ULU MELILAS SIGNS HOMESTAY MOU

 

15^TH April 2009

Release Date: 25^th April 2009

 

 

15 April 2009, Ulu Melilas Long House - The head chief of the Ulu Melilas longhouse, Pehin Datu Pekerna Dewa Hj Mohd Ali Bin Abdullah Hitam signed a Memorandum of Understanding on longhouse homestay program with the SinggahRuai Resort-Rainforest Lodge, a local home stay developer. The MOU signing was witnessed by a representative from the Brunei Tourism Development Department, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources.

 

 

The MOU signing was part of the working visit organised by the SinggahRuai Resort-Rainforest Lodge, a local homestay developer and KNK partner, for the Brunei Tourism Development Department, accompanied by one of the local tour operator, Panbright Travel and two local journalists.

 

The visit was a two day-one night package which was included in the ‘Kenali Negara Kitani’ (KNK) ‘10 must do packages’, currently being promoted by the Tourism Development Department with the support from KNK partners as a domestic tourism campaign. The itinerary includes 3 hours boat ride from Sungai Mau to the Ulu Melilas Longhouse with a stopover to the Sukang and Punan Longhouse, with a one night stay in the Ulu Melilas Longhouse inclusive of tea coffee, dinner and breakfast. Activities includes river fishing, visit to the fruits and vegetable farm plus an introduction to the longhouse locals as well as a traditional Iban ethnic ‘ngajat’ dance performance and ‘gulingtangan’ show, night safari, watching fireflies and lots more.

 

The Brunei Tourism Development Department calls for more joint ventures between the tourism companies and local communities in the near future. The KNK campaign has seen an encouraging increase in local entrepreneurs investing in the development of new local tourist attractions or products for the domestic as well as foreign tourists.

 

 

 

 

RP's Surban tops elite cross-country race

 

 

 

 

ASEAN MOUNTAIN BIKING CHAMPIONSHIP

 

Release Date: 5th Mac 2009

 

The Brunei Darussalam Cycling Federation (BDCF) with the cooperation of the Youth and Sports Department, Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, and the full support from the Brunei Tourism Development Department will be hosting the First ASEAN regional mountain biking competition, The 1^st ASEAN Mountain Biking Championship 2009 to be held at the Berakas Forest Recreational Park, from the 12^th to the 15^th March 2009.

 

Brunei Darussalam was chosen by the ASEAN Cycling Association to host the event last year. Therefore in preparation for the event, the BDCF will be organising the Commissaries Course  for members and those interested in marshalling for the championship. The course will be held from the 7^th March to the 11^th March 2009 (excluding 9^th March), at the Kuliah Hall, Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium to begin at 08:30 am, where a short press conference for the 1^st ASEAN Mountain Biking Championship will be held.

 

The Championship is offering a total sum of about BND $6,000.00 in prize money and will be expecting a total of about 90 cyclists from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Brunei Darussalam who will be represented by 6 local mountain bikers. One of the International star Cyclist of the championship expected to participate is Sigianto Setiawan of Indonesia, a four times winner of the ASIAN Championship and three times Gold Medalist in the SEA Games.

 

Among the aims of organizing the event are:

 

·    To promote Brunei Darussalam as a sports tourism destination

 

·    To improve the local sports scene by organizing a prestigious mountain biking championship at the ASEAN regional level and hence further develop Sports activities in general and to promote mountain biking mainly

 

·    To help the local mountain bikers for their exposure and participation in future international competition

 

·    To promote sports activities in Brunei Darussalam where Berakas Forest Recreational Park is one of the ‘Kenali Negara Kitani’ (KNK) sports activities destination for the general public.

 

    

 

The itinerary for the event are as follows:

 

12th March 2009	-	Arrival of International Mountain bikers -  Accommodation at the Games Village, Hassanal Bolkiah Sports Complex, Berakas
13th March 2009	-   -	Berakas Forest Recreational Park   09:00 hrs	-  Opening Ceremony -  Seeding’s Downhill -  Afternoon practice session
14th March 2009	-	09:00 hrs	-  Final Downhill Competition -  Afternoon practice session
15th March 2009	- -	10:00 hrs 15:00 hrs	-  Cross Country Elite / Open -  Prize giving and Closing Ceremony

                

For further information on the above event please contact Irwan at +673 8893310

 

 

 

 

Trained Tour Guides to be Accredited

 

Release Date: 2^nd Mac 2009

 

In a ceremony officiated by Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Hj Hamdillah, The Deputy Minister Of Industry and Primary Resources cum Chairman of the Brunei Tourism Board,  and held at the Dewan Setia Pahlawan at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, the Brunei Tourism Development Department presented Tour Guide Accreditation Badges to 34 local guides who underwent an intensive 2 weeks Hands on Training (H.O.T.) Course in November 2008.

