Australian Scholarships Endeavour Awards

I received an email from the Australian High Commission which will be holding a briefing tomorrow about the Endeavour Awards, an Australian Government Scholarship Programme. The Scholarships are a great opportunity for anyone wishing to study or gain professional experience abroad. The Australian High Commission is trying to reach students, young professionals, and government employees who are

Paquebot Post Office?

I saw this old Brunei stamp on ebay. Do you know what's unusual about it?What's unusual about it is the postmark. Postmarks are usually done at the post office where the letter is posted. If it is posted in Kuala Belait, it will be postmarked Kuala Belait. Tutong etc. Notice on this stamp, it says Paquebot. But we do not have a post office with the name of Paquebot. If you can find one, let me

Sharing Information

These two entries are borrowed from my facebook friend:-+++++A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, desert like island.The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God.However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them

Don't Read and Drive

Someone complained on brudirect's hys about a driver which he saw reading the Borneo Bulletin while driving. He was reading the newspaper while the car was in a traffic jam. I have seen this many times. I am very lucky not to have to drive to work and I have more time to see what others are doing. From what I have seen, texting on mobile phones I think is the number one no-no activity which is

Football Talk

Yesterday afternoon, at Jerudong, together with my deputy minister and deputy ps, we were watching our MOD football team playing a friendly against DPMM FC. The Crown Prince came later. To say it was a friendly probably is an understatement. No doubt our MOD football team is considered among the best, if not the best team among the ministries in Brunei, against DPMM FC, we were clearly out of our

Were we born yesterday?

Jakarta Globe reported that National Police on Monday announced the arrest of a group of alleged con artists said to have scammed Rp 20 billion ($1.9 million) from a senior Brunei government official by impersonating a representative of a prominent Indonesian political party and asking for a donation.The group, most of whom were from South Sulawesi, had been operating since 2006 and made their

A Depressed Day

I saw among my files yesterday were two letters given to me by my minister received from two brothers who were seeking his help in finding employment. The letters were form letters and I bet the two brothers must have sent them to anyone who they think can help them get employment. The letters listed identical jobs which they applied for which were if I am not mistaken for mandurs, office

The 1000 Year Old Brunei Food

I wrote the following article for The Golden Legacy column on Brunei Times yesterday:-+++++Like most countries around the world which has their own traditional dish, Brunei too has its own traditional dish. The ‘Ambuyat’ is one of Brunei’s well known traditional dish. It is certainly unique and one wonders how the dish came about.Ambuyat is made from sago. Sago is derived or extracted from the

The 1,000 year old Brunei food

Do you know what this guy is doing?He is making sago by pressing on the cut rumbia tree trunks. Ambuyat is made from sago which is in powder form. To make sago, a rumbia tree is cut down. The trunks are cut into pieces and crushed. While crushing water is added to it. The remnants of the crushings are washed and when dried, sago will be obtained.In the old days, crushing was done manually. This

Who talkin' abouta sexa?

I have to change the name of this blogsite. I can't keep up being informative but I will try to be remain entertaining, if that helps your day.Yesterday, I overheard this joke while going round doing our rehearsals for HM's visit. One of my colleagues was telling us this story about Lee Kuan Yew. He was telling us that Lee Kuan Yew had 21 siblings. And Lee Kuan Yew was the 21st among all the

You Reap What You Sow

If you plant honesty, You will reap trustIf you plant goodness, You will reap friendsIf you plant humility, You will reap greatnessIf you plant perseverance, You will reap victoryIf you plant consideration, You will reap harmonyIf you plant hard work, You will reap successIf you plant forgiveness, You will reap reconciliationIf you plant openness, You will reap intimacyIf you plant patience, You

You Get More of What You Have

I found this interesting thoughts by Gretchin Rubins writing about The Happiness Project and I thought this is really good to be shared.I find myself thinking about it in the happiness context, and I’ve often reflected that this statement sums up one of the cruel truths about happiness, and about human nature generally: you get more of what you have.When you feel friendly, people want to be your

Doctor's Misadvice

I don't know where this doctor gets his degree from. But his advice does kinda make sense, no?Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life

Go out to the world

The Crown Prince gave a good speech yesterday for the ITB graduation. For graduates, a graduation speech is something which you will quite remember, that is the last speech you will hear as a student. I was trawling on the internet for good graduation speeches, in America, graduation is called commencement, hence commencement speeches. Here is one which I found to be very good. Unfortunately the

MOD Fear Factor Team

After signing the contract for the Tutong District Masterplan yesterday, we headed towards Ukong. Ukong has a speciality which we feel can be developed further under the district masterplan. Ukong is the home to the only Ambulong Factory left in Brunei. Ambulong or sagu is the flour which we make our local delicay 'ambuyat' from. I have a whole bunch of photographs of the visit to the factory.

