in a situation where you so desperately wish something would happen so that you can escape? I know during school days, that would be when the teacher started calling on everyone to answer questions etc and I did not the answers to the questions. I would be so desperate for time and that's when the watch seemed to be slowing down. At that point in time I would really really be

Kaplan and the Balance Scorecard

I was one of about 40 people at Li Gong Restaurant at the Empire lucky to be listening to a luncheon talk given by the guru of balanced score card, Robert S Kaplan yesterday afternoon. Kaplan is here in Brunei Darussalam and his one day conference which will be held tomorrow at the ICC entitled "Managing for Results: Using Balanced Scorecard to Achieve Better Performance and Good Governance in