Time for Reflection

Today is our first Ramadan back home in 3 years. But as we are leaving tomorrow, it will only be for one day to enjoy the sungkai here together with the bigger family.

The atmosphere during the month of Ramadan in Brunei is very distinctive and impossible for outsiders not to notice. It is probably similar in other Muslim communities in the world. There are a lot more things to do in a communal way than any other months. First, early in Ramadan, families would go together to the cemeteries to say prayers to those loved ones who have long gone. Then there are the Terawih/Witir prayer and Tedarus which occupy most people's time in the evening. But the most obvious difference is the food frenzy.

Indeed today on the first day of Ramadan, the food shopping for breaking of fast was already quite apparent. We only dropped by at SupaSave in the afternoon and there was already quite a crowd. Of course it was quite tempting to buy when you are walking with empty stomach.

Jam, Jam, and More Jam

The past few days have been a headache driving around. There were endless traffic jams almost everywhere in town. It must be the pay day and also the near start of Ramadan. But the reality is there are now too many vehicles with too few roads being constructed. Over ten thousands new cars are registered annually in the country.

The past few days also saw a few nasty traffic accidents. Last night we saw one along the Tutong highway which must had happened a few minutes before we passed the scene. There was another one at Tungku Link today at midday causing a huge traffic pile along the road. There was a plea on the radio for those plying on the other side to stop 'rubber necking' as they were also causing traffic jam on their side of the road.

A Sultan's Scholar

Congratulation and well done to Mohd Adiazizi (the one on the left in the picture). The youngest, amongst the four abdul's in the family, he was one of the selected three academic achivers having an audience with HM yesterday, to be officially awarded with the Sultan's scholar.

He is off to take Chemical Engineering at UCL.

The Sultan's scholar scheme was first introduced last year - only three get it annually. The three composed of the best at GCE 'A' level, International baccaluareate and peperiksaan sijil tinggi pelajaran ugama.

Our Big Family

With over 30 sons/daughters and in-laws, over 60 cucu's and 40 cicit's, it's not easy to get everyone together in one place. Especially when one only get the phone call in late afternoon yesterday that there is going to be such a gathering today.

There must have been nearly half of us who didn't turn up because of other commitments. It was only meant to be a quick photosnap before Ramadan while our grandma is still well. Our grandma, sitting right at the centre, is now 87 years old.

Another One Bites The Dust

Last night I attended a small gathering amongst local ‘rockers’ to bid farewell for one of our lad who left the company after 25 years to join another. Indeed it has been the trend recently that a few has left and gone for new pastures.

What it means is that Bruneians are now capable and globally marketable. In the biggest energy company in the world based in the Middle East, at least 5 Bruneians have already joined the company. Next door in Qatar, where mega projects are ongoing, quite a few has left the local companies here and opted to join these companies.

Elsewhere, there are nearly 20 others who are working for other companies in the same industry. It does not stop there. In the world of LNG, some 6000 jobs are opening up in the world as new plants are being built. This is now and in the future will attract some of our countrymen to join these new companies, to be paid at global market rate.

Amongst the ongoing contention is the difference between the local package and the global market rate. The other bit is the ‘lack’ of recognisition. Enough to say that they remained being the hidden faces behind the search and exploitation of the country’s main resources that have been primarily driving the country’s economy.

Last Friday before Ramadan

Today was a wedding function for the youngest brother in the family. As has been a tradition before Ramadan, we combined that with a doa tahlil.

Ayman' s Birthday

Today in the evening, we were treated to our little nephew's birthday. He is the one at the front in the photo. The children seemed to be quite happy to be left alone amongst themselves. We initially sat outdoor. But the rain and lightning got stronger as the evening went by that we have to be move indoor halfway through.

There's only a few more days to the start of fasting. Restaurants seem to be doing good business as most people want to eat out before the fasting. And it's also pay day today for most.

