Global Voices » Senor Pablo

Brunei: Twitter and tourism

Senor Pablo — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:42:58 +0000

Soulkonekshen discusses how twitter facilitated the travel of a US-based journalist in Brunei. Local bloggers also participated in the twitter exchange.

Brunei: Popular videos made by Bruneians

Senor Pablo — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:32:54 +0000

Tiger Lim, who identifies himself as Brunei's number one “Broken English” blogger, provides a list of videos made by Bruneians, highlighting the creativity of local talent.

Brunei: Borneo Bloggers Award 2010

Senor Pablo — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 08:22:32 +0000

Geek in White from Brunei blogs about the Borneo Bloggers Award 2010.

Brunei: Suicide attempt stirs online buzz

Senor Pablo — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:35:23 +0000

The story of a 21-year old lady who attempted suicide from a government building in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei early this month generated an online buzz especially on Twitter and Facebook. A local daily paper, Borneo Bulletin, reported how Brunei netizens “posted minute-by-minute account of the drama and the eventual rescue as it happened on social networks.”

Scarysoul-quest provides an account of the suicide attempt and its impact on the traffic in the vicinity. Discussions on the Net focused on whether suicide stories are funny or must be taken seriously. Haji Khairil Anwar is surprised that suicide cases are happening in Brunei

Shockingly, the ‘performer' was a young lady girl..She climbed on top of the Ministry Of Culture Youth and Sports Building bravely….It was clearly visible from the road side.. Many passengers and vehicles back from work were stuck in massive jam..”

nfzbrokenrainbow notes how many netizens displayed insensitivity by joking about the suicide attempt

They will make fun of you in which I do not think this matter is something to be laughed at. This happened recently, when a girl tried to attempt suicide. Why don't you use your imagination for this? Try to imagine that she is someone who's close to you. Perhaps, your sister. Will you still sit back and giggle with phone on your hand entertaining everyone in Twitter or Facebook with your stupid jokes ? Won't you go berserk when people say something which is so untrue about the incident?”

Teeaah reminded her readers that suicide is not funny. She blogs about one of her close friends who almost committed suicide.

“What I find the most despicable about people on Twitter is that people were making fun of her. This is possibly the least compassionate reaction I’ve ever came across when it comes to an attempt of suicide. You don’t make fun of people who had to go through something like that no matter how ridiculous their reason for doing it is. You help them. The jokes are a form of bullying. The more bullying there is, the more likelihood that she will attempt to kill herself one day.”

She also stated her views on social media etiquette in her post: Popularity over Empathy.

“It is not cool to compile photos of suicide attempts and put it up on Facebook because you’re such an attention whore, and the idea of having Facebook notifications matters more than your compassion and pity for human race.” ….If that was your sister who was …jumping down the building…, you wouldn’t want people to take hold of those photos or information. You wouldn’t want them publicised on Facebook. That is when your Facebook notifications matters the least, and it breaks my heart that it takes a real personal tragedy to happen to Bruneians in order for compassion to finally set it.

meinthedeep agrees with Teeaah's views

“I second this. Suicide attempts are not and never a laughing matter no matter what are their reasons. They are going through a phase that they only can understand.”

Soulkonekshen, in response to Teeaah's post, added that

“Some people just do not know how much they are loved because we are a society that do not normally show our feelings until we have to. Everyone goes through depression in one way or another. Some can handle it, while others just have it bad. Perhaps we should once in a while take time to tell our loved ones how blessed we are to have all the wonderful people around us. Never take them for granted. Never take life for granted.”

In his posterous site, Soulkoneshen apologized for writing about the funny side of suicide attempts

attempt at seeing the funny side of today's suicide attempt, as I had expected, had upset some people which I truly regret. I hope my apology has been accepted and will keep it to myself in the future. We are after all humans and humans make mistake.”

Lilyseven also expressed her concern about the jokes made by other netizens about the suicide

“People, suicide is no joke. You don’t know what others go through to really get that stage of suicidal thoughts. It’s scary, depressing and you just feel like there’s no hope left in humanity and especially in yourself.”

No doubt an incident like this may be a rarity in a small country like Brunei but it served as a learning experience for everybody. In particular, it reminded netizens to be more cautious before commenting on sensitive topics like suicide.

The number one cause for suicide is untreated depression. Depression is treatable and suicide is preventable. You can get help from confidential support lines for the suicidal and those in emotional crisis. Please visit www.befrienders.org to find a suicide prevention helpline in your country.

