The Daily Brunei Resources

The Oxford Business Group on 21st July 2011 had this report on Brunei. This is based on a report issued by the IMF which you can read here . +++++ Brunei Darussalam: Economy on the rebound Brunei Darussalam’s economy has been given a clean bill of health by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the agency praising the prudent economic management exercised by local authorities, as well as the efforts to reform and liberalise the financial sector and reduce the dependence on oil and gas as the nation’s main revenue earners. The Fund and other analysts have also said more still needs to be done to foster private sector development and improve the overall business environment. In its latest report on the Sultanate, released in mid-June, the IMF said that many of the key economic indicators were performing well, with GDP rebounding in 2010 after two years of decline, the country’s current account surplus also well into the black and inflation under control. The report predicted that G...

Last year, same opponent, same venue, same cup, same final. MOD lost. It was a sad day. Last night, MOD won. It was a happy day. Congratulations to the Ministry of Development Football Team for winning against the Ministry of Home Affairs. To be honest, I was not raising my expectation very high. If MOD had lost, I was already expecting it. But with MOD winning, the jubilation was much higher! For those who did not watch the game, it was 0-0 at half time. Just after the second half, MOD took the lead but almost immediately MOHA equalised. MOHA had one chance to open up the lead but they messed up the penalty kick. Towards the end, it was MOD's turn to mess up the penalty. So it was 1-1 and remained 1-1 after extra time. During penalties, MOD missed one and saved one, making it 4-4 on penalties. Then it was 5-5 but on the seventh kick, MOD scored 6-5. The last MOHA player decided to play rugby and kicked the ball into the stratosphere. Eruption time for MOD spectators! Congratulatio...

[I wanted to write about His Majesty's Birthday but I have written a few articles already in the past. So rather than repeating myself, I thought I will write something about July itself and its significance for Brunei. There was another important date that happened in July but nobody remembered that anymore. Anway, I wrote this article and it was published on Monday 18th July 2011 on The Brunei Times in my Golden Legacy column.] +++ Significance of July for Brunei by Rozan Yunos JULY 15 is a date that all Brunei citizens and residents remember. July 15, 1946, is the date of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's Birthday and therefore the annual celebrations of the birthday. The recent 65th birthday celebrations were equally grand to all the others before it. Thousands of citizens thronged to the Taman Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien to watch the annual birthday parade as well as to wish their loyalty and ...

Yesterday, on the occasion of His Majesty's 65th Birthday, he awarded these lucky people with a birthday gift. All end up with a nice little medal, however some get to carry new title to their names and some do not. For those who did not, there will be other occasions. I tried to be more descriptive as to the new title that the recipients will be getting as well as who they are. I don't know all of them but those I do know are here. Congratulations to everyone:- Darjah Paduka Keberanian Laila Terbilang Yang Amat Gemilang Darjah Pertama (DPKT) - Dato Paduka Seri 1. Admiral Dato Paduka Seri Agus Suhartono, Commander in Chief of the Indonesian Army 2. YDM Pehin Orang Kaya Pendikar Alam Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Hasrin bin Dato Paduka Haji Sabtu, Commissioner of Royal Brunei Police Force Darjah Pahlawan Negara Brunei Yang Amat Perkasa Darjah Pertama (PSPNB) - Dato Seri Pahlawan 1. YDM Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Brigadier General Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Mohd Taweh bin Abdullah, Comm...

It's His Majesty The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's 65th Birthday today. And what better way to celebrate the 65th birthday? Yes, a $65 miniature sheet which consisted of the highest ever face value for a Brunei stamp - $65! Size wise, the $65 stamp itself is probably the biggest size stamp that has been produced by Brunei. In its 116 year of history, the Brunei postal authorities highest value stamp before this was a $60 stamp which was in commemoration of His Majesty's 60th Birthday. That has now been superseded. However it has to be noted that the 50th Birthday Miniature Sheet had 5 $50 stamp making that worth $250, thus making that the highest value for a miniature sheet. If you can't afford the $65 stamp, don't worry. The postal authorities have the much cheaper miniature sheet containing all 6 of 65 cents each stamp. Or you can always get the first day cover with all 6 of the 65 cents stamps. And for those who needed the technical details: N...

Back in April 1976, I found myself in a Singapore classroom courtesy of the government's scholarship program. I had undergone about three months of secondary education in Berakas English School before that. When I arrived in Singapore, the classes were getting ready for the mid-year exam in May. The classes were revising their lessons. That was when I discovered there were indeed differences between the syllabus of the two education system. In most cases we coped but some I learnt the hard way. In Brunei, we were learning 'modern' maths but in Singapore, they concentrated on the traditional maths. The 'modern' maths was more like playing with maths and apparently was another experiment. However that 'modern' maths did not teach me what the formula for the area in a circle, all I heard was five r squared. Eventually I learnt five was not five but 'pi' and r was the radius. That 'pi' was versatile but difficult to pin down in exact value. Somet...

The Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) is currently undertaking a research study to understand employment issues among university graduates. The study focuses on three groups of graduates – (i) employed; (ii) unemployed; and (iii) under-employed (i.e. those currently working but feel that their jobs are unsuitable). CSPS encourages all university graduates, from local and overseas, Bachelor’s degree to PhD level, to fill in an online survey, which can be accessed via CSPS’ website, www.csps.org.bn , or CSPS’ Facebook page, www.facebook.com/csps.brunei The survey will only take ten minutes to complete. Participate now and make a difference for your own future!