His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Wednesday consented to receive in separate audiences two outgoing foreign diplomats to Brunei Darussalam. The audiences took place at the Istana Nurul Iman.
 

His Majesty first consented to receive in audience, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Singapore to Brunei Darussalam, His Excellency Mr. Hirubalan VP. His Excellency began his service in Brunei Darussalam on the 5th of February 2002. His Majesty then consented to receive in audience the High Commissioner of Australia to Brunei Darussalam, His Excellency Christian Bennett. His Excellency has been in Brunei Darussalam since the 16th of February 2004.
 

Also present during the audiences was the Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Abu Bakar.

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Her Royal Highness Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Zariah, Wednesday hosted a farewell luncheon for two outgoing High Commissioners to Brunei Darussalam and their wives.
 

Prior to the luncheon, Their Royal Highnesses granted audiences to the High Commissioner of Australia, His Excellency Christian David Bennet and Mrs. Kathleen Anne Buckley. His Royal Highness then granted audiences to the High Commissioner of the Republic of Singapore, His Excellency Hirubalan V.P. and Madam Manoranchitham Hirubalan. The luncheon was held at the Balai Penghadapan, Bukit Kayangan.

Besides the increase in the degree of customer expectation and sophistication, the civil service is not exempted from being relevant and exposed to the rapid progress of information and communication technology. Prior to that, civil service should act in accordance to the current changes and progress. This was stated by the Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office at the opening of Second Symposium on Alignment in Civil Service, Wednesday.

Dato Paduka Haji Eusoff Agaki also said, in this matter, civil service in the country should be dynamic if it intends to achieve excellence besides being able to create a positive step as to achieve any benefit that has been carried or created by the current progress and time changes. The dynamism of the civil service certainly does not depend solely on the policy and solid regulations, nor on the system, process and work procedure, but also depends very much on conducive work culture and ethics as well as the work quality of all levels of the government officers and staff.

The alignment programme which was first introduced in Brunei Darussalam’s civil service in January 2003 is one of the government’s initiatives towards enhancing the quality and effectiveness of the civil service. The main aim of the programme is to assist every government agency to ensure that every project or activity conducted at every ministry is in line with the National Development Plan as well as the civil service’s vision in the 21st Century.

The ceremony also coincided with the launching of a DVD on the 21st Century Civil Service Vision. The initiation of the alignment programme is to know how far the programme is being implementing at all ministries. The first symposium was held in October 2003, where every government ministry had shared information on strategic planning and projects to be implemented at the respective ministry. This second symposium aims to know the upgrading level of strategic alliances among government ministries. The symposium will be held for two days at the International Convention Centre in Berakas. The participants of the symposium comprise Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Department as well as senior government officers. The symposium is fully-sponsored by Syabas Technologies.

The Pengiran Muda Mahkota Al-Muhtadee Billah Fund for Orphans, Wednesday received a contribution from a textile store in the country. The five thousand dollar contribution came from the Nazmi Textile Mall, which was presented by its Managing Director, Awang Nazeer Ahmed. On hand to receive it was the Managing Director of the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation, Dato Paduka Haji Ali Hashim, who is also the fund’s Chief Executive Officer.

The Brunei Muara District Orphans’ Committee also received three thousand dollars, which was presented to the Assistant Brunei Muara District Officer, Awang Haji Jamain bin Momin.

Earlier, the Acting Minister of Home Affairs, Pehin Dato Paduka Haji Dani officially opened the Nazmi Textile Boulevard at the Hua Ho Mall in Manggis.

Members of the public especially businessmen and supermarket owners are advised to be more alert when receiving currency notes while making transactions. The warning follows a report received by the Royal Brunei Police Force regarding the use of counterfeit five hundred Brunei dollar notes in the country over which four locals were detained to assist in the police investigation.

Between the 21st and 29th of November 2005, the Royal Brunei Police Force had received six reports on Brunei currency counterfeit notes cases from banks and supermarkets in the Brunei Muara and Belait Districts. The cases involved nine pieces of five hundred dollar counterfeit notes issued in 1989. The notes were printed using a high quality paper and looked similar to the genuine notes. All the counterfeit notes had the features of the actual money including the invisible image of the crest of Brunei Darussalam when they were placed on the money detector. However, the notes were poor in serial numbers. Some of the notes were printed twice with similar serial numbers.

In this regard, the Royal Brunei Police Force advises the public to check the five features of the real notes when receiving the five hundred dollar notes. The features are the watermark portrait of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the latent image, front and back registration numbers, continuous and embedded security thread, and the invisible image of the crest of Brunei Darussalam. The police are also requesting public cooperation by informing the police should there be any criminal activities involving the counterfeit currency. The Royal Brunei Police Force also informed the public that distributing, possessing and using the counterfeit notes is a serious offence under the country’s regulation and those found guilty would be sentenced to up to ten years of imprisonment or fined or both.

The 6th ASEAN Students Exchange Programme had exposed participants to aspects of roles of youths in development, peace, prosperity and unity of ASEAN. The eleven-day programme ended Wednesday with presentation of certificates.

The participants also shared information through presentations, seminars and exhibition on every country, each rich in culture and tradition. Through the foster parents programme, the participants experience for the first time the social life and culture of this country. Among the objectives of the programme are to enhance and cultivate understanding, cooperation and networking among the ASEAN students, especially in matters pertaining to education, social, culture and geo-politics of ASEAN peoples.

The closing ceremony was officiated at by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Dato Paduka Haji Sheikh Adnan. The First ASEAN Students Exchange Programme was held in Malaysia in 2000. It was participated by six secondary students comprising three males and three females from each member country.

The Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan Science College, Wednesday held a presentation of prizes to best students in Forms One, Two and Four for 2005.

A total of thirty students received their prizes for achieving excellent results in their academic studies this year.  One of the recipients was a son of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bolkiah, Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Muda Abdul Muqtaddir, who is attending Form One class.  He had made an outstanding achievement in the Lower Secondary Science Examination.

The Islamic Dakwah Centre last night held a Khatamal Quran ceremony for the Muallaf Guidance Class and Al-Quran Reading Class for Converts in the Brunei Muara District. The ceremony took place at the centre in Berakas.  Present at the ceremony was the Syariah High Court Judge, Pehin Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Salim.

A total of thirty participants including eighteen women from both classes took part at the ceremony after completing the reading of the thirty chapters of the holy book.  Last night’s event was the first of its kind to be organised in the country to mark the 20th anniversary of the formation of the Islamic Dakwah Centre.  The aim of the event was to encourage the converts to be more active in learning Al-Quran.