Brunei and the music of Maher Zain

Senor Pablo — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:40:00 +0000

Today's advent of information technology has provided citizens with more opportunities to access and embrace various types of music around the world. Maher Zain, a Swedish national of Lebanese descent, visited Brunei early this month as part of a world tour to introduce his music to his fans. According to Wikipedia,

“His first album ‘Thank You Allah' of 13 tracks and two bonus songs was released on 1 November 2009. His music videos on youtube has collectively gained more than 4 million of views.”

The video shows Maher Zain singing one of his popular songs, ‘Barakallah Lakuma', which was welcomed by his Brunei fans during a meet and greet session organised by Athirah Management.

Maher Zain, who is popular with Islamic inspirational songs, made several radio interviews in Brunei. According to Pelangi FM DJ and blogger Zayn Sabri, Maher confirmed that he has 107,000 fans from Brunei alone on his Facebook page, out of more than 700,000 fans globally.

Vance Tan blogged about the radio interview:

“Fans of Maher Zain, an influential figure from Lebanon, stormed in at Radio Televisyen Brunei recently to capture the moments with the global sensation, according to a deejay working at RTB, DJ Zayn Sabri. Maher Zain’s inspirational music video on YouTube, ‘Insha-allah’ has gained a remarkable one million views. During a short interview over Facebook chat, Zayn also mentioned that Zain is a ‘very inspirational figure to everyone…especially to the youth’. He added, “Other international artists had to bow down and give way to him especially our local charts at Pelangi FM.’ Maher Zain’s interview on Pelangi FM will surely leave a legacy in Brunei, and as we speak the interview is now history.”

Ranoadidas saw Maher Zain making a huge impact in Brunei, especially among the youth

“With just a span of two weeks, the initial hype was more than enough to spread the awareness that a music icon Maher Zain will be in Brunei Darussalam for a meet-the-fan session. My Twitter and Facebook responses have been phenomenal after I announced that he will be coming to Brunei officially.”

Ranoadidas also had the opportunity to interview the celebrity about his impressions on Brunei and his many fans. Twitterians fielded these questions

Rano: I read in one of your interviews that you were lost in “music” at one stage. Can you explain more?
Maher Zain: I felt something was missing. I was thinking a lot. I went back to Sweden and my friends brought me to the mosque in Stockholm. Then my heart just opened for the brothers and I'm glad Allah guided me and I felt very happy. It took some time for me to adjust when I stopped my music and my work for a while. Then I realised that maybe I can help and do something with my experience to convey a good message, my thoughts, my feelings through music. From there, I contacted my record company Awakening Records and the rest was history.

Rano: Do you have problems entering western countries such as the U.S? (Question by @zul277)
Maher Zain: Alhamdulillah, so far there's no problem. If they actually listen to my music, we are trying to show a good picture about Islam. My music has a lot of happiness, about love, humanity etc. I have been to the United States a few times and I will be having a few tours in the States this year. So far so good.

Rano: What inspires you to be in the music scene? (Question by s_a_m1995)
Maher Zain: I wanted to share what I've heard and experienced and I wanted to thank Allah and hence the album is called Thank You Allah. There's always a lot of inspiration from doing a good thing. I want to convey a message and inspire people.

Rano: When is the next album? What can the fans expect?
Maher Zain: The second album will be slightly different but it will have more messages on Islamic issues, motherhood, friendship etc. It's like a package. The next album will be released some time next year and insyaAllah, there will be different languages like the current ones in iTunes and this is because we have a big community from different races. This shows that Islam is big, not only Arabs.

Randomly techno and Kinsella blogged about how the songs of Maher Zain are touching the lives of many people. UBDStudentaffairs also blogged about Maher Zain's visit to the Uni's Radio Station. Geek in White also posted a video of a radio interview with Kristal FM.

Maher Zain's recent visit confirmed his popularity in Brunei. His songs continue to dominate local radio stations. He is seen by many Bruneians as an inspirational figure who spreads love and faith around the world through music.

Brunei's “national twitter account”

Senor Pablo — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:16:24 +0000

Through his twitter @BruneiTweet and blog Projek Brunei, he features the lives of young Bruneians, their thoughts and the vibrancy of local netizens. He shares local stories to showcase the Bruneian life and the efforts of netizens to promote a wired community, educated, well informed and full of aspirations towards nation building.

BruneiTweet has already featured bloggers like Sarah - the Ukulele player, to Izad Majid - the Educator and Ultimate Frisbee Brunei Crew, and IzamRyan - a Bruneian chartered accountant who currently resides in Singapore.