The Red March

Much has been said about how successful the Beijing Olympic was. So much so the Brits had to eat the humble pie early - that they will never match what was on display during the opening ceremony. What was also remarkable was China's medal haul. China only got its first gold in 1984. This time it got 51. India also got a billion people but could only manage one solitary gold.

I just started reading this book today bought by Fiz in KL last week. It has quite a funny story line, tracking the origin of underwear, a strange choice amongst all the multitudes of things coming out of China into the free world. In doing so the author tries to unravel the commercial, political, economic, human right and all sort of things related to China.

The author also attempted to summarise the history of China in a few words which I think is also true for many parts of the world. From a distance the story of China resembles a pattern of waves. He said the history of China is endless repeated four-phase story of power: the revolutionary bid for power, the assumption of power, the gradual corruption of power and the loss of power. Each story is an imperial dynasty. Some lasting a decade. Some a millennium.

A Small Yellow Book

It's all captured in the small yellow book for record. Today marked the 20th time. Only after 30th time would one get some sort of privilege from the hospital if warded for treatment. There is a rush to stock up the blood bank right now as the lean period is coming i.e. the fasting where people are less likely to donate.

Donating blood is quite easy and fast. At RIPAS, there is always a doctor on duty at the blood donation ward who can do the screening checks immediately. After that straight to the 'needle' room. The whole thing takes about half an hour.

Treasure Hunters

A sign showing work is ongoing in search of more resources for Brunei ‘s future. Oil is not an infinite resource. The current oil will dry out eventually, if not soon. For that whatever wealth that has been bestowed to the country should not be taken for granted to last for ever. We should make ever effort to spend wisely.

The sign indicates location of a large base camp nearby, housing over a thousands workers, conducting surveys in the jungle of Tutong. It would be a serious understatement to try to describe how challenging the work involve. Not only do these guys have to trek through the thick jungles and rugged terrains, the presence of wild and nasty animals would already make the job quite unattractive to a Bruneian.

Cyclists Passing Tutong

I happened to see this. At 10 am this morning, this group of cyclists finally reached Tutong. But then this was only half way for them before reaching Serasa as the final destination. It must have been quite hard work cycling all the way from KB. The gap between the front runners and the back was already about 5 km. It was said there were around 400 taking part in the event, to raise fund for the HoB or Heart of Borneo initiative.

We were told amongst the cyclists were some VIPs. There were also some others (including ladies) who are new comers to the world of cycling. But they have been training hard in the last few weeks. By finishing the over 100 km journey, the participants should be proud of themselves of having completed the journey. Apart from tinted skins and few days of aching muscles.

Another Memory Lane

The birth place. The old distinctive house is still sitting next to the river. A place with lots of sweet memories from the past, many weekends were spent here, times spent during childhood fishing and watching brave adults swimming in the river. Not that there were no crocodiles here.

Before electricity reached this village, the nights were only lighted up with kerosine lamps. I remember the lamps were always very bright. They were the pressured type, they had a fuel tank at the bottom with a small pump to pressurise the kerosene.

I noticed the old fire extinguishers are still hanging on the wall outside the house. The expiry date clearly shows that they have been 27 years overdue for servicing. Nobody bothered to remove it. But it is a clear sign from the past when the British has still an influence in the running of the country's administration. Meticulous. Safety was already considered then.

My old grandma is still around, healthy and well, although over a 100 years old now. The grandpa passed away 7 years ago at the age of over 120 years old. He didn' t have a birth certificate to prove. But he was born 10 years before a British Resident was put in place in the country.

Today I drove around the village. Some old houses are still recognisable from the past, tucked in-between newly built and modern houses.

These areas were flood-prone in the past and still are. Some clearing work apparently been done to the river to alleviate the repeated flooding. In the past, the only way to reach this place during the raining season was by boat or walking on the flooded roads as the whole areas were flooded. It normally took an hour to reach this house. Those were the days.

Rainy Days

The past few days have been very very wet. It seemed that the rain just never want to stop. Thses are golfer's worst enemy!

Some roads were flooded, but most dangerous of all were the stagnant water on some other roads. This is particular so on the Tutong-Muara dual carriageway where vehicles tend to move at higher speed.

