*Taken from today's BB*
If you read today's papers, you'll come across many articles and coverage with regards to the "Laila Rice". His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam once addressed in His Titah on self-sufficiency of rice production to battle the food crisis a few months back. Yesterday, a sign of progress was evident as His Majesty officiated the launch of the "Padi Planting Towards Achieving Self-Sufficiency of Rice Production n Brunei Darussalam" ceremony which took place at Wasan Padi fields.
It was a good sight to see His Majesty accompanied by his sons, planting rice seedlings bare-handed. This really shows the dedication of His Majesty to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency. Also present was the Philippines' Agriculture Secretary, Arthur Cua Yap, who is in the country, to help Brunei with its expertise in rice production ad anti-erosion methods.
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Thanks to Brunei Beach Bums, a new household name in town, that the Meragang Beach is cleaner than its previous state. Around 80 people turned up for the cleaning campaign and many thanks to BARA, BIBD, HSBC and students from Science School. Let's hope the number of participants do increase in future beach cleaning campaigns.
The litter found on the beach was separated in respective bags for plastic bottles and aluminum cans for recycling purposes. I'm not sure how many bags of rubbish were there but it's more than 20 from my last count. Rizan, Alan and Priscilla of BBB have been very busy creating awareness of the Meragang Beach Cleaning Campaign thru blogs, Facebook, media and the radio.
So far, this is the third campaign organised by BBB. The last event was supported by JASTRE and KNK.
That was one important advice given by Sheikh Abas during our mentorship session with the rest of the incubatees of iCentre. Sheikh Abas Sheikh Mohamad, CEO of Syabas Technologies. Coming from a flourish background in business and appointed as advisors in various organizations, Sheikh Abas advised, “Sustain in what you’re doing and when you have something at hand, embrace it quickly”. For those who know him, he’s well known for his critical thinking and comments, especially in the areas of business as well as in the development of private sectors in Brunei.
"Take care of yourself and don't rely so much on government because in the end of the day, you're gonna stand on your two feet whether you like it or not."
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One of the biggest ministries in Brunei Darussalam is the Ministry of Communications. Just because of the word communication, the locals might perceived the job scope is just related to telecommunication. In the Ministry of Communications, they have 5 departments
1) Marine Department
2) Ports Department
3) Civil Aviation Department such as the airport
4) Land Transport Department (car registration, driving license)
5) Postal Services Department (where you eBay goods get delivered)
From the mini-exhibition, I saw one interesting item which still in the approval process as we speak where your ID will contain your driving license details as well (all in one card). The "Sistem Pengangkutan Darat" or "SPD" will allow the public to have a more efficient system for car registration, renewal of road taxes and driving licences. Oh yea, you may have notice a new driving circuit for learners at Sg. Akar roundabout.
Another objective by the Land Transport Department will be introducing the taxi franchising system. At the moment, I have to say the taxi standards have been appalling and this is the major complaints raised by tourists. I've seen in the papers of a tender for this project and I hope the private sector can take this opportunity to turn the fortunes around for taxis in Brunei.