The Lessons of Burnt Toasts

I was feeling a bit peckish last night. So I thought I will toast two slices of bread for myself. I switched on the oven toaster and watched television while waiting. When I thought the bread was done, I went into the kitchen. I had a shock. There was so much smoke and my toast apparently went over from being toasted bread to being a candidate for winning the blackest burnt thing on earth.I must

Don't Be Selfish

Yesterday, we were at this ceremony in Danau. It was the laying of the pillar for a house for the 'daif' or the very poor and those who cannot afford to build a house. Together with my colleague at PMO, we chair this working committee building houses for the very poor paid for by the Baitul Mal fund of the Brunei Islamic Religious Council. Baitul Mal has funded a number of welfare projects but

Of politics and sausage

As they say, making legislation is like making sausage. There's a final product, but you surely don't want to see the ugly process of it being made.

I'm reminded of that old adage thanks to the political horse-trading that's going on, now that the election numbers are in and the presidential wannabes are all jostling for position. Kalla and Wiranto, SBY and take your pick of Boediono, Megawati, Prabowo, or even the Sultan of Yogyakarta.

It's all a bit unseemly, much like New York Governor David Paterson's recent botched selection of a senator to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In fact the governor was so damaged by the affair that his career may never recover.

Food for thought, that such political negotiations should always be delicate and behind closed doors, never conducted as a virtual wrestling match. The public may know that politicians are craven and grasping creatures, but we'd rather not witness it in action.

Today's Top Stories

Megawati graft scandal?

Talk about bad timing

This week in irony news ...

Anticorruption chief up on murder charges

It's alive!

The rupiah, back from the dead

A car company that's not going out of business?!

VW plans new Indonesia plant

Quote of the week

PLAN while others are playing.STUDY while others are sleeping.DECIDE while others are delaying.PREPARE while others are daydreaming.BEGIN while others are procrastinating.WORK while others are wishing.SAVE while others are wasting.LISTEN while others are talking.SMILE while others are frowning.COMMEND while others are criticizing.PERSIST while others are quitting.William Arthur Ward

Thinking About Higher Education

I was chatting with one of the senior officers yesterday morning. I saw his application to transfer one piece of his landholdings. I ask casually why he wanted to sell it. He said he needed it to cover the cost of sending his son studying abroad. That is indeed an expensive education.When I told the story to my better half, she was saying just how much parents are sacrificing for their children

The Golden Warisan Volume 1 Final

It has been a tiring one week. Asia Printers printed all 500 copies of my book about two weeks ago but since I ask for laminated binding, that apparently took a while. I ask for the first 20 copies which I brought with me to Singapore as my gift to all the Singapore agencies which I visited. The remainder came out last week.Since my printers only print, I have to do the marketing myself. So I

Let Your Boss Have First Say

You know when I am bereft of ideas to write in this blog - I always repost something from my friend's facebook notes:-A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out.The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.''Me first, me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas, driving

H1N1

I admired the fast action by our medical and response team in isolating the 200 soldiers. Our response team has been ready since 2005 with avian flu. Previous bouts of pandemics have left us with better preparations. Luckily too H1N1 can be cured with antiviral tamiflu. But I am sure that medical and our ndmc have got situation under control. I just want to congratulate and thank those involved

What to do with your enemies?

One of my facebook friends posted this story. It was too good to be left there without being shared:-A kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game.The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes.Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag

What I have learnt

My apologies to regular readers. Ever since my trip to Singapore and coming back and the publication of my book, The Golden Warisan, I have not had much time to devote to updating the blogsite.The Singapore trip was very informative. A group of us went to visit the various agencies looking after planning and land issues in Singapore. Under the Singapore e-government projects, there are three

The Golden Warisan PUBLISHED!

In early March 2007, I was approached by The Brunei Times on the possibility of writing a weekly column for the newspaper. I went over to Wisma Haji Taha and discussed the matter with a consultant and the then Features Editor who was a former Malaysiakini.com editor. We talked about it and agreed that I should contribute a weekly article to be published in a column called Golden Legacy starting

Lombok, getting on my nerves

Someone please stab me in the eye.

Look, I love Lombok as much as the next guy. But the western media's obsession with 'The Next Bali' story is starting to rub me the wrong way. To wit, here's the latest version from Forbes. The trope goes thusly: Bali and its execrable Kuta Beach are overrun with hammered (usually Australian) tourists, therefore it's time to look to other undiscovered islands in the archipelago ... and hey, there's Lombok right next door. Write it up!

If I see one more article like this I'm going to go postal. First of all, Lombok is not as 'undiscovered' as clueless feature editors would have you believe. Second, this story is about 20 years old. Third, there are 14,000 other islands that could use a bit of the spotlight (and accompanying tourist dollars), not just Lombok.

So editors of the world, take note. Of course print journalism is dying a quick death anyways, so this message may get to you a little too late.

Today's Top Stories

Asian Development Bank meets in Bali

World crisis slamming poor

Indo tourism numbers up

Impressive showing during economic catastrophe

Three jailed on terror charges

Botched cafe bombing snares Osama wannabes

Parties ganging up on SBY

Golkar, PDI-P, PPP, others form big coalition