We saw this empty land turning into a river of water. With no trees around and vegetations to absorb some of the water, this has resulted in some soil erosion. On its own, this is probably nothing to worried about. But what if the same water catchment area has ten or twenty of similar barren lands.

Missed the Flight

It's the end of our trip to KL. We headed home today but missed the flight! It's all down to conceiving a misguided perception. We assumed that MAS has changed its timetable to Brunei from 9.10 to 11.50 am as it happened to us twice.

So there we were at the airport wondering why our plane was not displayed on the monitor. Reality slowly sunk in. Our plane has flown out without us. This is the first time we have ever missed a flight. We looked for alternative - Air Asia was the best option. So that was another chapter in our short adventure to KL.

Air Asia departs from the other terminal. The facilities are quite basic but very crowded and chaotic. It's a far cry from the under-utilised KLIA. The terminal is meant to handle 9 million passengers annually but more like 15 million now.

Would you Dare?

One thing that I have been wanting to do is 'bekam'. It's a techinque of cleansing toxic from the body by pumping out blood or other fluids from the inner skin. A small suction cylinder is used for each selected point in the body, normally at the back or on the foot. The skin is first scratched with small cuts to allow the process to work. Eventually anyway between 10 to 30 of those cylinders would be used depending on own choice.

Bekam is actually a sunnah, or following our prophet's example. It is said to maintain the chemical balance in the body or even facilitate the cure of a number of ailments. The only shop that I know which offer this in KL is located at Ampang Park. The after effect on the skin is not a nice sight to see though, takes a few days for the scar to disappear. I have never been convinced of traditional medicine until this one. Worth a try.

On a different subject, one thing we found quite interesting at the new and sleek Pavilion shopping centre is that there is a small surau but somewhat hidden from normal view. The sign at the door is the only sign that a surau exists, not even mentioned in the electronic building directory. Wonder why? It's at 5th floor, next to Cannon shop. I only knew it because my bro-in-law told me so. Inside, the surau is actually quite nice.

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan

For the best Ikan Asam Laksa experience, try Sri Melaka restaurant. They have a branch in One Utama. We have been longing to go back to this restaurant since the last time we were here. Their speciality is also the ABC with the gula melaka toppings.

Watching Batman

Trying to watch a movie here is quite a challenge. Cinemas are crowded as schools are on their term break. We eventually settled down to watch Dark Knight, a good action movie, at Pavilion. We again did the fish spa. Quite enjoyable.

KL is in the middle of a monsoon. The weather is always one of downcast and when it rains, it rains big time, but mainly in the evenings. So overall the weather was pleasant. Even when it is hot, it is not so humid as in Brunei. It's probably because Brunei is sitting quite close to the sea.

We went for a stroll in the morning around the compound. The place where we are staying is part of a complex of up to 200 houses. Most of the residents are well-to-do individuals with flashy cars in the garage.

Each house costs at least 2 million ringgits 3 years ago, it is now 4 million ringgits. That would have been an excellent investment. In fact the demand for this type of housing is still quite strong. A few of our countrymen bought some properties around here.

Sri Hartamas and the areas around here like Bukit Kiara are really nice wooded residential areas not too far from the city centre. Drive to city centre during off-peak hours takes about 15 minutes. The new State Istana is being built just next to the compound. This would make the lands here even more expensive in the years to come.

Fish Spa Massage

Another of those gimmicks, but for the fun of it the kids tried it out. Initially it was quite ticklish and a lot of screaming by the kids as those little fishes started to swarm the feet. But soon it was quite okay and the kids really enjoyed the experience. The small fishes apparently eat the dead skins, in doing so, feel like they are massaging the feet. The shop is apparently doing well with many people really like the idea and want to try it out. The kids wanted to do it again another time.

Today was spending time at the Pavilion - a huge complex - big enough to spend the whole day inside. The food outlets are quite interesting and offer endless choices. We must have been eating continuously the whole day. Although today is a weekday, the complex in parts was still quite busy. Apparently the schools here are in the middle of their term break.