 

 

The course, organized by the Brunei Tourism Development Department and supported by the Brunei Association of Travel Agents (BATA), were conducted by two eminent trainers from the United Kingdom and certified by the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA).

 

WFTGA, an affiliate of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the prominent international body representing the tour guiding profession worldwide, and the trainers, themselves highly qualified professional tour guides, regularly conduct tour guide training courses around the world and at their training center in Nicosia, Cyprus.

 

After the training, meant to enhance guiding skills, techniques and knowledge the tour guides were tested with a written paper as well as a practical guiding test.

 

With a 90% pass rate, the course in Brunei can be considered a success and the WFTGA issued certificates to those who passed, recognizing their proficiency in the guiding techniques.

 

Brunei Tourism Development Department has issued tour guide accreditation badges to those who received the WFTGA certificate, with the objective of enhancing the level of the guiding profession in Brunei Darussalam, as the country expects in future to receive increasing numbers of tourists and cruise ship passengers and will be hosting in 2010 the ASEAN Tourism Forum, where over a thousand international tour operators and travel media will come to Brunei to conduct business transactions with their ASEAN counterparts, as well as to experience Brunei’s famed hospitality.

 

In preparation of this, Brunei Tourism Development Department, together with the Brunei Association of Travel Agents and the WFTGA, intends to conduct another four training courses this year for tour guides, in order to create a core group of accredited tour guides.

 

These accredited guides will then continuously be further trained in product knowledge by those among the course participants who also attended the Train the Trainers module.

 

In today’s ceremony, six of the tour guides also received their Qualified Trainers certificates issued by the WFTGA.

 

With a future view of regulating the guiding profession in Brunei by having a compulsory licensing system, as is done in most countries, this Guide Accreditation exercise is a first step in that direction, as well as a huge step in improving the quality of guiding in Brunei and in making the experience of visiting Brunei more interesting and educative for the tourists coming to the Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures.

 

 

 

 

Brunei grills up Guinness record for satay spread

 

by Ubaidillah Masli
 

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

 

 

BRUNEI has officially secured its place in the record books by bagging a new record for the "largest serving of grilled satay in the world".

The record of 1,184kg of satay, grilled and served to the needy, was verified by the Guinness World Records at the Royal Brunei Polo and Riding Club in Jerudong yesterday.
 

 

The satay grills snaked a quarter of a kilometre around the vicinity of the club, which was engulfed in a cloud of smoke, emanating from the simultaneous barbecuing of 75,000 sticks of chicken satay.

His Royal Highness Prince 'Abdul Malik was present to officiate the record attempt as the guest of honour.

 

Also present to witness the record attempt were Pengiran-pengiran Cheteria, cabinet ministers, sponsors and senior government officials as well as other guests.

The public also came in droves to witness Brunei's attempt to land the Guinness record.

Starting at noon, following the climatic National Day Silver Jubilee celebrations at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium, Zaliya Apindi Abu Bakar, the executive sous chef of the Tarindak Restaurant in the polo club, with the help of 205 student volunteers from Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College orchestrated three turns of cooking 25,000 skewers of satay, totalling 75,000 sticks.

After launching the final grilling of satay, His Royal Highness walked past the entire length of satay grills, which spanned 250m end to end.

His Royal Highness then proceeded to the Royal Berkshire Hall where about 600 people, including fakir miskin (the group that forms the core of the poor community) and orphans, had been invited to receive satay and contributions. In a ceremony, His Royal Highness received mock cheques of contributions from 13 sponsors, including Pehin Orang Kaya Ratna Setia Dato Setia Hj Awg Abdul Hapidz Pehin Orang Kaya Laksamana Hj Awg Abdul Razak, Pehin Kapitan Lela Diraja Dato Paduka Goh King Chin, Hj Awg Ahmad Morshidi POKDGSDRDLU Hj Awg Abdul Rahman and Hj Awang Hj Ibrahim.

The contributions were handed over to representatives of the fakir miskin and orphans from throughout the Sultanate. Ten selected senior citizens were also granted with certificates, stating that their house loans will be covered for a year's instalments.

Initially intended mainly as an answer to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's call for everyone to come forward and help those in need, the chairman of the executive committee of the event earlier said that only since the amount was large enough to break a record, did they call in the relevant authorities to validate the record.

Talal Omar, adjudication executive from the Guinness World Records announced to His Royal Highness and the audience present yesterday, "It gives me great pleasure to announce a new Guinness World Record for the largest serving of grilled satay."

