Standard Chartered Bank's iBanking intiative. Click image to enter

The sincerity of donation. To tell you honestly, this is difficult to measure. But you can see from the trend that the one with the biggest donation will definitely get more publicity from the media. I'm one of the donators who chipped in BND300 for two vertical banners to show my support for His Majesty's 63rd Birthday. Of course, I'm sincere about my support. I don't need the publicity and it was more of a kind gesture to support the celebration.

The big question remains on the "big players" or does it lie in the government agencies or the committee involved in celebration? You may read this article here (dated back in April 2009) where more than BND 100,000 has been contributed towards His Majesty's 63rd celebration which has been put on hold.

 

His Majesty being ushered by the Minister of Home Affairs at NDMC buidling
 

A lot of well known companies (private ones) have donated to this said fund and these have been a common practice. I've even been told from a source that in order to be part of the "loop", it will be an easier passage if your contribution is good enough. So I believe this is where most of companies or individuals fall into the trap when it comes to donation.

Do they actually want to donate sincerely or perhaps getting the publicity and the recognition from the government agencies and the media? This I believe is slightly tricky to detect but some are pretty obvious.

Hence, His Majesty was very concerned during his Titah yesterday where he raised the issue that the relevant agencies are using His Majesty's birthday to lobby for donation and the ministers or senior officials would received the donation as if the birthday celebration was just a field for lobbying donation *Oucch*

"Is this appropriate? Lobbying and campaigning so people are racing to donate for my birthday," questioned His Majesty [Taken from TBT]. Click here for more news.

So now I wonder what will the funds be used for since the celebrations are put on hold. But the good news with regards to His Majesty's celebration, the gerai in front of the Royal Regalia will commenced as usual. 

 

Wow.. Guess what? The Kedai runcit ran out of today's paper. Lucky they save these for me

Pre-Birthday Titah by His Majesty. It's all over the news - RTB, local radio stations, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, newspapers etc.. His Majesty the Sultan and Yang D-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, accompanied by the Crown Prince, delivered a pre-birthday Titah that "shook" the ministries and the cabinets as His Majesty was furious with the current status on some of the issues such as "donation", the precaution measures of H1N1, the SPN 21 education system and the unresolved issue of the Zakat distribution to name a few.

This was probably one of the most direct, bold yet inspiring Titah by His Majesty to date. Just two days before His Majesty's 63rd birthday, the King presented what I see as a "wake-up call" to our government servants and now the public wonder what will be in the upcoming Titah during His Majesty's birthday. For now, we understand that there will be no celebration of His Majesty due to the H1N1. I applaud His Majesty on this move as we all need to take precaution measure especially for the students.

I've yet to buy both Borneo Bulletin and The Brunei Times publication for today as both papers and even Media Permata will give a thorough account of His Majesty's Titah yesterday.

Anyway, below are snippets which I've sourced from the Internet - The Brunei Times, Brudirect and my Facebook as well. Mind you, Twitter was quite popular as well in delivering messages across. So guys, better catch me on Twitter for some extra news and I normally use my Twitter as an avenue to reach to other networks. So catch me on Twitter soon.

The Brunei Times e-paper. Click image to read more

Azlan Othman's article from Borneo Bulletin. Click image to read more

Ignatius' article from Brudirect. Click image to read more

Ignatius' article from Brudirect. Click image to read more

Overwhelming feedbacks on my Facebook. Click image to read more

Masamichi's special promotion. So guys (especially the one getting married), you can grab this special promotion by Masamichi Studio as they came up with a package of Photography + Videography + Make Up at a very special price and there are some additional freebies as well.

For more info, you can email at jason@ masamichistudio.com for enquiry.

Promotion for a limited time only from Masamichi Studio

I conducted a quick interview with the man behind Masamichi Studio, Jason Ong. I knew a few years ago and I knew him way before RA existed and it was at an event held at the Center Point Ballroom. And he's one of the popular photographers in Brunei. So below are a few quick questions I threw at Jason.

Rano: How long have you been in this business?
Jason: Started since 2003 (7 years)

Rano: I've notice that you cater to Chinese weddings previously but lately, you have a mixture of Malay and Chinese weddings in your portfolio. Do these weddings pose different challenges?
Jason:I have been doing mixtures of wedding since I started wedding photography. Whether Chinese or Malay, every weddings are challenging, the energy level is different, the environment is different, the lighting is different, the mood is different, creativity level is different.

However, Chinese wedding happens very fast and have to work longer hour. Usually on the next day, I have to go for foot massage.

Malay wedding are relaxing and more fun. Malay community are friendly, you always feel welcome at home.

Rano: With many photographers growing in presence, what makes you difference from the rest?
Jason: a) Getting personal with wedding clients, I capture their wedding as if It was my own b) Providing PERSONAL CONSULTATION to make every wedding unique and a successful one c) I joined WPJA to showcase my work is on par with international level d) Promoting wedding photo as an art.

Rano: Why the name Masamichi? You told me once but I think the public would like to know as well.
Jason: One of my favorite audio system is NAKAMICHI. At that time, I got a Japanese Pen Pal and she told me that my Japanese name is Masamichi. I instantly fall in love with that name.

The translation is called “pathway of life” Photography is my passion and I know that’s what I wanted to do in my life.. therefore I used that MASAMICHI STUDIO as my goal to find my meaning of life.

Rano: How do you publicize ur work before? I remember seeing you a few years ago in a function and you were giving out business cards to people you took photos of. Was that successful?
Jason: Giving out business cards is a basic way of publicity. I still give out if anyone wants it. But in Brunei, name card is not really that important, clients usually look for me through words of mouth. Our community is small, even though they do not have my name card, they still have ways to find us.

Rano: Describe three things that represents Masamichi.
Jason: Alamak!!! I don’t know how to answer that……….. I will try. Firstly, it's "Trust", we are your photographer with a personal touch. Secondly, quality as we always upgrade quality of service, photography and album and lastly, teamwork, as without my teammates, there will be no Masamichi Studio. There's no way I can do it alone.
.