Re-appointed CSPS Board of Directors

The Prime Minister's Office, in a press release, announces that His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam has consented to the re-appointment of the Board of Directors for the Centre of Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) for a period of two years commencing July 1, 2009.

As of that date, the Chairman of CSPS is Tuan Haji Omar bin Haji Abd Rahman, Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office and Deputy Chairman is Dato Paduka Mohd Alimin bin Haji Abd Wahab.

Members of the Board of Directors of CSPS are Dato Paduka Haji Ali bin Haji Apong, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Dato Paduka Haji Abd Rahman bin Haji Mohiddin, Dato Paduka Malai Haji Ali bin Malai Haji Osman, Mr Stephen Ong, Fauziah bte Dato Talib and Awg Haji Salleh Bostaman bin Zainal Abidin.

Meanwhile, the Board Secretary of CSPS is Dato Paduka Dr Haji Ismail bin Haji Duraman, Executive Director of CSPS.

The press release also stated that the centre was set up as a corporate body on July 1, 2006 with the objective of the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and the promotion of research on Brunei Darussalam and on all matters pertaining to Brunei Darussalam's interests.

The centre was established under the 'Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies Order 2006'.

Source: Borneo Bulletin, 12th July 2009

HM's birthday celebrations postponed

From The Brunei Times, Sunday, July 5, 2009

BY the command of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam all events and ceremonies in conjunction with His Majesty's 63rd birthday have been postponed as a precautionary measure against the Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.

This was announced yesterday by Minister of Home Affairs Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Md Yusof, who said that His Majesty's titah stated that such steps were taken to prevent further spread of the pandemic, maintain public safety, health and peace in the country.

However, mass Maghrib and Sunat Hajat prayers, the recital of Surah Yassin, Tahlil and thanksgiving prayers will be held as scheduled on July 14 (Tuesday afternoon), with the main gathering at Jame' 'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque followed by other mosques and religious centres throughout the country.

During the press conference, the Minister of Home Affairs did not specify when the birthday celebrations would resume.

How to protect yourself and others

taken from WHO EMRO - Surveillance, Forecasting and Response (CSR)

How to wash your hands well?

This poster is taken from the WHO.

Proper handwashing is to scrub your hand with soap (preferably anti-bacterial soap), for at least 20 seconds, rinse and dry with paper towel or air dry.

'Tweet'

Another article from Jim Pettiward, BBC Learning English on 'Tweet', http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/uptodate/2009/06/090623_uptodate_tweet.shtml

'Tweet'. The booming popularity of online social networking sites has given the English language a bumper crop of new words. Although some of these sites, and the words associated with them, may prove to be short-lived, here today and gone tomorrow, there are others, such as Facebook (see Series 4) which seem to be here to stay.

The latest ‘big thing’ in the world of digital media is Twitter, a social networking site which began back in 2006 and has been growing ever since. Users post short ‘micro-blogs’ (messages) called ‘tweets’ - T-W-E-E-T-S - from their mobile phone or computer to let other people know what they’re doing or to ask a question.

The difference between these and a normal text message or email is that a ‘tweet’ is ‘out there’ in cyberspace, no more than 140 characters long and can be read or answered by anybody on the network. Just like the words ‘google’ and ‘facebook’, ‘tweet’ can be used as a noun or a verb. Twitter is increasingly used for market research, so many companies are now asking themselves ‘To tweet or not to tweet?’

The popularity of Twitter grew after it was used by US presidential candidates before the 2008 election to keep their ‘followers’ up to date – Barack Obama had hundreds of thousands of followers during the election campaign, although he seemed to stop tweeting shortly after the election. I guess he must have been quite busy!

Twitter has spawned a number of related words such as ‘twestival’ (a gathering organised on Twitter) and ‘twirgin’ (someone who is new to Twitter or a first-time user). In fact, if you see an unfamiliar word which starts with a TW- prefix, it’s probably a new word coined by the Twitter community. Some of these words may not make it into the dictionaries, but Twitter seems set to live on.

Citizen Journalism

An article by Jim Pettiward from BBC Learning English, 13 May 2009
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/uptodate/2009/05/090512_uptodate_cj_v1.shtml

‘Citizen journalism’. ‘Citizen journalism’. You probably know both of those words on their own. A citizen? A member of a city or state. You may even remember ‘netizen’ from Series 2, ‘a citizen of the internet’. I expect you know that a journalist is generally someone who writes for a newspaper or magazine. But what does it mean when you put the two words together?

The incredible rise of the internet has brought countless changes to the way we communicate and get our information. It’s hard to think of any aspect of our daily lives which hasn’t been affected by the spread of the internet and mobile technology, and news and journalism is certainly no exception.

The easy availability of mobile phones which can take high quality video and photographs and record sound means that almost anybody who is on the scene of a newsworthy event is able to record it. News organisations are only too happy to use the public as a vast - and cheap - source of content for its news items, as it’s impossible to have reporters and correspondents everywhere. In fact, in a sense, we have become their eyes and ears on the ground. We can all become ‘citizen journalists’, although many ‘real journalists’ are not happy with the idea that everybody can do what they do…

Think of some memorable recent news events… you can bet that some of the images which you associate with them are examples of ‘citizen journalism’. Coverage of the Asian tsunami, the London bombings in 2005, the floods in New Orleans, or the terrorist attacks in Mumbai all made extensive use of mobile phone photos and video sent in by members of the public. When a plane was forced to land in the Hudson River in January 2009, the most up-to-date news came from ordinary people using Twitter on their mobiles to describe what was happening and send pictures.

