Public Speaking Encore

Previously On the 9th of April, I took part in the 3rd Inter-VTI Public Speaking Competition at Maktab Teknik Sultan Saiful Rizal and I became the 1st Runner-up for presenting my topic which was titled 'How to be rich'. Sounds bold, doesn't it? Few months has passed and I recieved a call a week ago that there will be another presentation going on and basically I just need to refresh back the topic I presented in the previous competition at MTSSR. Somehow there was a lot of feedbacks from last April's event and we were requested for an encore for several key members of the ministry of education.


The welcoming speech by the Director of Technical Education
The public Speaking Presentation was held earlier this afternoon at the Department of Technical Education in Gadong. Familiar faces from the competition showed up and presented their topics to the guests. I was the 6th participant to present my topic on 'How to be rich'. This was no competition, so I didn't rehearse at all the previous night and just went ahead spontaneously.




Several of the participants from different colleges and institutes presenting their topics


The Guests of Honor ; the Director of Technical Education and the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Corporate Services in the Ministry of Education (center & right)




I highly encourage students to participate in public speaking competitions such as these. We need more participants for the next event and hope to see the juniors from the Business School to take part in presenting the topics of their choice and interests. As a business student, public speaking and presenting is a skill worth harnessing and it helps boost our confidence and improve our communication skills, particularly in the field of business.

My Prayers For The Victims of July 30

I was deeply saddened to hear the unfortunate news of the stampede incident which occurred yesterday morning. Lives were lost and a few injured after being unintentionally trampled by hundreds who came to the town capital as everyone rushed to take the ride on the buses for the opportunity to attend the function held at the Istana on the respectful day of Isra' Mikraj. Condolences to the families of the victims. Al-Fatihah.

I do hope the authorities will find a solution in order to prevent this from occurring again and set up a more systematic approach on crowd control, particularly for the upcoming Tarawih nights in the month of Ramadhan. It's just no longer as safe as it used to be anymore.

Got Aircond Not Good?

Hehehe...

Receiving Our Certificates of Appreciation From The Ministry of Health

Earlier this afternoon, a few of us who took part in the previous survey operations in several health centres for the Ministry of Health were called to attend a function at the MOH headquarters in Jln Kebangsaan. We recieved certificates as well as gifts from the officials of MOH as a token of their appreciation for our involvement in conducting the surveys last month for a period of 2 weeks.






It's really great to see a few of my friends who've made it to the function earlier today; Herman, Arif, Isa, Fizah, Tinah, Rohana, Khalisah, Caron, Hawa, Sibi and a few others as well. I haven't seen them since we left school for our industrial attachment. Here are a few more candid moments before we left the place.


Wajah dan gaya baru. Maklumlah urang attachment.

Apa yang durang liat atu? UFO?

Just For One Weekend

I miss the beach. I mean, not just the beach literally, but the whole point of having fun and relaxation at the beach. Away from work, away from everything that bugs my head, and just be with close friends, have a barbecue, joking around and having fun by the sea shore while the sun sets in the horizon. Just for one weekend.

Emcee For The Symposium

How's it goin, readers? Apologies for the slow updates. Last week was an entirely busy one for me this month. July's almost over and Ramadhan is just over the horizon. I hope that things settle down a bit for the month of August so that I could prepare myself before the holy month.

In the meantime, just a quick update. The reason for me being busy earlier was because I had to attend a function in Tutong yesterday. I was called to be the male Emcee for a special talk organized by the Tutong Hospital (PMMPMHAB), which is the National Cardiovascular Symposium with the theme 'Early Detection and Management of Cardiovascular Diseases'.


The event was held at Halim Plaza in Tutong. The symposium touched on the rising number of chronic non-communicable diseases cases in Brunei. The Guest of Honour was Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Serbini Hj Ali, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health.

This was perhaps my first time to be involved in a talk related to medical issues. Normally the functions and talks that I attended over the years focused on business, economical and financial issues. Instead of meeting up with entrepreneurs and business people, I got to see doctors, specialists and surgeons. I was really foreign to their culture, interest and language that they used because literally, I'm a business student. I have no knowledge on anything to do with medical. Nevertheless, it was great to be in a different environment once in a while; I got to learn new things.


