The Daily Brunei Resources

It was interesting that BT picked up the arguments about the recently released Consumer Price Index (CPI) which our Economic Planning and Development Department (JPKE) recently released. The CPI is showing signs that it is lower and everybody assumes that with lower CPI, the prices should be lower. But for some prices, it is not. This would make a great Economics A Level or first year undergraduate Economics exam question. I am not trying to answer on behalf of my ex colleagues at JPKE but just trying to bring an understanding what CPI does. The consumer price index is probably one of the most important releases of economic data. The CPI has a direct effect on nearly every person in the country, and in most countries, it is widely used, probably as an indicator how the political leaders are managing the economy, by trade unions in negotiating their pay, by companies in estimating the business growth etc. Less so in Brunei. Most people brush off the CPI but by better understanding the w...

I was quite surprised to read this today from Sky.com. The news is as follows:- +++++ Cyber Spies Hack Govt PCs Around The World A cyber spy network based mainly in China has hacked into classified documents from government offices around the world, a research group has said. It claims 1,295 computers have been compromised in 103 countries. The investigations began when the Tibetan community in exile called in the Information Warfare Monitor, fearing they had fallen victim to cyber espionage. The 10-month study eventually revealed a much wider network of compromised machines but did not pinpoint the identity or reasons behind it. However, it did ascertain that once hackers infiltrated systems they gained control of the computers using malicious software, or malware. This allowed cyber spies to send and receive information from the ministries of foreign affairs of Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Barbados and Bhutan. They also discovered hacked systems in the e...

[My article below was published in The Brunei Times about two months ago.] [Photo: Jalan Sultan in 1951] Even though Kampong Ayer has been the capital of the Brunei Sultanate for hundreds of years, Bandar Seri Begawan or the city on dry land is relatively recent. When the first British Resident, M.S.H. McArthur arrived in Brunei to begin his official duty, he stated that he '... wanted a clean dry village, with suburbs of kampong houses ...' and he also '... wanted to discourage houses in the river ...' The plan was to demarcate an area of some 500 acres and to alienate these allotments to the Kampong Ayer residents. But the government faced stiff resistance. In 1908, Mr. Stoney wrote in a report that it seemed an almost impossible task to induce any of the Kampong Ayer residents to even contemplate the idea of a move. Even though these residents especially the men-folks, admitted that they and their families would better off on land, where they could culti...

I recently purchased two postcards showing these two RBA aeroplanes. The first is a Boeing 727 and the latter is the Fokker 100, I think. I have not boned up on the history of RBA aeroplanes, though it would be very fascinating to go through the various aeroplanes that RBA had from day one of its operation up to now. I know the previous Boeing 757s and present Boeing 767s and the leased Airbus A319 and A320 which they now used extensively. But anything prior to that, I am a bit sketchy on its history. I know many out there know the history of these planes, so do drop me a note.

The Imam at the Kilanas Mosque struggled to read today's sermon. It must have been written in jawi and full on modern words. Today's sermon was about the ecology. I think many in the mosque must have raised eyebrows today when they left the mosque. It is not often to hear about the ecology being mentioned in Friday's sermon. But nevertheless, it is indeed interesting to hear about the ecology and the environment. We all have to be aware of the need to save the ecology and the environment. That brings us to another topic. Will we or won't we? That question has been answered. Brunei too will participate in tomorrow's Earth Hour. For those in the dark, which you will literally be tomorrow for one hour if you or your organisation participates, Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund). This is to be held on the last Saturday of March, which is tomorrow, that asks households and businesses to turn off ...

Someone has to tell me why are these fish called 'Uji Rashid'? I know Bruneians are avid fishermen, surely someone out there must know. I have a slight free time at the moment and I saw the label the other day at that huge supermarket in Rimba. No one was able to answer me then. I have been using up my leave doing a lot of personal things, other than answering the phone calls from the office. I have been going around to see book printers and finding out that it can be costly to try to print your own books. But I will persist and found one printer already. I have submitted the book (the draft of the book) to Dewan Bahasa to get its ISBN number. ISBN number is the number that will identify the book and many book stores internationally will be unable to sell books without ISBN number. Not that I have any intention of selling my books overseas. But ISBN is like an IC number. It makes your book feel special and makes it more legitimate. At the moment, I am adding in photographs to t...

The Local Government Association (LGA) in UK has published a list of 200 words that public bodies should not use if they want to communicate effectively with local people. These 200 words and phrases are to be avoided when talking to British people about the work they do and the services they provide. The idea is that the public sector must not hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases. Why use ‘coterminous, stakeholder engagement’ when just ‘talk to people’ can be used instead. If a council fails to explain what it does in plain English then local people will fail to understand its relevance to them or why they should bother to turn out and vote. I noticed that some of these words are also in use in Brunei. Though not the entire list have reached our vocabulary in Brunei but it won't be long before everyone uses them. Here are the 200 words and the LGA's alternatives or suggestions in place of their usage: 200 WORDS AND THEIR ALTERNATIVES Across-the-piece - everyone working ...