Fishing in Brunei Waters

Looking for a new sports or hobby? Fishing may be your cup of tea. It's fast becoming a popular sport in Brunei. Every time I pass Kampong Ayer, along Jalan Kota Batu, I see some people fishing there. On my family outings to the Serasa Beach, I spotted more anglers, sitting and waiting patiently. At my workplace alone, I know four guys who are into fishing. They are the ones who have influenced

Food on a Brunei Sunday

Yesterday and Friday was the first time in about 5 months that I was not on a golf course or in the gym. This is due to my bad knee and I have been undergoing physiotherapy sessions twice a week for the last 2 weeks. My physiotherapist at JPMC described the knee problem as shock absorber rosak. I vehemently blame it on my bad golf swings because if I don't blame it on that, most people will

Brunei International Tattoo 2006

I was among the 10,000 crowd watching the first performance of the Brunei Darussalam International Tattoo 2006. Last night was an all invitation only and it was a record attendance. For the record, it is worthwhile watching though 3 1/2 hours was a tad too long and very discomforting. My wife and I were seated about 2 rows behind the royals, so we had to sit and bear the 4 hours that we sat in

The Mysterious Kampung Pancur Murai

I have written in the past about the origin of place names in Brunei Darussalam. Some place names are pretty straightforward and you can guess how the name originates. Though in my research, one place name takes the cake and win hands down the prize for the most interesting way how the place is named. The kampung is called Pancur Murai and if you have not come across it, it's located about 22

You know you are Bruneian

1. People ask where you're from and the easiest explanation is saying that it's next to Singapore.2. People are still clueless about where Brunei is and then you mention how the Sultan of Brunei was once the richest man in the world and everyone instantly remembers.3. You either hang out in Coffee Zone or Coffee Bean or have children that do.4. Your closet is full of designer gear but all you

100 Years of the Brunei National Flag

I was intrigued by someone who wrote on the cbox asking who was the creator of the Brunei's flag. After going through my resources, I found the story behind the creation of the flag of historical significance to be shared with you all. So here goes.On 3rd December 1905, Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin signed a Supplementary Agreement with the British which was significant for the

Brunei Schools' Houses by Hajah Yati

Each year, schools across Brunei organise annual sports meet among their students. The students and teachers are divided into four houses. These houses are assigned a colour and a name. The colours are usually red, blue, yellow and orange. So I guess that makes Jerudong Arabic School and MD (Maktab Duli Al-Muhtadee Billah) unusual, as they have colours other than the usual four. Whats really

Brunei's Protected Buildings and Places

Under the Antiquities and Treasure Trove Act, the Director of Museums can issue an Antiquities and Treasure Trove (Ancient Monuments and Historical Sites) Order to direct for certain buildings to be listed and these buildings will require special permission if ever you need to do something to them.I don't remember if there was any Order made prior to the 3rd May 2006 Order. So under the recent

What I discovered on Sunday

I am seriously tired. I haven't had my rest and I have been struggling to write my blogs over the last few days. I sometimes wished I could be like this kid in the photo. Just lie face down without a thought in the world.My apologies - the recent topics have been very contrived and not very flowing - I know, and yes, I am going through another bout of bloggers block. By the way, thank you to all

The SPA Interview

One of the scariest thing that young Bruneians face is the interview at the Public Service Commission or in Brunei speak known as Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam or better known as SPA. Get through the SPA interview, fortunes in the civil service awaits you. Or at least that is what's on the mind of everyone who applies for a job in the government service.It's been quite sometime since I last

Thankful to be in Brunei Darussalam

Someone asked me what the government actually subsidises in Brunei. Whoa. Major question that. Apparently this is as a result of two items in His Majesty's speech during the birthday when His Majesty noted the $176 million worth of fuel and gas subsidy and the continuation of government's welfare scheme especially in the areas of medical and health care.The major subsidies include (in order of my

Some thoughts for the young Bruneians

July is that time of the year. Some of you have to make decisions on what it is that you want to do for your future life. Some are thinking about going to UK and Ozie being the two most common destinations. Some perhaps a little bit further such as the US, Canada or New Zealand. Some nearer such as Malaysia and Singapore and some just across the borders. For some, it is finishing time - to go

Monopoly Brunei Version

Over the last couple of weeks, my family's evening activity had been to play Monopoly. The month before it was Scrabble. The Monopoly set we have is a Disney version which my 6 year old chose simply because he liked the characters. The Monopoly is the same but there are slight variations. Instead of land title deeds, you get title deeds to Disney movies. For railway stations, they are replaced by

Dirgahayu Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik

I was watching the news on RTB last night, partly because where my wife and I sat during the banquet for uniformed personnel the night before, we were smack in the direction of the camera and there was no way the camera could have missed us so I just wanted to see what I looked like on tv (not very pretty, I tell you) but partly because what I really wanted to watch was the segment where RTB news

The Celebration Continues

By late morning yesterday, some are already wondering when is it that they will be getting the wonderful gift from our benevolent Sultan. All I can tell you is that Treasury Department is working flat out to ensure that every single increments will be in your pay packet by the August salary. However this also requires inputs from all the ministries and departments and because it is a computerised

The Birthday Gift from His Majesty

The gift by His Majesty during His Majesty's 60th Birthday Celebration is one of the most memorable and most expensive in recent history. The revised salaries that everyone currently in the civil service will get in August will raise the salaries that everyone who is in service during the announcement, in division 5 cases, equivalent to working 9 years or for officers in division 2, equivalent to

Brunei Honours 2006

The Honours Award Ceremony by His Majesty during his 60th birthday was a solemn affair. By my calculation, this is the largest number of Datoship being awarded and I don't remember any previous group larger than this. The last one when more than 20 datoships were awarded was way back in 1987 when my father was one of the 22 DPMB recipients.All the Cabinet Ministers datoships have now been

Brunei Code Breakers

Da Vinci Code Breakers. Break this code - div 1: 0; div 2: 2; div 3: 3; div 4: 6; div 5: 9.