I interviewed him about his online projects and his other advocacies.

1. How did you come up with the idea of Brunei Tweet and ProjekBrunei?

I started @BruneiTweet on 22nd December 2009 and it definitely was not an overnight decision, in fact…it probably took me about 4 months to prepare! Along the way, one of the things I realised was that there was a missing piece in the Bruneian twitterverse. There wasn’t yet anyone I could follow or ask for help for general questions I had, e.g. for directions, for recommendations for the best nasi katok (rice in packets) , for information on coming events, etc. So, I did a quick SWOT analysis and decided to be part of the solution. In short, I started @BruneiTweet on 22nd December 2009, primarily to be that missing piece.

So, what do I do as @BruneiTweet? I primarily retweet (a lot of) people, helping them pass their tweets along to the masses. It is a simple idea, but over the last 9 months, I have helped people sell things, find places, provided directions, and announce various things, e.g. information about sales, road accidents, bad weather, electricity outages, and sometimes, for urgent things like when specific blood donations are required for patients at the hospital.

I am also a sucker for reading people’s Twitter profiles and having a quick glance at their blogs. By April 2010, after reading lots of blogs and RTing a lot of tweets, I came to my next conclusion: I needed to start a website to tell the stories of the many Bruneians I was following. 140 characters on Twitter was no longer enough! So, again I did another SWOT analysis and after a couple of months of website development, etc - I launched www.projekbrunei.com on 19th June 2010.”

2. What was the response of your readers?

“Twitter: The first few months of tweeting as @BruneiTweet was c-r-a-z-y. There were mixed reactions to the whole notion of a ‘random’ tweeter following, mentioning and / or RTing them. But over time, familiarity has been established, and recently more and more tweeters have been making the first move, asking me for help with retweets. I dare say that many friendships have been formed as well! 8)

Website: The website on the other hand was launched six months after @BruneiTweet, so the initial readers were my ‘tweeps’. It is now September 2010, and I am honoured to say that there is now a strong number of local readers, plus the number of unique visitors from all over the world has been growing from strength to strength.”

Indeed, I found out responses from his Tweets are encouraging:

Jeremy Yeo: Thanks for the RT @BruneiTweet, you're doing a great job connecting our community! :)
Nawawi B: #FollowFriday @BruneiTweet -Probably the closest thing to the country's ‘official' / national twitter account :-P #Brunei
Yvonne Lim: Keep up what ur doing. Heaps of thanks for starting BruneiTweet - definitely keeps the active internet-goers of Brunei connected
Joe JinYuh Chan: I think @bruneitweet's blog is excellent. Love its focus on è positive. Worth a visit.

Ranoadidas, a local prominent blogger said that

“@bruneitweet, one of the most active Twitterians in Brunei, did Brunei (and indirectly tourism) a favour by reaching the masses worldwide after a post on “A Life of a Bruneian” was featured on CNN iReport and wow, you will be surprised to see the number of views as compared to other contributors on the CNN iReport.”

3. Why do you think your blog / tweets appeal to your readers?

“I think one of the keys is that, since the start, this journey has been an interactive one. Those who have been following me from the start would remember the ‘Massive #FollowFriday ShoutOuts’, the frequent ‘Big Question’, and the “I am @BruneiTweet” limited edition t-shirt Twitter contests. Having the website has been complementary to this with the ‘#BuckleUpBrunei’ projek, the Fun Polls, and more recently, the CNN iReport.”

He recently received an invitation from CNNi to portray excellent examples of getting the local and overseas Netizens together. His recent pictorial project on CNNi - ‘A day in the Life of Bruneian'- showcased what ordinary Bruneians do.

4. Tell us more about the CNN iReport initiative: ‘A Day in the Life of a Bruneian'. What does your daily life look like?

“On 15th September 2010, I received a tweet from @CNNiReport; they wanted an iReport from Brunei. For those unfamiliar with the iReport, the idea is for people to submit stories, reports, photographs, audio and / or videos from their corner of the world of events, breaking news, travel hotspots, etc. I invited my tweeps to tweet me pictures of whatever they were experiencing throughout their day, and submitted a pictorial iReport called ‘A Day in the Life of a Bruneian’.

