Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Kikeh...



Source of Picture: http://www.offshore-mag.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=ARCHI&ARTICLE_ID=173877&VERSION_NUM=1&p=9
Why I bring this up? Because in the recent talks with Malaysia, the Kikeh Oilfiled dispute is yet to be solved but it is said that Malaysia is already producing oil in that disputed area. IF so, isnt that a violation of the truce? Then again, if Malaysia decides to produce the oil in that field, what can BRunei do ( a lot of my friends echo this sentence)...
What indeed? ARe we then going to let this matter be swept under the carpet just like what happened in Limbang?...

Sigh...

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

More pictures of recent trip...

Temburong is also well known for its quarry - stones for Brunei roads

The Kampong Ujung Jalan Police Post, in Mukim Puni, Temburong

There used to be a jetty here but now its all gone... just left the "skeleton" of jetty



The way back home.. the Immigration post at Kuala Lurah, Brunei

Sweat Shops in Brunei



I didnt realise that there were sweat shops in BRunei.. literally i mean... today, i went to see a "kedai jahit" shop somewhere near and my god, the workers has no aircon at all and is working with a small fan beside them.

No wonder baju kurong only costs $12 to make... I'm sure the workers are working till late night and i wonder if they are paid on time. From the amoung of clothes that were displayed, no wonder their business is good with just $12 to make baju melayu as well...

Its an open secret that the labour laws in Brunei doesnt really protect the foreign workers, especially workers from India or Indonesia. Exploitation and abuse are very common but many are scared of their employers. Usually "trouble-makers" are sent home without being paid at all. I guess as long as its not the sons or daughters of any Bruneians who are faced with this problem, then it would be ignored and not taken action upon....

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Sites and Scenes on a Trip to Temburong...

The Malaysian Immigration Post and Brunei Border at Kuala Lurah

The pasar at Limbang town
The prices of the ferry rideThe ferry that service the Temburong and Limbang border



The signboard welcoming boat riders from BSB to Temburong





The only Pterol Station in Temburong District

One of the government buildings in Bangar, Temburong's town.

Notice the red logo - thats one of Brunei's national crest

Monday, August 14, 2006

A day in Temburong…

It’s not everyday that Bruneians go and visit Temburong. Because of its distance (via boat takes about 70-90minutes) and via car, one has to pass through the Limbang, Malaysian immigration and ferry, which costs B$4 to cross over. Temburong District is Brunei's western territory, but separated Brunei into two halves by the Malaysian district of Limbang. (For the record, Brunei claimed Limbang district as part of her territory).

Not many know Temburong except maybe being the location of the country’s largest National Park as well as “Kuala Belalong Field Study Centre”… almost all science students in secondary school should know this place. Then we have the quarry where many Brunei road projects take its gravel from. But beside that what else? Hence the trip taken last week to visit Temburong after 3 or 4 years since my last visit.

The first thing to do is to find the time which one would not be stuck in the immigration queue at Kuala Lurah. Usually it’s better after 10am or 11am. Then it takes about half hour or so to reach the Limbang town and most Bruneian here shop for its fruit and other farm produce. Another famous Bruneian stop is the KFC located at the biggest building in Limbang town (Can’t recall the name of the building). Depending on your speed, after Limbang town, it takes another half hour or so to reach the Malaysian border to Temburong which is just a river separating the two district and countries.

A ferry costs B$4 or Malaysian ringgit RM10 is imposed for any cars to cross the river. After crossing the river, one arrivers at Temburong uniquely named kampong, Kampong Ujung Jalan. Another 8-10minutes, one will reach the small town of Bangar, the administrative centre of Temburong. Temburong may have roughly 10,000 people living in the district but almost all amenities are available, health, education (including Chinese school – the Pai Yuek School), shops or law enforcement agencies.

The town of Bangar has indeed change, as most towns in Brunei these days. Its more cleaner and pretty and the jetty used to receive passengers using the BSB-Temburong boat no longer docks at the old jetty near the bridge. Where they moved, I’m not sure. But one thing for sure, Bangar has indeed expanded in terms of the number of buildings built on the area. But the town is still a very quite town.

History students will remember that one of the oldest name for Brunei, is Puni and there exists a Kampong Puni in Temburong district. Using the road map of Brunei (one can buy this outdated road map), one cannot find Kampong Ratai listed in the road map. Instead, you can find Kampong Rataie as well as Kampong Bokok instead of Kampong Bukok.

After an hour in the town, with nothing much to do except driving by the district, we decided to head back home. Nevertheless, the journey to Temburong is quite interesting – hmmm… maybe my next visit will be in another 3 years time?... heheh

Friday, August 11, 2006

A night at Yayasan....

A few days ago, after running out of option to go "somewhere" in Brunei to eat dinner, we decided to go to Yayasan in Bandar Seri Begawan. It's sad to see that there's barely any customers who go and patronise the shops at night. I just wonder, how the biggest "supermarket" there survives after all these years.

Did the management of Yayasan tries hard to attract customers to visit Yayasan? Is parking fee a problem? Then they should waive the fee if people buy things there. There should be more activites held in Yayasan, just like what is happening at the Mall, especially at night. With a big compound near the fountain, I'm sure many things/stage can be fit around that area. Any new activities or launching of some events, especially government-related, should be held there and not only to be held at the Mall.
The waterfront of Yayasan can be improved so that tourists alike can enjoy the scenery... Ideal Restaurant there is also not properly maintained and the whole ambience is dissapointing.... hmm... sayang eh....

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

oil oil oil....

Hmm... no wonder Malaysia want to bulldoze Brunei on her sovereign rights over her South China Sea territorial boundary, the land dispute in Limbang as well as the Spratly Islands...

