His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddien Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Dipertuan of Brunei Darussalam and Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha are in Singapore for a two-day visit. With Their Majesties were His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah. Also joining the entourage were His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Malik; His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Mateen; Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah; Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah,Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bulqiah and other members of the royal family.
Their Majesties were welcomed on arrival at Changi International Airport by the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Dr. Tony Tan and wife. Also present to greet Their Majesties were Second Finance Minister and Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Raymond Lim who's the Minister-in-Attendance; the Brunei Darussalam High Commissioner to Singapore, His Excellency Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof bin Pengiran Kula; Singapore's High Commissioner to Brunei darussalam, His Excellency V.P. Hirubalan and the Deputy President of the National Universty of Singapore, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan.
The itinerary during the two-day visit includes a ceremony at which His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Dipertuan of Brunei Darussalam will be conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Law by the National University of Singapore. His Majesty will also meet with the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
The Prime Minister's Office PMO Net Online System is an avenue where officers and staff can enhance their innovation and creativity. The Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Haji Hazair said the objective can be achieved by utilising the facility to exchange views and share experiences as well as knowledge among its users. He said the PMO Net can become a platform to promote the Prime Minister's Office as a learning organisation that practices knowledge culture to strengthen its human resource capability as well as the organisation's development.
The Permanent Secretray was speaking at the official launching of the PMO Online support facilities and infrastructure, marking the completion of the online system for the Prime Minister's Office. Pehin is Chairman of the e-Government Program Executive Committee. The project, spearheaded by the Prime Minister's Office in February last year, is one of the e-Government initiatives to facilitate its business processes and services to enhance delivery to customers. The main Prime Minister's Office at the Istana Nurul Iman and at the Secretariat Building and its branch at the Berakas Transport Pool will be the first batch of agencies to make use of the P-M-O Online services.
The Custom and Excise Department is upgrading its facilities to reduce cost
The rapid development of global trade has caused the Customs to upgrade their facilitation in the effort to reduce the operation costs while accelerating the period of goods clearance and customs control.
This was said by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong at the International Customs Day 2005 celebrated by the Royal Brunei Customs And Excise Department. He said a number of parties sometimes like to take the opportunities to double up the profits through commercial fraud activities. In this regard, he suggested such activities must be tackled through re-studying of mechanism which at the same time is being used to upgrade measures in controlling and preventing commercial crimes.
The International Customs Day is celebrated every 26th January since 1983. The Royal Brunei Customs And Excise Department became the one hundred and fortieth member of the W-C-O on the 1st July 1996. Various activities have been organised by the Royal Brunei Customs And Excise Department. The theme for this year's celebration is Customs And Commercial Fraud. The function also saw the launching of the CCTV monitoring system, the presentation of Awards for Standards and Quality 2004, and the presentation of souvenirs and certificates to several retirees of the department.
in Aceh
Information is currently being gathered for the next phase in the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation's Humanitarian Initiative for survivors of the tsunami in Aceh, namely on the reconstruction works. This include identifying related authorities which will become strategic partners in the effort. This was revealed by the Chairman of the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation's Board of Directors, Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin in an interview with RTB after chairing the second meeting of the Foundation's Relief Action Committee yesterday. Pehin said the 2nd phase of the relief which involves the recontruction of Aceh will require the involvement of the public in Brunei Darussalam. However this matter is still being assesed by taking into account the Indonesian government plans in the area.
Earlier the Foundation Chairman and other members of the Foundation's Board of Directors, representatives from Ministries of Defence, Health, Culture, Youth and Sports as well as the Royal Brunei Armed Forces held discussions and reviewed reports on the management of relief-related matters such as volunteers, logistic, communications and medical support. The meeting also discussed other follow-up measures of providing relief in the tsunami-devastated areas.
Meanwhile the Foundation's Humanitarian Initiative Fund received a contribution in a sum of 300 thousand dollars. Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin received the contribution from the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Awang Haji Jemat bin Haji Ampal, who is also the Chairman of Brunei Darussalam Relief Fund for victims of the tsunami. The money is to purchase medicines and other medical equipment.
In the women's Epee category, NIO VALENCIA from Indonesia emerged the winner by defeating her country's team mate SIR IDAR ISNAWATI with 15 points to 13. The men's foil was won by HERI DADAN of Indonesia after he defeated his opponentfrom Vietnam, VAN THAI BUI by 15 points to 13. Epee are scored by touches with the point anywhere on the oponents's body while for Foil, touches are scored with the point on the torso of the opponent including the groin and back. The competition continues again tonight with the final matches for team's epee, team women's sabre and team men's foil.