His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince, has granted an audience to the new Malaysian High Commissioner to the sultanate. His Royal Highness received His Excellency Datuk Ali bin Abdullah Tuesday afternoon at  Istana Nurul Iman.

The Malaysian High Commissioner presented his credentials to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Dipertuan of Brunei Darussalam on the 31st of March. Also present at the audience was the Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, Pehin Dato Seri Paduka Haji Awang Yahya.

The Minister of Religious Affairs has urged religious propagation officers to be mentally and physically prepared to face challenges and changes which affect Islam. Pehin Dato Seri Utama Doctor Awang Haji Mohammad Zain said preachers must take the initiative to fortify their inner strength and capability with knowledge and strong faith.

The minister made the call while officiating a two-day seminar on updating the Islamic propagation program Tuesday morning. The seminar is in line with the country's desire to ensure that the mechanism of Islam remains strong, efficient and runs smoothly amid global challenges.

Six working papers, which are split into the topics of Dakwah and The Role of Mosques, will be discussed during the seminar. Following the opening ceremony, the participants heard a talk on youth and their role in nation building.

According to the Director of the Islamic Dakwah Centre, Dayang Hajah Zasia binti Sirin, her department has arranged many programmes to help youth as well as students to be contributive citizens as they are an important asset to the nation. By guiding them to the right direction, she believed that youth and students can adopt and practice worthy values.

One of the reasons for the low achievement was due to a weak command of English. The Task Force for Assessing Lower Secondary Students Achievement also found that students attitude toward science subject is deplorable. At this juncture, the Deputy Permanent Secretary said the Ministry of Education is very concerned and pays

serious attention to the issue because the country requires a human resource that specializes in science and technology. Pengiran Datin Hajah Mariam was speaking at the closing ceremony of the   Science and Technology Week organised by the Brunei Association for Science Education, BASE, Tuesday afternoon.

Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Rashidah Saadatul Bolkiah and Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pengiran Anak Haji Abdul Rahim were among those who attended the function. At the gathering, the Deputy Permanent Secretary presented prizes to the winners. Among the recipients was Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Anak Raheemah Sanaul Bolkiah for submitting the best model in Rekacipta Base, as well as winning second place as "Best Presenter" in the Primary Three category.

The Science and Technology Week enables its members to promote their activities, aside from showcasing their creativity and innovative products. This year's theme is "Harnessing Science and Info-Communication for all".

The Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources said the success and sustainability of forest conservation as future resources in Brunei Darussalam are dependent in part on the collaboration and support of its neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Ministry said the future resources of the countries, most notably their biodiversity and watershed functions are inextricably linked to the development of mutually beneficial policies, plans and actions of each nation.

This was highlighted in a workshop on "Heart of Borneo, Three countries One Conservation Vision" which was launched Tuesday. The two-day workshop is intended as an exploratory initiative, drawn upon a wide range of expertise from governments, inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental organisations, academia and the corporate sector to discuss ideas that may be taken up by relevant bodies for the management of nature in maintaining benefits for future generation.

The governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia all have national plans and programmes for forest and land-use management in the heart of Borneo. 78 percent of the total land area of Brunei Darussalam is preserved with forest of which 41 percent is gazetted as forest reserve.

Brunei Darussalam is supportive of the idea to conserve and protect the pristine rainforest within the identified 'Heart of Borneo' conservation zone. One of the reasons is the richness of biological diversity of the tropical rainforest forms a 'global laboratory' for researches and scientists to conduct scientific researches to collect ecological and taxonomic data.

This was contained in a working paper entitled, ' Opportunities for Conservation in the highland of Borneo - A Government View ' which delivered by the Director of Forestry, Awang Haji Saidin bin Salleh. He also touched on the ban on export of raw logs in the country. In order to achieve sustainability of forests, including sufficient supply of forest products for future domestic requirements, the export of raw logs should be prohibited.