The Palace Birthday Banquet

His Majesty's 60th Birthday Celebrations started off with the usual parade at the Padang in the Capital. But his titah caught many people by surprise when he announced the accelerated increments for the current civil service, so come Monday when the circular officially comes out, everybody will know just how much they are getting, so I can't say anything until then. I will try to put up the

Happy 60th Birthday Your Majesty!

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, is the 29th of his line, which dates back to the fourteenth century.Being the eldest son, he became Crown Prince in 1961 and ascended the Throne on 5th October 1967 following the voluntary abdication of his father, Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi

Brunei Honours

Tomorrow is His Majesty's 60th Birthday Celebrations. As usual, there will be a few happy people who will be getting their honours and for some of them will automatically get a title that goes with that honour. I would like to describe how it feels to be receiving an honour from His Majesty but the way things are going, I don't think I will ever know. I have only received one tiny medal which

Malay Moerphemes

I received this spam e-mail from a company advertising "Biogenous silica for Hot Metal Insulation in Ladle" and the e-mail reads "...we manufacture biogenous silica in pellets and powder form. This silica is used in steel mills for insulation of hot metal in ladle, tundish and slab caster. Please feel free to drop us a line for your requirements..." I have seen so many spam emails but this one

Pregnancy Blues in Brunei

I was one of the invited guests during the Majlis Bersiram Ceremony at Istana Nurul Iman for HRH Pengiran Isteri Azrinaz for giving birth to HRH Pengiran Muda Abdul Wakeel (click on the links for photos). It was quite painful to go through the ceremony because we had to sit for about two hours on the floor cross legged and not move about. One can only fidget and do nothing else, but those two

The 'New' Jalan Sultan

Continuing on my series of 'there are lots of things to do on a weekend in Brunei' - last Sunday afternoon, my family and I took a walk down the 'new' Jalan Sultan in Bandar Seri Begawan. For those of you who have been 'frogs under the coconut shell' (katak bawah tempurong) and have been out of touch with what's happening in Bandar Seri Begawan - the municipal authorities have finally renovated

Antah and Geleng

My previous blog on Family Titles in Brunei brought a lot of comments from readers on how family titles are used in their own families throughout Brunei. The official titles of the series of seven for uncles and aunties (tua, anjang, tangah, iring, uda, amit and bungsu) are used differently throughout the different families thus endearing and personalising the titles even more. It's so much

Brand Name Synonym Usage in Brunei

When I was little, I love to be around my Mum. And I still do, whenever I get the chance. When at home, the best bet is she’ll be in the kitchen. Back then, when my sister and I, and our own family, were still living with our parents, my mum’s kitchen was more of a family room. It was the centre of the house. Other than the regular cooking activities, the kitchen also served as a dining room, tv

Mutilation of Language (Recycled)

"TUKANG RIPEE KASUT" was a recent addition to the signboards along Jalan Tutong in the Kilanas/Sengkurong area. The first time I saw it, I had to smile. I am sure the person putting it up is not exactly the most literate Malay speaking person. Someone said that could have been a marketing gimmick and therefore deliberately trying to catch the eyes of thousands of motorists, on the other hand,

The Day After

Thank you to all for the participation in the last 2 days' blogs (615 yesterday and 468 the day before). It was heavy, it was emotional, it was sensitive, it was painful, it was joyful, it was sentimental, it was melancholy, it was all those things. My apologies to those who found it painful to be reminded of sad times. To those who are finding their feet, I offer my best wishes. To those who

Looking for a Partner in Brunei? (Part 2)

Yesterday's blog must have touched a raw nerve. By midnight, the number of pageloads was 468 which is the second highest for this blogsite which is normally around 300+. A number of readers came a few times to see whether more comments have been added throughout the day. It reminded me of one time when RTB News had this red little square as its background and many people commented about the

Looking for a Partner in Brunei?

The other day one of my junior colleagues, AA* mentioned about how difficult it was to meet someone. He complained or rather commented that it's pretty hard to meet nice girls in Brunei as we don't have the equivalent of pubs or clubs or society meeting places etc. His point was that it is difficult for a boy to meet a girl and vice versa in Brunei's society. This view coming from a young cute

Bruneian Nicknames by Hajah Yati

Today is a historic occassion, the first ever guest blog. We had read the very effervescent Hajah Yati writing a very long comment on the topic of Brunei's Time Line, I thought I will give her the opportunity to write her own blog. Here it is, presenting Hajah Yati's first ever blog and the first ever guest blog on this blogsite. Enjoy. (And I look forward to receiving more from readers out there

It happened on a Brunei Sunday

Together with about 5% of Brunei's population, I was at the Padang yesterday morning doing our 'senamrobik' before walking off to Kianggeh and up the Bukit Subok and then coming back down. I did an abridged version of the walk and came back about 20 minutes earlier than everyone else. I joined the committee to welcome His Majesty and of all people, he looked at me and actually asked me 'nda

Modern Technology and Horses' Asses (Recyled)

I posted the following piece on spaces.msn on 27th February 2006. Since someone mentioned it recently, I thought I will recycle it here. When I wrote it, I had forgotten to mention that way back when I was just beginning my career at a marine transportation agency, we ran into flak for then limiting the number of passengers that could be carried on the water boats in Brunei including the