One thing that need improving here is the taxi service. It's not for lack of taxis but the way they charge the customers and drive the cabs. Those waiting outside the Pavilion would charge at least 30 ringgits for any destination. Otherwise they would just sit idly in a group waiting for those to take the bite. Arabs would just go for it. It is a small change. But then this would just encouraged these guys to continue cheating passengers. Their driving styles are quite erratic and dangerous. They would treat the street like their own Formula One track. Normally I would just tell the driver to take time and starts a conversation to ease his aggression. Most of the time this has worked.

Weekdays in Lembah Kelang

The family is off to KL for a few days. The intent is not to shop but to enjoy the culinaries on offer. It has been a while since we set our foot here. At KLIA, we noticed there was not a single foreign airline could be seen in this vast airport amongst the twenty or so MAS and Air Asia planes. May be it was not the peak time but then that is unlike any other international airports such as Singapore. For its size, KLIA failed to attract or retain many foreign carriers. The growth of passengers have only been fueled by the local carriers.

We were picked up and headed to Sri Hartamas, our base in the next few days. The motorways here are quite impressive, there's always new ones sprouting out here and there. These must be quite a heavy investment to the government but the return in terms of general convenience and helping the economy must have been many times. But then again KL is always clogged up with traffic. This city of two millions seems to have far too many cars, somewhat comparable to cities of 10 millions like Jakarta or Bangkok. I suppose this is due to poor public transport system. The LRT is not doing what it is suppose to do. And building more roads end up encouraging more car users - its a vicious circle.

Passing through the many large palm oil plantations, we started to talk about the high price of palm oil right now. Currently the price has dropped abit but is still about 3 to 4 times more than a couple of years ago. So much so that Felda and Sime Darby can afford to pay up to 2000 ringgits to the manual workers a month. So the aggro economy is a keystone economic sector to the country whilst it is moving to IT and high tech focus.

Our first food adventure was at Star Hill for a late dinner. The place is still full of Middle Easterners on holidays far away from Western Europe or the States where negative perceptions of Islam and Muslims are growing. The place looks weird though. Scantily clad ladies and fully covered Arab ladies walking pass each others. This year though some 300,000 Middle Easterners are swarming KL.

Sunday Engagement

The trip to KB yesterday was for engagement do for our youngest brother. A busy day indeed with a wedding function to attend in the late morning and later a long drive to KB. Luckily all the hard work was done by our bus driver. The ceremony was quite simple, in this case as always led by the Ketua Kampong.

The last week of Syaaban is quite chaotic. People are scrambling to squeeze in as many weddings as possible. Coupled that with the doa arwah, traditionally done before Ramadan. In fact one could get multiple invitations at any given time. Yet I wonder how some people still manage to play golf during the weekend. I assume it is proper planning!

Proudly Made in Brunei

The Halal Expo ended yesterday. The most pleasant surprise was to see the many products that are on offer by Bruneian companies. For most it was the first time we saw these products (hint ...work on your marketing).

As all these products are what each of us consumes regularly, that would already been a worthwhile venture even if they could only capture the local market. To break-out into the global market, the people need to conduct differently in marketing their products. One needs to be more aggressive than just showing the products on display and giving free samples. We have been to such Halal product exhibition before conducted by a foreign company. They really went to detail planning, explaining the products, giving free samples and dropping few handouts as reminders to the visitors.

Long Road to KB

It’s been 2 years since I drove on this road. The last time was on my daily commute. Things have not changed since. The dual carriageway abruptly stopped somewhere before Telisai and the next 17 km is like a drive along a back lane. This should have been the backbone of Brunei linking the two ends of the country. It is even more important now that as major industries are being built in Sg Liang that road user will increase.

Today on Sunday, the volume of traffic is still quite high. There was even an accident, something that is hardly avoidable along this road. Inevitable the accident caused a traffic jam.

