Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Interesting speech from Raja Nazrin Shah

All-round backing for Raja Nazrin's views (27 Nov 2006 - NST)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Raja Muda of Perak’s statements on national unity have been described as a "wonderful injection of fresh air" which should be strongly supported by the public.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, chairman of the Centre of Public Policy Studies of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli), said the statements from Raja Dr Nazrin Shah were positive and constructive.Navaratnam, who is also a member of the National Unity Panel, said the country could not afford to let the "silent majority", as Raja Nazrin put it, be hijacked by those with a narrow, extremist view."

If possible, legal action should be taken against those who go against national unity. There is not much point in criticising them without making them accountable."

Raja Nazrin has said that having a dominant race does not guarantee unity. This is the heart of the problem preventing us from achieving national unity.

"No race or religion should feel they are dominant. Neither should they want to override the other races and religions....Malaysia is a country for all races and religions. There should be a place for all under the Malaysian sun. Without this, national unity will remain only an illusion," he said.

Navaratnam said everyone, especially politicians, had a role in ensuring national unity. Sadly, he added, in recent times some politicians allowed racism and religious bigotry to "show its ugly head".

Professor Emeritus Datuk Khoo Kay Kim also shared Raja Nazrin’s views and agreed that the silent majority should not allow the country’s unity to be annexed by anyone.However, he felt that the silent majority did not understand what was going on and when this happened, they tended to look only after themselves.

Khoo said it was not enough to merely identify the problem but urged everyone to act by finding the appropriate solutions. He believed that the ultimate antidote to cure polarisation and disunity was to completely overhaul the country’s education system by making it more dynamic.

"The current system is neglecting the cultural aspect of education, stressing too much on science and technology. Malaysia’s greatest strength is its cultural diversity."We should be leading the world in terms of cultural diversity," he said.


Khoo warned that if Malaysia’s education system continued to be examination-oriented, the country would lag behind in 10 years time compared with neighbouring countries like Thailand and Indonesia.For Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia vice-chancellor Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin, her position in the university had given her the platform to instil the importance of unity in the students, who are the country’s future leaders

"My job is made easy as the student leaders themselves have singled out unity as what they want to work on."I truly welcome the idea, and we will be putting down plans to execute this to the masses soon."


Sharifah Hapsah believed that national unity could be boosted through a common goal.She wanted her students’ education to be a total experience of sharing."I want them to work together. I want them to play together. I want them to celebrate together. I want them to cry together when they face failures. Education is more than about being theoretical."


She believed that national unity could be attained once the people, especially university students, were aware of its importance and made conscious efforts towards it.

Monday, November 27, 2006

The best bookstore in Kota Kinabalu

One of the best, if not the best book store in Kota Kinabalu is the Borneo Books shop, located at Wisma Merdeka. The ground floor shop is called Borneo Books and another shop on the 3rd floor, Borneo Books 2 is its "subsidiary" shop.

This book shop specialiazes, as the name of the shop says it, books on Borneo. One of its widest collection of books is the books published by the Natural History Publication (Borneo).The book store not only sell brand new books but also 2nd hand books.
So for those who likes books and planning to go to KK, do drop by the book shop :-)

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The Natural HIstory Publication (Borneo) website
http://www.nhpborneo.com/main.htm

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Journey to KK


The questions which is in the mind of travellers from Brunei and East Malaysia are

a) When will the Brunei government build another immigration and customs complex to replace the existing building which is inadequate to meet the demands of travellers in and out of Limbang. The Limbang is already building a huge immigration complex and expected to be completed by next year or so...

The border between Lawas and the State of Sabah

The immigration post at Lawas District, called Mengkalap

(Note: all immigration posts and ferry stop operation at 10pm)

b) When will the BRunei and Malaysian government build a bridge separating the Limbang and Temburong districts. Instead of the ferry, both government can collect the bridge tax as both served the same purpose.

c) When will the Malaysian Government going to build a bridge that separate Lawas District from Brunei's Temburong district (Labu side). If the bridge is built, the traffic will indeed be faster.

NOTE: When going to Limbang, where's the place to eat? KFC, Sugarbun? Boring already lah....

