The National Committee for the 60th Birthday Anniversary Celebrations of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam held its first meeting Monday at the Lapau in Bandar Seri Begawan. The meeting began with the recitation of the Surah Al-Fatihah led by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dato Seri Setia Haji Yussof bin Haji Ismail. The Minister of Home Affairs, Pehin Dato Paduka Haji Adanan chaired the procedure.

Among the issues discussed included the election of a Patron and Advisor of the Committee as well determining the dates, formats and places when His Majesty will visit the four districts. As with past national celebrations, a birthday parade will be held on the 15th of July 2006. Also in the programme line up are the hoisting of the large size national flag in the capital, exhibitions and song writing competitions pertaining to the royal birthday.

The rapid development in Information Technology, which disseminates information through computer, video, film and CD, has an impact, in reducing the number of people visiting public libraries. Various steps have been taken by relevant agencies in attracting people back to read books in public libraries.
 

Monday, a foundation stone laying ceremony was held for a new library building at Kampung Lambak Kanan in the Brunei Muara District. Leading the ritual was the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Retired Major General Pehin Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Mohammad. The nearly one-million dollar project is constructed under the Eighth National Development Plan. The 2-storey building which is built on a point two hectare site of land will house an exhibition room, a reading room, a prayer room, a library and an internet room. It is expected to be completed in early August 2006.
 

The Lambak Kanan Library is the third project of the Language and Literature Bureau aims at making the public aware of the importance of a library, which is a place in which, literary and artistic materials, such as books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, prints, records and tapes, are kept for reading, reference, or lending. Library is a center that lends books for free, a place where series or set of books issued by a publisher can be found. Reading can also add to one’s general knowledge, as well as up grade one’s speaking skills.

The perception on the benefits and implication of sacrifice nowadays is more suitable to be taken into account and not solely based on the Islamic syiar literally. This was underlined by the State Mufti while delivering his keynote address at the launching of a seminar on sacrifice, Monday.

According to Pehin Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Abdul Aziz, with such a perception, it means the meat from the sacrificed animal could be changed with the value of money and distributed to its recipients. The reason is that animal meat are so common, in fact so easy to obtain and that some people can do without the meat because of animal disease and the like.

The one-day seminar at the International Convention Centre was organised by the State Mufti Department. The seminar provided a close perspective regarding sacrifice through knowledge and understanding so that the spirit and purpose in conducting this religious deed are well-understood by Muslims in the country. Meanwhile, for those entrusted to manage

and conduct the religious sacrifice, the seminar could make aware that their duty is crucial in ensuring the sacrifice are properly done and approved by syarak. Five working papers were delivered during the seminar. Also presented were papers delivered by officials from the Mulaut Abattoir on the experience in managing and conducting the sacrifice at the slaughtering centre.

In Islam, slaughtering an animal for sacrifice signifies thankfulness for all the blessings from Allah the Al-mighty and provides a path for the Muslim ummah to get close to Allah. At the same time by performing the qurban or sacrifice, Muslims are promised with plenty of rewards for their good deeds. The Deputy State Mufti, Pehin Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Suhaili stated the matter while presenting a working paper entitled ‘Sacrifice and its Benefit’.
 

According to Pehin, the first drop of blood from the sacrifice brings forgiveness for past sins and when the blood reaches the earth, a noble place will be offered by Allah the Al-mighty. Therefore such an opportunity that comes within days each year should not be missed. Those who can afford should appreciate and grab the opportunity by conducting the sacrifice to receive blessings from the Al-mighty.

The Pengiran Muda Mahkota Al-Muhtadee Billah Fund for Orphans, Monday received a contribution of one thousand dollars from the Berambang Development and Management Company and Transpower Group Company.
 

The donation was presented to the Chief Executive Officer of the Pengiran Muda Mahkota Al-Muhtadee Billah Fund for Orphans, Dato Paduka Haji Ali Hashim by the Director of Corporate Affairs Marketing of the Berambang Development and Management, one of the Transpower Group Company, Dayang Haryati binti Haji Ismail.

Dato Haji Ali Hashim later launched the ‘Year End Bazaar 2005’ organised by the Transpower Group. The 10-day bazaar which began three days ago is being held at The Mall in Gadong and will be ended this Sunday. Thirty booths are set up selling various items.

The police are investigating the incident in which a new-born baby boy was found dead on the road in Kampung Luagan Duduk in the Tutong District. According to police, the body of the baby was found last Sunday around 8.50 in the morning. The body of the baby was found abandoned on the ground near Jalan Sebatang Sentul. Police said, the body was spotted by the land-owner who then reported to the police. When the police arrived at the scene, they found the baby’s wet decomposed body in a bag, with its umbilical chord still attached.

The dead baby was then taken to the Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Hospital in Tutong Town before it was transferred to the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Hospital in the capital. The RIPAS Pathology Department said it was believed the baby was abandoned three or four days before the body was found.

The police is seeking public assistance in helping them in the investigation and anyone with information on the incident are requested to contact the Tutong Police Station through telephone line 4221206 or hotline 993.

The Borneo Games 2005 in Sabah entered its fourth day today with Brunei Darussalam collecting a gold medal, two silver and five bronze medals through top spinning and athletic events.

Monday morning, Brunei athletes competed in the athletic events. Jimmy Ahar collected a gold medal in the 800 metres. Meanwhile in the 400 metres event, Michelle Charlene Basir collected a bronze medal. Sunday night, the country’s athletes competed in the double’s top spinning category. Sapar bin Rashid and his team mate, Mohammad Ali Latip collected silver medal. They collected six points.
 

In the boxing event, Brunei also collected bronze medals through Saiful Rizael Mohd. Shukri in the 54-kilogram category and Muhaimin Sahar in the 60-kilogram category. In the 4X100 metres event, Brunei athletes in both men and women categories managed to collect the bronze medals.

The Brunei Darussalam teams have won two silver medals and one bronze through the athletics events held Sunday.
 

Brunei won the two silver medals through Hirdan Haji Abdul Kadir in the discus throwing event. It was the third silver for Hirdan after he netted two other silver medals through shot putt and javelin throw. Also winning a second silver for the country was Dayangku Norol Afizah Pengiran Osman in the 400 metres event after she won two bronze medals in the 100 metres last Thursday and the 200 metres, Sunday. She also won gold in javelin throwing Friday. The 3rd ASEAN Para Games end today.