What does my daily life look like? Let me share with you how I go about deciding who to feature and what stories to tell on www.projekbrunei.com, and how long a write-up takes. I usually take a quick look at people’s Twitter profiles and blogs, and more often than not, I have found that everyone has a story. In particular, I search for and try cover a variations of stories to showcase how truly diverse we are as Bruneians. I then make initial contact, and when I decide I have sufficient information after a few email exchanges, I start the write-up. Now, what my readers probably don’t realise is that this process of initial contact, emails, write-up, proof reading and picture editing collectively takes up about four hours at the very least. Yup, at least four hours of prep for every feature on my website. So the next time anyone reads any of the features, read sloooowly and feel free to add comments or 'share' it! 8)

The idea is that I will be putting together a special article called “A Day in the Life of a Bruneian” to showcase the best of Bruneian life and living. And as usual, this projek involves YOU! How? Tweet back photographs throughout your day of where you are, things that you see, what you are eating, etc to @BruneITweet.”

5. What are your future plans?

“In no particular order:
I intend to go beyond the two-dimensional interaction, and go ‘live’.
I intend to do more projek collaborations, particularly with local SMEs.
I intend to release a few more @BruneiTweet limited edition t-shirts.
My list of future plans go on and on really, but at the end of the day, I know that intentions don’t account for much. So, join me on this journey, keep me in check, and perhaps sometime next year we could do a follow-up on what we have achieved.”

Good luck BruneiTweet! :)

Brunei: Charity, Food, and Ramadhan

Senor Pablo — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:19:37 +0000

Brunei on the eve of Ramadan. Photo from the Flickr page of tylerdurden used under CC License Attribution 2.0 Generic

Ramadhan is the ninth month of the Muslim Calendar and the month when Muslims around the globe observe fast (refrain from eating, drinking and sexual relations) from dawn till dusk for some 30 days. During this month, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. Just like others around the world, bloggers in Brunei have been sharing their own thoughts on the holy month. Charity seems to be a common thread in blogs and other social media sites.

AnakBrunei blogs about a local bank initiative to help financially-challenged families in the preparations for the end of Ramadhan festivity.

“Kind-hearted organisations have played their roles in giving back to the community and Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam yesterday travelled within the Brunei-Muara District lugging with them clothes, hampers, monetary donations and, most importantly, joy to a number of families struggling with finances.”

Arabfamillies donates food to some 20 mosques around the country. Brunei Lifestyle writes about donations through SMS

“In Brunei, the fasting month is usually mark with more donations like donating cash (more to credit actually) via SMS for the orphans. I don’t want to start arguing on how the system is managed, let’s just donate sincerely and whole-heartedly.”

My name is Goddess reminds her readers on the importance of peace and solidarity,

“Do you know what is better than charity and fasting and prayer? It is keeping peace and good relations between people, as quarrels and bad feelings destroy mankind.”

Geek in White quotes from a post of Queen Noor of Jordan: Ramadan Lessons for All of Humanity

“Ramadan is the holiest month of the Islamic year. We observe it this year against a backdrop of intensifying global human suffering, caused by economic hardship, human rights abuses, military conflict and terrorism, and the rapidly multiplying disastrous consequences of climate change. Muslims have an opportunity to use the days of this month as God intended: to reflect on our own humanity and our collective duty towards our fellow human beings. True religion isn’t built of the manifestations of piety through prayer — turning faces towards the east or west — but requires good deeds and action that manifest and express the essential values of our faith.”

Meanwhile, Turquoise and Roses makes an interesting observation on the different working hours during Ramadhan.

“Posted this up for my foreign readers who may find this interesting. Well you know, maybe, because not many countries in the world practice this. One of the greatest things about fasting during Ramadhan in Brunei is the fact that, for one whole month, we operate on different working hours than the other 11 months of the year. It’s one of the persk of fasting in a Muslim country although am not sure what it’s like in Indonesia, Malaysia and the other Muslim-majority countries in the region. Working during Ramadhan is also a very different experience compared to normal working days. Everyone seems to be in a mellow mood and for some reason everyone comes to work late! Don’t be surprised when things get done a bit slower than usual.”

Ramadhan is also the month when many undertake business opportunities to provide services for those who are fasting. Popular bloggers, RanoAdidas and funnyman Kurapak joined forces for the second year in a row to come up with a ‘breaking the fast’ eateries directory called Love Food Hate Waste. To date they have included 60 local eateries and generated over 100,000 hits since 2009. This year they brought along Cookie Monsterz, a local foodie to provide reviews of selected restaurants. Ranoadidas explains the project concept

“The title speaks for itself. We are supposed to appreciate the food that we take and try to minimise wastage if possible. It's very common that we tend to take more than we can consume and hence, there is also food wastage especially during Sungkai. So guys, let's be aware and don't eat too fast.”