I sometimes imagine what it would be like if current mobile technology had been around at key moments in history. Can you imagine watching mobile phone footage of the last moments of the Titanic, or frantic twitterers relating the storming of the Bastille in Paris? Going further back, what if we had mobile phone footage of the Great Fire of London or the Battle of Hastings? If you could be a citizen journalist in any historical period, which one would you choose?

Kibarkan bendera mulai 1 Julai ini

BERSEMPENA dengan Sambutan Ulang Tahun Hari Keputeraan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam Ke-63, rakyat dan penduduk negara ini supaya sama-sama mengibarkan bendera di rumah-rumah kediaman masing-masing dan bangunan-bangunan pejabat dan perniagaan mulai hari Rabu, 8 Rejab 1430 bersamaan 1 Julai 2009 sehingga hari Jumaat, 9 Syaaban 1430 bersamaan 31 Julai 2009 bagi sama-sama memeriahkan lagi sambutan perayaan berkenaan.

Dalam hubungan ini, Pengiran-pengiran akan mengibarkan bendera peribadi, orang-orang yang dikurniakan gelaran akan mengibarkan bendera masing-masing dan bagi orang ramai pula akan mengibarkan bendera Negara Brunei Darussalam.

(Source: Pelita Brunei Online)

upcoming activities

The month of June has been very hectic and exciting. Two of my friends tied the knot. The Gawai celebration (i missed this). Extracted my wisdom tooth. Participated in the E-Government Exhibition and the RanoAdidas.com 6th anniversary celebration.

Now, the upcoming events:

21st June 2009 : Olympic Day Run
Organised by the Brunei Darussalam National Olympics Council.
Come to Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium this Sunday morning 6am. For those who register and participate in the Run, you will be given a special Olympic Day Run T-shirt for free, while stock lasts. The Run will start at 7.30am and will be flagged off by His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah.

6 Categories open for all levels of community:
(i) 10km run for men below 50 yrs old
(ii) 5km run for men above 50 yrs old
(iii) 6km run for males below 16 yrs old
(iv) 4km run for females below 15 yrs old
(v) 5km run for women of all ages
(vi) 2km run for special needs individuals


25th - 28th June 2009 : Consumer Fair & Thai Grand Fair
10am - 10pm at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Berakas
I personally very looking forward to this Consumer Fair, as I missed the last one earlier this year. I am expecting some nice brooches at discounted prices, especially those from Thailand. Shopping spree!!!
More info available at http://www.bruneiconsumerfair.com

27th - 28th June 2009 : Gawai closing ceremony at Sumbiling Eco Village
Jalan Batang Duri, Temburong
It will be held in Kg Sumbiling Lama longhouse, Temburong. It is a 2 days 1night event. It costs B$60/pax. Package include pick up from Bangar Jetty, dinner, 1 night camp at SEV, Gawai closing ceremony. Next day breakfast, traditional cooking, river activities , lunch & transfer to Bangar. If you come by boat from BSB, boat fare is B$12/pax return. For more info & booking, please contact Leslie Chiang at 8766796 or email: info@borneoguide.com
Visit his website at http://www.borneoguide.com and http://www.sumbiling.blogspot.com

1st July - 31st July 2009 : Flag hoisting to mark the 63rd royal birthday of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

More other daily events available at www.bruneidiary.info

What you need to know about H1N1

Nice & creative pamphlet on H1N1 by Ministry of Health of Singapore, available online as PDF file at
http://www.crisis.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/D4985A06-E928-4B4E-9A0B-938EDBC88860/24019/H1N1_what_u_need_to_know.pdf

Note: It is available in 4 languages: English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil.



To monitor the situation in Singapore:
Official Influenza H1N1 website http://www.crisis.gov.sg/flu/ or http://www.flu.gov.sg

Ministry of Health (S'pore) http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/default.aspx

Health Promotion Board http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?pg_id=865&aid=1823&altid=0

The news reports: http://www.crisis.gov.sg/FLU/InfluenzaA/MediaReports/

Influenza Pandemic

(image from WHO)

On June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6 in response to the ongoing global spread of the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus. A Phase 6 designation indicates that a global pandemic is underway.

More than 70 countries are now reporting cases of human infection with novel H1N1 flu. This number has been increasing over the past few weeks, but many of the cases reportedly had links to travel or were localized outbreaks without community spread. The WHO designation of a pandemic alert Phase 6 reflects the fact that there are now ongoing community level outbreaks in multiple parts of world.

WHO’s decision to raise the pandemic alert level to Phase 6 is a reflection of the spread of the virus, not the severity of illness caused by the virus. It’s uncertain at this time how serious or severe this novel H1N1 pandemic will be in terms of how many people infected will develop serious complications or die from novel H1N1 infection. Experience with this virus so far is limited and influenza is unpredictable. However, because novel H1N1 is a new virus, many people may have little or no immunity against it, and illness may be more severe and widespread as a result. In addition, currently there is no vaccine to protect against novel H1N1 virus.

[Source: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm]

Read the press statement by Dr Margaret Chan, Director General of World Health Organisation, on 11 June 2009 :

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/h1n1_pandemic_phase6_20090611/en/index.html

Update on the situation: As of 17:00 GMT, 15 June 2009, 76 countries have officially reported 35, 928 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection, including 163 deaths. [Source: WHO Influenza A (H1N1) Update 49]

Map of Influenza H1N1: http://flutracker.rhizalabs.com/