In a brief interview with The Brunei Times, Talal congratulated the people of Brunei on achieving the new record on the occasion of the country's 25th National Day.

"I was so glad to do this because I think Brunei Darussalam and all the organisers deserve the record."

 

-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

 

 

 

 

Crown Prince presents prizes to winners of Aberdeen

Brunei Senior Masters 2009 Golf Championship

 

 

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office has consented to present prizes to winners of the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters 2009 Golf Championship.  His Royal Highness was welcomed at the Empire Hotel and Country Club in Jerudong by the co-organising committee consisting of the Chief Executive of WSM Sponsorship, Mr. Andrew White; the Managing Director of the European Senior Tour, Mr. Andy Stubbs and the Director of Brunei Tourism Development, Sheikh Jamaluddin. 

 

His Royal Highness witnessed several professional golfers playing in the final round of the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters at Hole 18.  Among the golfers were the Ryder Cup Captain, Benard Gallacher as well as other international professional players from 50 countries.

 

 

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Mutadee Billah during the prize presentation

 

 

    

         1st place - Mike Cunning                                  2nd place - Jimmy Heggarty        

 

 

His Royal Highness later consented to present prizes to winners of the championship.  Mike Cunning of the USA, the champion, received a cash prize of US$60,000 and Jimmy Heggarty of Northern Ireland who came second took home US$40,000.

 

At the function, His Royal Highness consented to receive a souvenir from the organising committee.  The Prestigious Aberdeen Brunei Senior Master 2009 Golf Championship provides the opportunity in promoting Brunei’s tourism effort as part of a long term strategy to generate the economy.

 

-- Courtesy of Brunei Government Online News

-- Photo courtesy of morningbrunei.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Cunning surges to debut victory in Brunei

 

01 Mar 2009

 

American Mike Cunning fired a final round 70 to seal a superb maiden victory on his European Senior Tour debut in the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by The Stapleford Forum.
 

Cunning, who won the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 1997, finished on seven under par 206 at The Empire Hotel & Country Club, two shots clear of Northern Ireland’s Jimmy Heggarty, who recorded his own best Senior Tour performance. 

In doing so Cunning became the first player since Denis Watson in the 2007 US Senior PGA Championship to win on his Senior Tour debut.

Having started the day a shot behind the leader David Merriman, Cunning began his round with a birdie on the first hole before dropping successive shots on the fifth hole and the sixth hole, where he three putted from 12 feet. The 50 year old quickly steadied himself, however, and made his move with birdies on the ninth, tenth and 12th to open a three stroke gap at the top of the leaderboard.

Despite dropping a shot on a final hole where he admitted the nerves got to him, the man from Phoenix, Arizona held off the challenge of Heggarty, winner of the Senior Tour Qualifying School on Portugal’s Algarve last November, who carded a fine round of 67 to move through the field, as overnight leader David Merriman of Australia slipped back with a 76.

“Winning is always great but to do it on my debut on the Senior Tour is something special,” said Cunning, who won the 2003 Indian Open on the Asian Tour. “I tried to get on the US Champions Tour in the fall but just missed out so before the start of this week the only place I had to play was on the Asian Tour with the young guys.
 

“I’d been hanging in there for a few years waiting to turn 50 but this win hopefully means I can now play on the Senior Tour with guys my own age. I’ve been waiting for a win like this for a long time.

“I’ve played this course before in the Brunei Open on the Asian Tour so I knew all about it. I’d missed the cuts in those events though which kept the demons in my mind.

“The birdie on nine settled me down a lot but I’ll admit I was still nervous going down the last.”

Two-time Major winner Sandy Lyle closed with a 69 to finish in a tie for sixth place on three under par, where he was joined by former Ryder Cup winning Captain Sam Torrance who carded a final round 70. It was Lyle’s best finish to date on the Senior Tour, beating the tied 11th place he recorded in last year’s Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open. 

For the champion Cunning, winning his maiden Senior Tour title in a field including Lyle and Torrance made his own achievement extra special.

“These are guys I’ve grown up on Tour admiring and looking up to so to beat them is fantastic,” he said. “I knew Sam a little so I am delighted and thrilled.

“I put a lot of hard work in over the close season after the disappointment of not making the Champions Tour and it has paid off for me,” he added.

 

 

-- Courtesy of The PGA European Tour

-- Photo courtesy of morningbrunei.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

“Kenali Negara Kitani” PASSPORT & 10 MUST DO KNK PACKAGES

 

Release Date: 19th February 2009 / DEWAN SETIA PAHLAWAN, MIPR

 

 

 

 

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