The view of Tutong Town from the 10th Floor.
I didn't actually shoot much photos at the hall as I was on duty, despite bringing along my gear. I really took my sweet time in Tutong yesterday as well as Saturday, but boy was I exhausted. Can u imagine having to wake up early in the morning to drive all the way to Tutong (the function started at 8.30pm), when just the night before that I was at the Taman for the fireworks and float processions. Furthermore I had to attend the rehearsal for the Symposium last Saturday as well.

This was just nearby. How convenient.

Float Procession, Laser and Fireworks Spectacle

It's entirely different this time. It used to be that every year we got to see live performances on stage at the Taman Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien along with fireworks, float procession and the tug-of-war finals. On the night of 26th however, the main highlights were the laser, light and fireworks, along with the floats and the tug-of-war. It was really breathtaking to be in the capital and see the dazzling fireworks in the Taman that night.

The winning float 'Life Beneath The Platforms' by BSP, BSM and BST.

As stated in today's Borneo Bulletin:

'Shutterbugs and bloggers joined official media representatives as early as 5pm. Some came in earlier to set up the equipment.' - Azaraimy HH

Wow, this is great. Even us bloggers share the limelight and credibility we deserve. I highly encourage bloggers to be more involved in events such as these to help promote Brunei at what the country does best to the entire world. I salute you.

The real magic occured inside the Taman itself!
















By the way, I drove all the way from Tutong that evening and the fact that the entire road leading to BSB was closed by the authorities, I had to park my car somewhere around Ong Sum Ping and got all the way to the Taman on foot. Heading back to my car at the end of the event was the worst part as I had aching feet.

DST's Go! Broadband Float

I could get into trouble for sneaking up here.

More pictures of the Float Procession can be viewed at Cybercanon's blog.

A Special Day For a Havoc Member

Happy Birthday to Marriz, a fellow member of the Havoc Bloggers. I wish him good health and success in his future undertakings. May you graduate with flying colors and keep on blogging!

For those who wish to deliver their birthday greetings and wishes to the birthday boy may do so by visiting his blog.

15th July, The Video

Previously on the 15th, I went down to BSB for the royal event for a photoshoot. I noticed a bunch of guys with huge sophisticated camcorders filming the event on the streets. They're actually David Cheok's guys. That's right, Mr Cheok has ventured into filming. By looking at his work (now available in Youtube), you can see that there has rarely been a film quality as good as his produced in Brunei for years. I bet it's hi-def.

By the way, a few Brunei Forever photographers were featured in the video, and guess who was caught on tape at 5:07 minutes (he's using a Nikon D80).

A Visit To The Kitty Ward (2nd Day)

I wish to update the 'banci penduduk kucing' at home because I think I miscounted yesterday. So far there are 7 kittens in the kitty ward. I don't know which ones belong to which already, they're totally mixed up. Kusut ku pulang. So that's a total of 9 cats in my house.

Hahaha, kesian kana pihit.
One week later, these little things will start opening their eyes. 2 weeks later, their ears will grow bigger. I don't even wanna think about what's gonna happen on the 3rd week. it's gonna be chaotic; 9 cats to feed, 7 kittens pooping, and then there's the running around, breaking things up, hiding in tight areas where I won't be able to reach them! AAAAARGH!!! (I need lie down...)

Holy Crap! More Kittens!

Now here's something that you don't see everyday. Apparently TWO of my cats delivered this afternoon, and that other one was Fiqah. She and Nabel must have slept with the same male stray cat on the same night! (kucing pun pandai orgy kah?) Thanks to that bastard, my house is now overpopulated with kittens! Ani baru namanya menyusahkan!

I've never experienced seeing something like this in my entire life. 2 cats delivered at the same time. Unfortunately, one of the three kittens belonging to Fiqah died tragically, so I had to bury it at my backyard earlier this evening. As for Nabel's kittens, they're all fine. As you can see from the above pictures, both share the same box a.k.a kitty ward. Now to find that irresponsible punk-ass cat who knocked up both my pets.

Oh Joy, Kittens!

Nabel just delivered safely earlier today up to 4 litters. She's now resting in her box a.k.a kitty ward along with her babies. I will try to take several shots of them every week to see their progress as they grow (if I got the time) and I will post them here. Welcome to the world, little ones.