Skip to main content

Bagaikan lilin yang pajah...

Very interesting to note that a former top civil servant is now a regular contributor to The Brunei Times opinions column. His musings on Brunei affairs was a good read and I found myself nodding in agreement. It was not qute in the style of my friend Pat, but still, reasonably frank and direct. Unfortunately I only caught part 4. If anyone knows where I can get the rest of them online, pls give us a shout thanks.

Anyway, back to the musings, I do agree that within the civil service there is a lack of a sense of urgency. I am under no illusion that this trait is exclusive to our country's civil service. Just check out Yulius Nurendra Efendi's piece on getting a passport done in Indonesia, and you'll be thankful that in Brunei, its not as bad (does that make it better?)

On JTB's transition into TelBru, I agree that the corporatization has forced a sense of urgency into the workforce, but then again, in a relatively captive market, where you're ensured of stable income, I'm not sure if that sense of urgency is sufficient to ensure competitiveness.

Try competing in a market where at least 90 companies regularly bid for the same projects and there are very few projects to go around, plus you have to factor in long decision turnaround times. In this scenario, you had better be service oriented and fast because if you're not, someone else is gonna be.

Pehin's point on supporting and nurturing SME's is also one I agreed with. In any size economy, the keys to success for a business are the same, but the difficulty increases the smaller an economy gets, particularly if you are dependent on domestic (government driven) market. I am slowly coming to the painful realization that, "it takes years for successful SMEs, if ever, to grow, mature and bear fruits of job creation and income generation."

Pehin's final statement about strangling the geese which lay the economic golden eggs hits the nail on the head cos some of the geese are just about fully asphyxiated...
Update: Tracked down part 1, part 2, and part 3 of the series. All equally good reads and fodder for future posts I'm sure.

Comments

  1. Yo Bro, I searched the Net and found the part 1 - 3. I have made pdf. You want them? I can send it to your e-mail :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I suggest you keep a copy of anything you find interesting on the Brunei Times' website. As far as I know, they have yet to implement a proper archiving system and articles will eventually be taken down to make room for new ones.

    ReplyDelete
  3. http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/section/opinion/01Dec2006-3.php
    http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/section/opinion/04Dec2006-3.php
    http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/section/opinion/05Dec2006-3.php
    http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/section/opinion/06Dec2006-3.php
    http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/section/opinion/07Dec2006-4.php
    http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/section/opinion/08Dec2006-3.php

    ReplyDelete
  4. And also Part 7.
    http://orwellthatendswell.multiply.com/journal/item/980

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tks guys! You've saved me from having to go to Pehin and asking him for a copy (although it would be nice to see what the "director's cut" in emma's words, looks like wouldn't it?). Anyway, I now have the entire collection safely tucked away in pdf format on my hard disk heheh :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. telbru.. different name.. still the same crappy service... customer relations doesnt improve much..

    theyr still the monopolist in terms of high speed connection, so why bother.. unless theres a new competition, i expect things would still be the same..

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Migration Complete...

If you recall, sometime ago, I was toying with the idea of migrating to the wordpress platform. Today, that idea becomes a reality. The migration to wordpress is complete and all posts from today onwards will be at http://anakbrunei.org Do bear with me for the next couple of weeks while I figure out the ins and outs of wordpress hehe. This site will remain visible for archive purposes. Thank you and see you over at the new pad !

Nina the Bartina Pt II

My full review of Casino Royale as heard on the Jenny M Show on Kristal FM this morning: Daniel Craig is definitely a Bond for the ladies ‘Ard as, on the outside, but soft as on the inside Similar to his character XXXX in Layer Cake, or Dennis Waterman’s character Terry in that British gangster series “Minder”. At some points he actually reminded me of Bruce Willis in DieHard! Pecs similar to mine… if seen in certain light lah Still cannot beat Sean Connery in my book Highlights: Vertigo inducing chase in Madagascarian construction site The sarcastic exchange when he first meets Vesper Lynd (ooo ladies love it don’t they?) The “Stephanie Broadchest” line made me chuckle The poker game was intriguing but still can’t figure out Texas Hold’em Poker The scenery was gorgeous esp. Bahamas and Montenegro… WOW Lowlights: The Pout.. gets annoying after a while Bit slow esp. the bits where he’s playing lovey dovey with Vespa. Felt like I was watching Gone with the Wind at one stage… The ladie