His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Malik has consented to attend the final of the first Public Speaking Competition organised by the Institute of Medicine. The final was Friday at the University of Brunei Darussalam.

On arrival at the university, His Royal Highness who is the President of UBD'S Public Speaking Society, was welcomed by the Vice-Chancellor of UBD, Dr Haji Ismail bin Haji Duraman. Eight undergraduates from the BioMedical Science and Pre-Medical Science Programmes took part in the final.

The competition provides exposure to the participants and encourages the undergraduates to speak in public, thus preparing them towards being future professionals by developing their skills in communication, rationalisation and clear and thoughtful presentation skills.

Each of the participants prepared a presentation on their chosen topic relating to Medicine or Life Sciences, which had to be presented within 5 minutes. Presentations were judged according to confidence in delivery, clarity of speech or thought and presentation.

His Royal Highness later consented to present prizes and certificates to the winners and participants. His Royal Highness also consented to receive a Pesambah from the organiser.

The number of civil and criminal appeal cases from the Magistrate's Court to High Court in Brunei Darussalam is decreasing. There were 19 cases in 2003 and the number went down to seven cases in 2004. Meanwhile, the High Court Criminal Appeal recorded 75 cases in 2003 compared to 41 cases last year.

There were 343 cases of Bankruptcy Notice in 2003 and the number declined to 281 cases in 2004.

For the Receiving Order, the court recorded 218 cases in 2003 and the figure fell to 161 cases the following year.

Meanwhile, the Adjudication Order recorded 59 cases in 2003 and 41 cases in 2004. Twenty-three cases of Recession were filed in 2004, and 3 cases of Winding-Up Orders in the same year.

Top six bowlers will be selected to represent Brunei Darussalam in any regional or international open tournament. Prior to that, a selection session was held Friday night at the Utama Bowling Centre in Jln Tutong. This session is part of the preparation for the upcoming Arafura Games.

The selection is being conducted by the Brunei Darussalam Tenpin Bowling Congress. Only holders of yellow and purple Brunei identity cards are eligible to join the selection session and fully paid members of Brunei Darussalam Tenpin bowling congress.

Such efforts by the congress to select potential bowlers from throughout the country is to improve the quality of Tenpin Bowling in the country. The session will continue tomorrow, starting at seven in the evening. Twenty-four games will be played over two consecutive blocks. Total pin falls from twenty-four games will determine the top ten bowlers for the national squad.

Fees will be one hundred dollars. However, medical check, performance and discipline during training leading to the games will still be the final criteria to determine the Brunei National Squad for the Arafura Games. Any graded bowlers selected for the national squad will sign a declaration contract as an 'Open' bowler for a period of one year.