For non-Muslims, try the newly renovated Seaview Restaurant, located in Limbang town, facing the river. Its on the 1st Floor and the food there is good and instead of rushing back to Brunei, we stopped by and have our dinner before joining the queue at Kuala Lurah to go home.

FYI: The exchange rate in Limbang was B$1=RM2.335 while in Kota Kinabalu, its B$1 = RM2.330

The Journey to KK

The journey to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (East Malaysia) was not hard actually. The road from Brunei, all the way to KK is good (with the best road stretching from Temburong’s Puni all the way to Brunei’s immigration post at Labu). However, the most frusturating part of the journey are the

a) Brunei/Limbang Kuala Lurah Immigration post
b) Brunei’s Puni immigration post (only one officer in charge of people coming into Temburong and out of Temburing)
c) The ferry that bring cars crossing Limbang towards Temburong

d) The ferry that bring cars from Labu, Temburong to Lawas road

Depending on how fast you drive, u can actually reach Kota Kinabalu in just 3 to 4 hours from Lawas.

However, it take the same amount of time (worse if its Friday, Saturday and Sunday) if you’re from Brunei as the queue can stretch for 2 or 3 kilometres just to reach the Brunei Kuala Lurah immigration post and that can take up to 2 or 3 hours of your time. It takes about 30 minutes to 1 hour to cross Limbang from Kuala Lurah towards the river that separates Limbang and Temburong.

The 300km Journey to Kota Kinabalu (I)

The Limbang Immigration Post in Limbang Town
The Brunei Immiration Post at Labu, Temburong
The ferry that connects Labu, Brunei to Lawas, Sarawak
It cost RM10 to board the ferry

Thursday, November 23, 2006

52,450 Granted PR Status In Brunei Since 1958: Perm Sec

Bandar Seri Begawan, 22nd November 2006 - From July 1, 1958 until today, a total of 52,450 applicants have been granted Permanent Resident status in Brunei Darussalam.

The figure was revealed by Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Yusoff bin Hj Ismail, Permanent Secretary at Ministry of Home Affairs as guest speaker during the talk, "PR Application: Impact on the Business Community", organised by the French-Bruneian Business Association (FBBA) at Sheraton Utama Hotel, yesterday morning.

The permanent secretary gave an in-depth explanation of the main functions and responsibilities of the Department of Immigration and National Registration, one of the departments under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Brunei.

He outlined the various acts the department is responsible in carrying out, namely Immigration. Act and Regulation (Chapter 17), Passport Act and Regulation (Chapter 146), Nationality Act and Regulation (Chapter 15), National Registration and Regulation (Chapter 19), Birth and Death Registration Act and Regulation (Chapter 79), Adoption Registration Act and Regulations (Chapter 123) and Tracking and Smuggling of Persons Order, 2004.

Dato Hj Yusoff added that another function of the department is the issuance of Entry Permit (Permit Resident Status), which is in accordance to Section 10 of the Brunei Immigration Act (Chapter 17).

He said a `Permanent Resident' is defined as a person to whom a Residence Permit has been issued under subsection (1) of Section 67 of the Immigration Enactment 1956 (Enactment No 23 of 1956) or to whom an Entry Permit has been issued under subsection (2) of Section 10 of the Immigration Act (Chapterl7). Permanent Residence status is accorded to those who possess either foreign nationality status (foreign passport holder) or those without any nationality.

Meanwhile, Awg Zainal Abidin bin Dato Paduka Hi Ahmad, Director of Immigration and National Registration, outlined the various categories of eligibility in applying for Permanent Resident status. If a woman marries a Brunei Citizen, two years of marriage and staying in Brunei is required;
a) if a woman marries a Brunei Permanent Resident, five years of marriage and staying, in Brunei is required;
b) for children whose mother holds Brunei citizenship, the requirement is two-years of age and having stayed in Brunei Darussalam;
c) While children whose father holds Brunei Permanent Residence, the requirement is two years and 6 months of age and having stayed in Brunei Darussalam.

He also touched on the new categories for Permanent Resident status (as of May 15, 2006), which consists of applicants who contribute to the economic growth and development of the country (business), professionals who contribute to the economic growth and development of the country and husbands who marry Brunei citizens.

--- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
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I wonder what is the regulations regarding citizenship, especially when foreign bride marries local men? How long will that take?

Municipal Department Has Right To Kill Strays

Under the Dogs Act Paragraph 60 Chapter 5(2), the Municipal Department has the right to get rid of disowned pets including stray dogs if found not wearing the metal label or badge issued by the Municipal Department upon registration.

This law has already been in force in the country for more than a decade, but has not been widely publicised.

The Municipal Department in a press release yesterday stated that it is an offence for dog owners who fail to register their dogs at the department under the Dogs Act Paragraph 60 Chapter 4 and 5, which could lead to a fine of B$250 or 14 days in prison. Subsequent offenders could face a fine of B$500 or a month in prison upon conviction.

It is also an offence for dog owners who have already registered but failed to tag the dog's collar with the metal label or badge issued by the department, and offenders face a-fine of $250 or a month in prison.
However, this law applies only if dogs are found wandering within the Municipal areas. In Bandar Seri Begawan the Municipal a1ea encompasses a strip of land half a mile wide on each side of the BSB/Tutong road extending from the boundary of the BSB Municipal Board area to the fifth milestone from BSB along the said road; a strip of land half a mile wide on each side of BSB/ Kota Batu bridle path extending from the boundary of BSB Municipal Board area to Kg Pelambayan inclusive; and a strip of land half a mile on each side of BSB/Berakas road extending from the boundary of the BSB Municipal board area to the junction of the said road with Jalan Muara.

Meanwhile in Kuala Belait, the area covers land between Sungai Bera and Sungai Belait to a distance of half a mile from the foreshore. Dogs found outside the Municipal territory are exempted from the provisions of the Act.

The Dogs Act further requires owners to properly chain or cage their pets and release them in a restricted area within the compound of the owners' houses.

The department has urged dog owners within the Municipal area to annually register their dogs of over three months old, every February 1. And registered dogs should at all times wear a special metal label or badge issued by the department. The cost for registering a dog is B$3 while each metal label or badge costs $5.
The law is also aimed at curbing stray dog bites that could result in victims contracting rabies. The issue of stray dogs has been in the news with many dog lovers calling for shelters to house the strays.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
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Well, this statement is not unexpected... Though laws are known to change as society moves towards "modernity," however, it comes to things which considered to be "haram," there's no way out unles the dog lovers are willing fork out $$$ to pay for the animal shelter.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Easy Enticing Brunei


By Cheche MoralInquirerLast updated 00:40am (Mla time) 10/22/2006

Published on page D1 of the October 22, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

OUR HOST SAID IF HE threw a stone across the room in a busy dim-sum restaurant in Brunei where we were having lunch, chances were whoever it would hit was related to him. If not, he added, pretty soon they’d be related.

He was kidding, of course, but with Brunei having a population of roughly only 350,000—just about as many as the inhabitants of several buildings on Ayala, jested one Filipino companion—quite likely he was right.

Its modern capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan is said to have one of the highest human-to-car ratios in the world (a liter of gas is about Brunei$.50; Brunei$1 = P32), though for us who live in frenzied Manila, its roads seemed like lonely empty highways.

It was imagined visions of the gilded ostentation of palaces of one of the world’s richest men that had us going when Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA), the Brunei Tourism Board and Tourism Malaysia brought our media group on a twin-city tour of Brunei and Kota Kinabalu in the Sabah state of Malaysia.

It was dusk and drizzling when our plane landed in Begawan, and even in the falling darkness, the lush foliage below was visible from our plane window. Nestled among them were sprawling abodes that would make Manila mansions seem humble in comparison. This petroleum-rich sultanate, after all, has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. It’s a state-subsidized, tax-free society.

While its Asian neighbors have long been vying for their share of the tourism market, the affluent sultanate is only now just beginning to promote itself as an alternative destination for its traveling neighbors.

“Very little is known about Brunei,” said Hj Rozman Hj Junaidi, RBA’s VP for corporate communication. “Not many know that it’s only a two-hour flight from Manila or Singapore,” and not in the Middle East as we thought.