-------------------------------
Dwindling oil reserves weigh on Malaysian growth
By John Burton in Singapore


Published: August 7 2006 12:06

The recent decision by Petronas, the Malaysian state energy group, to take a stake in Rosneft, the Russian oil producer, underscores worries about Malaysia's dwindling oil reserves.

The $1.1bn deal to gain access to Russia's oil fields comes as Petronas recently reported that domestic oil production last year fell by nearly 5 per cent to 700,000 barrels a day. Malaysia's is south-east Asia's largest oil producer after Indonesia.

Petronas blamed the decline on shutdowns for “major maintenance and repair works in several fields” operated by joint venture partners, which include ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch/Shell. But it expressed confidence that proved and probable crude oil reserves of 5.25bn barrels meant that Malaysia still had 20 years of oil reserves at current rates of production.

Independent analysts estimate that Malaysia has about 14 years of oil production left, if only proven reserves of 4.2bn barrels are taken into account.
“Mature fields are declining faster than new fields coming on stream,” said a London-based energy analyst with an international bank. “They are definitely not replacing reserves with new discoveries too well. In 1995, the [proven] reserve figure was 5.2bn barrels.”


The decline in Malaysian oil production could affect future economic growth since oil represents about 9 per cent of Malaysian exports. The oil industry accounts for about 30 per cent of government revenues when the country is struggling to cut a large budget deficit.

Najib Razak, the deputy prime minister, warned last year that Malaysia could become a net oil importer by 2009 if it did not find new oil reserves and domestic demand continued to surge. “This means we cannot continue to lean on the oil sector,” he said.

Declining oil production in Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia and Brunei means that east Asia will rely more on the Middle East, Russia and Africa for future supplies. Indonesia's proven oil reserves of 4.4bn barrels are only slightly larger those of Malaysia.

Malaysia's main overseas oil markets include Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore, while it is expanding exports to the US, Australia, New Zealand and Chile. Hassan Marican, Petronas chief executive, said the group spent M$12bn last year to make new discoveries for oil and gas.

Although higher oil prices mean that Petronas and its partners have more money to spend on oil exploration, inflation in the oil service sector is also rising rapidly.

“Costs to find, develop and produce oil and gas has increased by an average of 50 per cent over the last two years,” Mr Hassan recently told an energy conference in Kuala Lumpur.

“The increase in capital expenditures and shortage in capacity in contracting services may result in the deferment and delay of some projects.”

In addition, most of the new oil fields are located in deep water or ultra-deep water areas, which makes production more expensive. Most of the recent finds are off Malaysia's Sabah state on the island of Borneo.

Petronas is hoping to tap the new fields, which could hold up to four times Malaysia's present reserves, if more advanced technology becomes available.

Meanwhile, Petronas has invested in overseas oil production, mainly in Egypt, Sudan and the Caspian Sea, which account for oil reserves of 2.35bn barrels. However, its international oil operations also suffered a nearly 6 per cent fall in production last year to 185,000 barrels a day.


Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006


-----------------------------

In Foreign Policy's Article, The Spratlys Islands dispute Im sure is never far from people's mind...

Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam

Area of dispute: The Spratly Islands, a cluster of more than 100 tiny reefs, islets, and atolls in the South China Sea, with a land area of less than 5 square miles.

Why it matters: Food, traffic, and oil. The Spratly Islands are one of the most heavily fished areas in the world. They’re also located in the center of the principle shipping route between Europe and Asia. And most lucrative of all are the untapped energy sources from the seabed below. China estimates that there are 17.7 billion tons of oil in the area, which would make it the fourth-largest oil reserve in the world.

Current status: The reasons for sovereignty claims are myriad: Some nations insist that they have historical ownership, while others say that geographical logic should prevail. All parties laying claim to the territory with the exception of Brunei maintain a military presence on the islands, despite a 2002 commitment (signed by all but Taiwan) to resolve differences by peaceful means. Although military confrontations have calmed down in recent years, the islands remain a hot-button issue in the region.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Unhealthy Brunei

Today we visited the new fast food restaurant opened at the Mall, lets call it D.C.

Our first impression of the place is that its really nice and looks very clean (hey.. its new afterall).

Then when one looks at the menu… its all about chicken and fried items and with a few grilled items.

We ordered the chicken burger – fried chicken burger and we tried the grilled chicken. For the chicken burger, it’s just like any normal chicken breast burger (KFC's zinger's burger). As for the grilled chicken, I’m suspicious that they didn’t really marinate it, just pour the sauce on top of the chicken, after its grilled. Reminds me of Nandos Chicken.

I’m proud to say that the cashier, a Bruneian, was quite friendly and the staff there looks very hard-working.

Then when its time to wash your hand… you see that the wash basin is very unique. However, some people were “struggling” how to shut off the water tap after using it and because of its unique design and maybe something is already loose, it’s not properly shut, you can see water flowing out into the sink – wasting water.

Then when the grilled chicken arrived, the plate was so huge that my 1/4th chicken looked so small in that plate. I just don’t understand why the staff don’t just put the coleslaw on the plate and instead have to use a plastic container for it. It’s a waste to use the container as it costs the management $$ and it increases waste and pollution to the environment as plastic is environmentally un-degradable. Then, what is with the paperbags for fried chips? Why waste all the papers for that? When it comes to tissues, they were quite stingy...

Bruneians I guess should be taught how to eat less chicken… we have far too much fried chicken fast food restaurant – KFC, Ayamku, A. Ayam , one at Sengkurong which I cant recall the name and now, a new one at the Mall.

Food items to be served to the public should be generous with vegetables and less on the mayonnaise or condensed or ideal milk. Fizzy drinks should be discouraged while drinks such as Ice Tea or something like that should not be too sweet…

Sigh… what's the latest restaurant to be open in Brunei I wonder….