It wasn’t so bad today. The daily commuters told me that during work day, the traffic already comes to a halt before 7 am somewhere after Telisai. Those who work in KB have to leave home at 6 am if they want to avoid the traffic congestion. The situation gets worse when there is an accident, which is quite common. If the accident happened on the way home in the late afternoon, some only reached their home at 7 or 8 pm at night.

Middle of Syaaban

Last night was Malam Nisfu Syaaban. By tradition, and unique only in this part of the world i.e. the Malay Archipelago, that the night is observed with large gathering at mosques to recite the Surah Yaasin three times in between the Maghrib and Isya prayers. There have been many discussions especially in Malaysia whether such activity is a bidaah or a misguided innovation in the religion. No doubt this has been looked at by our religious authority here. My simple take is any activity that leads to help live up the atmosphere in the mosque or involves the recitation of any verses from the Holy Quran is encouraged and we should do. Only Allah knows the true significance of the night.

Later we went to a doa ceremony for a young relative who is soon going to Michigan University. Indeed our country has lot of talented 'gems', many are hidden and forever not found. This young lady went to local primary and district secondary schools, has proven that the difference is actually in the mind. No doubt if she was given the same level of opportunity and facilities she would also achieved the same. But she didn't received that. Which prove that it's all in the mind - the will power to succeed. Unless people are willing to change themselves, have the self motivation, one would not realise own potential. She excelled in her studies and is now going to a far off place that she would not have imagined before. All the best to her.

What’s in the Curry?

True to the Brunei spirit of feting oneself with the great food, we have been treating ourselves with what’s on offer in the local eateries here. One of the best dishes is this Kari kepala ikan we found in a simple locality in Berakas. Combined that with an order of chili crap dish, they really made an amazing combination. However one cannot live like that always. It’s all right to treat ourselves once in awhile but looking at the general attendance to restaurants here, Bruneian overall are not living a healthy life.

Having lunch with Dr Rock, now more of an urban species with his colourful tie and paper mountain than an outdoor ranger, the conversation revolved around the trends and opportunities abound in the society today. There are so many get rich quick schemes nowadays that those who have spare money get ever richer and money is so easy.

I have not heard of DINA before, an investment company owned by an Ustaz from Malaysia, until two nights ago. It is said that an investor get nearly full profit from just over a year. Amazing! Nothing is so much easier than that. Put a 100K and you receive 8K per month. You don’t really have to work anymore. Those who are into it, I suppose know better than yours truly. I don’t really bother to check the background in detail. But just now when I was browsing the web I saw this article!
http://aibim.com/content/view/32/1/

What ever it is, right or wrong, while we engross ourselves to make our selves ever richer in this world, let’s not forget those who are not doing well. These are some of the things that are widening the gap between the have and have-nots. Let’s also do our bits to these people in whatever way. Lets not just ignore them. Live is full of trial and tribulation whilst we live in this transitory world...

The Bleeding Heart

From the air, Brunei is still quite green. A large track of the surface has been gazetted as forest reserve areas and remains protected from human impact. At the same time large housing projects are required to satisfy the growing population. From the air however such projects created large scars amidst the 'green' carpet, clearly visible when flying in to Brunei. The Heart of Borneo (HoB) project, an ambitious initiative to conserve the richness of the forests doesn't oppose such development projects but rather promotes sustainable development through sustainable land use management. However one could see that the whole land in these particular projects have been stripped of any vegetation before building works started. This resulted in the creation of a local ecosystem (or lack of it) and exacerbating in soil erosion and uncontrolled flooding downstream. Even after the project is completed, there's hardly any trees planted alongside road or by the new tenants in their new compounds. Here is a perfect example of how one could do their bits to ensure 'Carbon Balance' is maintained and everyone (the new tenants) can do their bits in embracing these HoB concept - by start planting trees.