Ideal haunt
Brunei Darussalam has a total land area of 5,271 sq km, 70 percent of which is rainforest, making it an ideal haunt for ecotourism. In the eastern part is the Ulu Temburong National Park, a vast unspoiled forest that has attracted nature lovers and scientists from all over.
Getting there is an experience in itself. A 45-minute ride aboard a water taxi, or morbidly called Flying Coffins, takes you through Kampong Ayer, the Old Brunei where some 30,000 locals still reside on houses on stilts. (The gold dome of the royal palace can be seen from here.) Thick mangroves line the water highway.

After a yummy welcome of roti and rendang at a local eatery, a short drive will take you to a pier where a motorized banca awaits to transport you on a 20-minute ultra-speed ride upstream to the park. Beats the roller coaster any day!

Don’t be surprised if you suddenly hear someone from outside your group speaking Tagalog. Brunei has some 20,000 Filipinos living or working there. (Yes, they have Jollibee, and many locals are fans of Kristine Hermosa and Jericho Rosales soaps.) Our guide, Lilian, for one, is an Ilongga married to a Bruneian for the last 17 years. In this former British protectorate, locals speak English, Malay and Chinese. (The nation boasts a literacy rate of 92 percent.)
Make sure you’ve logged months of training on the treadmill if you take this trek. Elderly Japanese tourists we met on the way up put us to shame for not breaking a single sweat!

It’s over a thousand-step uphill climb amid centuries-old trees to get to the foot of the canopy walkway, and another 50-meter climb on the steel structure that affords a breathtaking bird’s eye view of the virgin forest. Not for wusses, sure, but if you can muster enough guts your wobbly knees are justly rewarded.

Our home in Brunei was perhaps what best approximated the lavish images we had of the sultanate. The Empire Hotel and Country Club (www.theempirehotel.com) was built in 2000 to house the dignitaries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference. It’s a six-star beachfront hotel that has over 423 rooms and villas; three cinemas; a full-service spa and gym; and an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed championship golf course, making it the ideal getaway for families, honeymooners and diehard golfers. (Brunei has four major golf courses.)

The Empire’s magnificence is underscored by its high ceilings (the atrium soars over 12 stories from floor to ceiling), gold fittings, Italian marble columns, walls and floorings, and stair railings inlaid with semiprecious stones. Its presidential suite alone has its own lap pool and costs about $17,000 a night, or equivalent to the cost of a small house! Late-edition Porsches and Lexuses line the clubhouse’s driveway at any given day.

Royal reception
If your visit falls on Oct. 26 at the end of Ramadan, make sure to join the queue at Istana Nurul Iman, the residential palace of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. (Trivia: our National Artist Leandro Locsin designed the palace.) This is the one time of the year when the royal family opens the palace to well-wishers.

The Sultan and other male members of the family hold an audience with male guests. Her Majesty and the rest of the female royal household receive the women guests. (RBA offers Hari Raya tours for Oct. 25-27. For other packages, call 8973309, 8953545, 8996290; visit www.bruneiair.com/philippines. RBA is the only airline that flies to Brunei directly from Manila.)


But if, like us, you end up in the sultanate at other times of the year, you can make do with a visit to the Brunei Museum, where you get a glimpse of the royal trappings, including His Majesty’s coronation carriage and the gifts received from other heads of states (including a salakot and a kris from two Philippine presidents). Encased in glass are the coronation finery made of gold and precious stones, among which is a gold life-size replica of an arm, palm facing upward; our guide said this was where the royal rested his chin during the long ceremony. Soak it all up with your eyes as no picture-taking is allowed within the museum.

Also a must is a visit to the mosques. One of the main and newer ones is the 26-gold-domed Jamé Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. The Sultan is the 26th ruler. As in any visit to a mosque, women are asked to dress modestly; an abaya, a long black robe, is provided for female visitors.
Don’t expect to find great shopping in Brunei like you would on a trip to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or even Manila. While it has its share of malls, BTB officials say the population is too small that they would likely not sustain bigger retail activities.


