According to the police, the alleged murder was believed to have taken place by the roadside at the traffic light junction at Jalan Muara in front of the Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College. The police have named the victim as Shahul Hameed Mohammed Sharif, a Muslim Indian, aged 27. He had been working in Brunei Darussalam since April 2000. The police have appealed to anyone who has either seen or have any knowledge of the incident to come forward to assist in their investigations by calling directly their hotline 993 or 2459518.

The Minister of Home Affairs has urged departments under his ministry to attend to outstanding applications and for those with revenue generating-responsibility to bring their collections of revenues up-to-date. Pehin Dato Paduka Haji Adanan also said that legal actions should be taken against those who failed to pay their outstanding debts. He made these points at a meeting with the Deputy Minister, Permanent Secretaries, Acting Permanent Secretary and heads of department and senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Monday.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Institute of Tahfiz under JAKIM, Malaysia are currently discussing and looking into a program where students of the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Tahfiz Al-Quran Institute could sit for certain examinations that would enable them to further their studies abroad within a specific duration. The Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs disclosed the matter Monday at the orientation week for new students of the Institute of Tahfiz Al-Quran Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

Participants of the Executive Development Programme for senior government officers are urged to take advantage of the programme, to gain new proactive, creative and innovative ideas which could assist their respective organisations. The Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Hamid, speaking at the launching of the programme held at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Monday said that the knowledge gained could help them implement their tasks more effectively.

Pengiran Dato Haji Abdul Hamid also said the Government of His Majesty will organise executive programmes abroad, aimed at providing continuous knowledge and expertise among the senior officers. Some 14 senior staff from both the government and private sectors are taking part in the 15-week long training. This is the 10th of such training conducted which aimed at imparting knowledge on contemporary approaches and practices on public policy, public management and governance among the participants.

The ASEAN Inter-University Al-Quran Reading Competition continued its second day, last night. The competition took place at Chancellor Hall, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Four male readers or Qari and three females or Qariah competed. This is the second time UBD played host to the event conducted by UBD Student Affairs Unit with the cooperation of the University’s Undergraduates Association. The first such contest was held in 1998.

In all fifteen universities from the ASEAN region including UBD are taking part in the three-day competition that will end this evening. The project is aimed at exchanging ideas among participants in upholding the reading of the holy Quran.

Students from various engineering, technology and vocational institutions from throughout the country are currently involved in a three-day competition to select participants to represent Brunei Darussalam in the forthcoming ASEAN Skills Competition scheduled to take place in September this year in the sultanate. The National Skills Competition for this year commenced Monday at the Nakhoda Ragam Vocational School. A total of twelve skill areas will be competed and they include furniture and cabinet making, bricklaying and concreting and plumbing and pipefitting.

The institutions involved are the Institute Technology of Brunei; the Sultan Saiful Rijal technical Collage; the Jefri Bolkiah College of Engineering, the Sultan Bolkiah Vocational School and the Nakhoda Ragam Vocational School. The technical and vocational education system is no longer seen as an alternative for students who are unable to excel academically. It is now regards as a channel in producing skilled human resource to generate and develop the country’s economy. The current competition is organised by the Technical Education Department, Ministry of Education.