anakbrunei

... In the past, hadrah was only performed during weddings, but now it is performed in open events, to greet honoured guests and more significantly to signal the arrival of His Majesty in various events... ... Brunei youths nowadays have done well in preserving the heritage and have even enhanced it. Back then, competition involved only beating of drums and chanting. But now performances are choreographed to make it more attractive and interesting... ... hadrah could be further promoted in Brunei if there is a national association of hadrah set up. "We have a national team for silat and gasing (top spinning), but not for hadrah. We cannot just rely on mukim and schools to promote the activity, it has to be done at a national level... -- The Brunei Times

KNK or "Kenali Negara Kitani" means "Get to know your own country". Catchy title and I like it. This campaign spearheaded by Tourism Brunei aims to create an awareness among all Bruneian residents that the tourism industry has great importance as an economic activity for Brunei, and that enjoying tourism activities in the country is a worthy and interesting proposition. Through KNK, Brunei Tourism hopes to see more locals taking time to explore and discover the local wonders, involving themselves in many sporting and leisure activities on offer, sampling regional delicacies and purchasing more local products and crafts. Brunei Tourism's drive in promoting the KNK domestic tourism concept will encourage the public to use the services of local professional service providers to enjoy extraordinary activities and to visit "off the beaten track" attractions.

Hats off to the organizers of last night's welcoming reception for the participants of the 2nd International Halal Products Expo which was held at the courtyard of Kompleks Yayasan SHHB in the capital. The ambience was fantastic with backdrop of the beautiful SOAS III mosque on one side, and Kampong Ayer on the other. The Halal spread was awesome, with ambuyat, soto, nasi lemak, and other local cuisine on offer! What a wonderful start for our foreign guests who have come to this blessed nation of ours to partake in the annual exposition.

First word that came to mind when I saw this pic...

I absolutely love our Bruneian traditional songs especially when performed by really good musicians like these gentlemen in RED . I found myself tapping my feet and humming along to their renditions of alus jua dindang, sungai berunai, and kampung ayer. Man I wish I could play like these boys... Which brings me to the winner of the anakbrunei.org SMS Quiz grand prize, who comes from a family of musicians similar to the lads in RED . Congratulations to Md Abdillah Hj Awg Damit on being drawn as the winner of the MP3 player! I'll be in touch with you shortly with details on the prize-giving ceremony. Congratulations mate! To all who participated in the SMS quiz, thank you so much for your support! And there will be more chances to win in the next round which I'm hoping to start in the new month :) Thank you also to the sponsors of the SMS Quiz, Badin and Ropin of MVision Cinemas and Mach Telecommunications Systems . Terima kasih banyak2!

Best wishes to Yang Teramat Mulia Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Puteri Hajah Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah and Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Khairul Khalil Pengiran Syed Haji Jaafari, on your wedding day! From anakbrunei.org

Day Three Question: His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, is the __th ruler of Brunei Darussalam. (a) 29 (b) 27 (c) 28 (d) 26 To answer, just type: mtrv[space]anakbrunei[space] 3 [space][your answer ie. either a b c or d] For example, if your answer is (a), you would type: mtrv anakbrunei 3 a and send to 8885555 * GOOD LUCK and dont forget to answer the previous question!! AnakBrunei SMS Quiz Day One Question AnakBrunei SMS Quiz Day Two Question AnakBrunei SMS Quiz Day Three Question AnakBrunei SMS Quiz Day Four Question

This morning, BEDB hosted a teh tarik session called THINK BIG . It was basically an open session aimed at creating awareness for the BEDB SME Innovation Center which is scheduled to open its doors in August. The forum was one with a difference in that it was very informal. Even the invitation card stated dress in whatever you're comfortable in . I contemplated coming in my usual Friday morning Jing Chu attire, shorts and t-shirt but decided against it. Good call as I would've stood out like a sore-thumb!! The turn-out was fantastic with many familiar faces including fellow bloggers Emma complete with bun, LSM aka Joshua heheh, Rezafaizal , the Geek in Pink and perhaps a few others I may not have spotted. Some new faces also and I'm assuming these are the bright sparks with tech ideas they want to take to the next level. The morning got off to a good start with Stanley Han giving an account of his experiences as an incubatee in NUS' incubation program . Very inspi...

How many of you HAVEN'T visited CNET Asia for the latest tech news and gadget reviews? If you haven't then I fully recommend it for the best reviews and priceguides which are relevant to us, since Singapore's just across the pond. Anyway, CNET now has a new blog dispatch from Brunei Darussalam :) Feel free to send me ideas and suggestions for posts on Kurapak Teknologi which are tech oriented and relevant to Brunei!

The new Legisco building on Jalan Kebangsaan is an impressive architectural structure. I took a drive around the building early this morning and it looks magnificent from every angle. The entrance however fascinated me with the romanesque pillars, huge carved door and ornate archway above it. Truly a sight to behold...

What do these two Bruneians have in common? The answer in the next post. Stay tuned...

Update 25/02/07: The slideshow is up. You can view it by clicking here . I was in Form 4 when the 1st National Day Parade took place at the Stadium. I remember going with my dad and younger brother. My dad had a Nikon SLR with a zoom lens then and he let me play with it for a bit and that was the first time I had ever handled one. Since then, I only watched the proceedings every year on the telly in the comfort of my living room. But as Johnson put it: It's not the same. You don't sweat. You don't get feel the heat. Smell the body odour and you don't get thirsty. You don't have to set your alarm for 530 am. You don't feel the thumping of the brass band. You don't have to park 2 km away walk into town cause you woke up late.............. you don't get to be on TV! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that today, 23 years later, I would be on location at the Taman, thoroughly immersed in the experience, carrying my own dSLR and absolutely enjo...

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kebangsaan Negara Brunei Darussalam Ke-23 Kepada Semua Pengunjung AnakBrunei.Org Brunei tanah air kita Warisan berkurun lamanya Budaya Melayu teras bangsa Islam cara hidup kita Kita purih pancir mulia Tabah gagah berhemah tinggi Bermaruah dan berperibadi Bersopan sedar harga diri Masa depan penuh cabaran Kita ungkayahkan dengan iman Dengan ilmu bakti setia Ikhlas amanah kerana Allah Bangunkan kemakmuran pelihara keamanan Teguhkan kedaulatan Tegakkan keadilan Junjunglah kebenaran Hidupkan kerohanian Ajaran Allah kita turutkan Tegak bersatu mendukung negara Brunei sejahtera bumi tercinta Taat setia rakyat bahagia Di bawah naungan Sultan kita Lirik : Shukri Zain Lagu : Manaf Haji Kamis Susunan muzik : Manaf Haji Kamis