Bruneians prefer to go abroad for their own shopping. This is also why RBA is offering twin-city tours, which can be a choice of Manila-Brunei-Singapore/KL/Hong Kong/Jakarta jaunts.

http://showbizandstyle.inq7.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=27984

Street Lights

Brunei's street lights (pre-Amedeo 1998 crisis) were very good and bright, however 8 years on, the maintenance of these lights aren't.
There are some sections of the main road (such as the road towards Gadong as well as government building at Jalan Airport Lama, then at Jalan Muara) where the street lights area sometimes switched off. Whose responsible for replacing the light bulbs or even switching on the street lights?
Yes, it is expensive to swtich on these street lights at night (it runs up to 12 hours per day, hence costs $ few hundred thousand dollars per month maybe), but what is the alternative?
Wind, wave, nuclear or solar energy? Many have said that solar energy is expensive to install but in the long run, since Brunei is in the tropic where the sun is hot all year round, the possibility is always there for this technology can be imported or made locally? Didnt Australia recently built the world's largest solar energy panels in its desert that could tap millions of watts of electricity?
Oil is not going to lasts forever, so alternative solution is important for sustainable development. Otherwise, in future, we have only nice streetlights with no lights on....

Is Brunei worth visiting?

The Sunday Times opens its travel clinic on a daily basis to answer your holiday queries.

Today: visiting Brunei

Email the Sunday Times with your travel queries
November 15, 2006


We are planning to visit Darwin, and have found some good fares flying via Brunei. Not having been on this route before, is Brunei worth a stopover?

Tracy Cummings, London A Sunday Times travel expert responds: While Bandar Seri Begawan – yes that really is the name of Brunei’s capital – isn’t another Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, or Singapore, it is a very manageable and friendly place to break your journey to Australia.

And as you don’t know when you’re next likely to be in the neighbourhood, I’d say it’s well worth a visit. The population of the whole country is only about 300,000, and while there’s not a huge amount to see in the oil-rich mini-Sultanate, you can fill a few pleasant days here.

It’s fun to take a boat trip around the Water Village, where about 30,000 people live in old wooden houses are built on stilts, incongruously with satellite dishes and other mod cons. Then visit the magnificent central mosque with its 52m high golden dome, followed by a tour of the Sultan’s official residence; an orgy of opulence, with 1778 rooms, and over 500 chandeliers.

The city also has good shopping. For more information, visit www.tourismbrunei.com, or Royal Brunei Airlines (www.bruneiair.com). Lonely Planet and Rough Guides both have good sections on the Bandar Seri Begawan in their guides to ‘Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei’.


http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,18409-2452926,00.html

Friday, November 03, 2006

Proposed Beachside Restaurants

The "recovered" section of the Jerudong Beach should be made into a tourist and local attraction alike by the authorities allowing stalls or restaurants to be set up in the place. It would be a prefect site for people who want to relex and enjoy the beach breeze.

I've been thinking and can't help wondering why the area is not developed for restaurants? Maybe there's too many restaurants in the country, but this is near the beach... There's no GOOD restaurants in this country which currently sited near a beach - (pls exclude Empire's Pantai Restaurant or the Serasa Beach Restaurants which one is not successful and the other only members can enter), where any tom, dick or harry can go... and which does not cost a bomb just to eat the food...

Brunei's Current Corruption Case

Well, its revealed that Ted Sdn Bhd asked for a 5 acre TOL land for their business and yet the Land Department dragged their feet to do the necessary paperwork for them. They applied since 1991 and in 1993 and got the land in 1994 after the ex-Minister intervention...

That show's how slow the Land Department is when doing things and somehow, from what the media has printed, I think its valid that the Minister intervene and asked Land Dept to approve the land. Afterall its only TOL land, which the government can take back anytime. The reasons for the 5 acre land is justified because with Ted's growing machinery, 1 or 2 acre land is just enough to build a workshop for their company... maybe.

ITs quite surprising that the Land Dept under TOL or whichever section that deals with it, sometimes give large tracts of land without anyone knowledge and yet, how do these people get it in the first place? How come there's no query or complaints? Basically people dont know who are being "awarded" lands since their operation is shrouded in secrecy. And the fact that their frontdesk staff need some customer-clients manners... been there done that...