To Learn is to Begin

Our youngest is having a crash course in swimming this holiday whilst we are back home. Next academic year he is going on a trip and is mandatory that he knows how to swim. Today, on his sixth lesson, he was already swimming free style on the lap pool. What a transformation. I learnt that alongside him on that pool are the future swimmers of Brunei being trained by proper coaches. These 13 to 15 years old kids are really doing a gruelling workout. I heard sometimes they would come at 5.30 in the morning to do some running at the national stadium next door before swimming at this pool. What is great is that these kids are very motivated and their parents are fully behind them. This is much better than to see kids just hanging around and not really doing much. I only now realised that we do have fanstastic pool facilities and many people are using these facilities. It was quite crowded today with lots of coaches doing one-to-one or group coachings. Many of the learners are young kids. Indeed it is so easy to let your kids learn to swim, a skill that would be useful in the future, for fun or for own safety. Even some adults are also taking lessons as well.

Bros and Sis

A simple get together! It’s easily a crowd when there are 15 bros and sis in the family. But nowhere we could have everybody at the same time as there's always someone on posting overseas or at work.

Today the weather has been pleasant after the big downpour yesterday. Driving in such condition was quite hazardous as there were still lots of water puddles due to many potholes and uneven surfaces. These were specially so along the Tutong-Jerudong highway. And obviously quite dangerous and no wonder there were so many accidents along this stretch of road.

Hope somebody would take notice and inspect that highway for the good and safety of road users. Most of the repair works so far were minor and some even made the situation worse by making the road more uneven. One would be tempted to drive on the fast lane (right lane) to avoid these uneven spots. Having said that, some roads in town are always in immaculate conditions and seemed to be maintained all the time. Wonder why the lack of focus elsewhere.

One thing that has not changed is the infamous Kuilap roundabout. I always see dangerous situations here. There seems to be a flaw in the design. To me it's quite obvious and should be remedied straight away. But I presume those in this field knows better and who am I to judge. However, the effort to educate the public through the media on the proper way of using the roundabout is not making any impact. I still see people diving straight to the next exit from the inner lane of the roundabout or people circulating the roundabout using the outermost lane. These are basic things not to do when using a roundabout.

The Famous 'Ban'

Today when I sent my daughter to her friend's house in Ban 3, I couldn't resist taking these photos showing some progress being done to alleviate flooding during the rainy season. It must have been a long wait for those who live here to see something finally is being done.

Ban 3 is famous for always in the spotlight of being a ghastly flooded hotspot in Brunei. But not many people know that this area used to be one of the biggest paddy plantation area in the country - until it got converted into a large stretch of residential area. In the old days in the 70's, when yours truly lived nearby this place and spent a good part of the day playing in the paddy field, this area used to be routinely flooded by diverting water from the nearby river. An artificial dam was built on the river to divert water into a well maintained irrigation system.

The irony is in the name of progress, this fertile stretch of land was sacrificed and converted to residential areas. Now we know why Brunei only has a small fraction of its rice supplied locally. Obviously the constant flooding has been trying to tell us something all these years.

AKBS Book Launching

Had a peek to see the launching but I opted out as it was a real 'formal' affair. So I came back in the afternoon to see the small exhibition conducted by Pusat Sejarah on the third floor of The Mall. What a surprise to see the content of the book. In it there is a section depicting the photos taken by yours truly in those memorable yesteryears. It was a real treat that these photos are included. I am very grateful to Dr Muhammad Hadi and the group for the great effort for coming up with the book. It's not easy to publish a book as I did experienced doing one myself. It may be easier for Pusat Sejarah as they have the whole outfit and machinery to do it but it is still quite a daunting task. Well done again.

In the book, it is said that Brunei started to send students overseas in earnest in the early 50's primarily to prepare the takeover of administrations from the British Resident. Before that it is a norm to send teacher trainees to Malaysia - these people constitute the first batch of Bruneian with increase political sense - which worried some quarters.

Ugama students started to be sent to Madrasah Al Juned in Singapore in the 50's. But it was only in 1965 that Malay and English stream students from a tender age of 12 years old started to be sent to Singapore. Why Singapore? One of the (probable) reason was because just before that time in September 1963 Brunei decided not to join the union of Malay states aka Malaysia!