Kapow Burgers. Photo from AnakBrunei

Other bloggers like Soulkonekshen with his now famous KAPOW Burger, Lucky Hoofs and her chocolate cake roll ‘Tapak Kuda' and Sas Monroe’s The Cakery with her infamous brownies, used this month to gain entrepreneur experiences in selling their respective products, either at the Ramadhan Stalls or online. They have utilised Twitter, blogs and Facebook to promote their businesses.

Bruneians abroad have not left behind the home tradition of breaking the fast together. Brunei Student Society in Brisbane organises POTLUCK Iftar to gather Muslim students.

Brunei: “I'm sorry” video now a youtube sensation

Senor Pablo — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:55:09 +0000

The youtube video of a young man named Zek from Brunei pleading forgiveness to his girlfriend became a popular trending topic on social networks last August 18. The video generated over 41,000 hits in a span of three days. Facebook, Twitter and the video on youtube were buzzing with comments with many netizens sympathizing with the young man. But there were also web commenters who loathe the whole video episode.

Below is the popular youtube video

My7thlife explains the popularity of the video.

This video of apology to his girlfriend was made by a local named Haziq (famously known as Zekzek) and has made a very big buzz on Twitter and Facebook. When I watched this the first time, way before it went past the 1 minute mark, I had to share it with my friend and watch it together because I, for one, can’t stand to watch it on my own.

I had to pause in between minutes too because it was so hard for me to laugh and watch at the same time. Zekzek, surprisingly, is taking it all in very well. He’s accepted friend requests from strangers on Facebook, and these new friends of his poke fun at his “bravery”, yet he’s still cool about it.

Reportedly, he uploaded this video on YouTube a month ago, but became an overnight sensation just last night! He deleted the video, but someone re-uploaded the video, and I’m thinking that he just gave up and is willing to let it pass. Although I think it’ll take Brunei a few months to get over this.

I think what made people find this absolutely hilarious is the fact that he calls himself “hubby”, and dubs his girlfriend (ex?) as “Princess of The Earth”.

Cartoon by CKTB

CKTB drew a cartoon based on a popular line in the video: ‘Nda Cali Wah' means ‘Not funny!' RanoAdidas thinks the video made internet history in Brunei

…#Zek the new sensation in the making. He is definitely the new Justin Beiber of Brunei and no one from Brunei at this moment can surpass the popularity of Zek in the Internet.

His message to Zek

I had a mixed reaction as I want to salute you at a certain point but also cracked up because of the delivery. As for the entertainment factor, I have to give an A+ and the number of views speak for itself. But you are on hell of a brave man to face all these attentions (good and bad) and yes, you are in Brunei where people just yadda, yadda, yadda.. Remember, buddy, there's always a price for fame and it's how you handle it and plus, it's a learning process. You can't just simply please everyone.

RanoAdidas also interviewed Zek to find out the story behind the video:

RA: So how long has the video be uploaded on the net?
Zek: This video was actually uploaded last month but it was set for private use. But someone managed to get hold of the video and posted it in the last 2 days.
RA: Have you been receiving lots of messages from ladies?
Zek: No, but many sent messages through my inbox and felt sorry for me

RA: How do you cope with the negative comments?
Zek: The negative comments? I'm pretty cool about it. Maybe some of them were rude but I don't care. It's not like I'm the one who spread the video. I'm more of a victim

RA: So what is it like be in the spotlight?
Zek: Haha.. It feels like a dream. I just don't know what to say..

RA: So which is your favourite tag-line in the video?
Zek: My favorite has to be “The Princess of the Earth”

Funnyman and popular blogger Kurapak also discusses the phenomenon of the video in his post - The Prince of the Earth. Meanwhile, Brunei Lifestyle described the video as the best reality show in Brunei

“A tribute to Zek – My apology” has Bruneians talk and discuss endlessly on the video. My whole family, from mom to mom’s youngest grand-child gathered around the small notebook as if we were waiting for an official announcement on the result of the sighting of the moon, and watched the video. I think this is the best reality show from Brunei. I have never seen a guy’s sincere face in making an apology.

TigerLim, who claims to be the ‘No. 1 Broken-English Blogger', re-edited the video to shorten it to 6 minutes and added an English translation since many of the lines are delivered in Bahasa Melayu(Malay). The video can be viewed here.

T-shirt design by Tiger Lim

Soulekoneksen wants to get hold of Zek and be his PR Manager :

“How do I get hold of #Zek? I’ll be his manager and make him into a Star! #Brunei He needs good PR! LOL!”

On Twitter, my response on whether others see merit for a single man to address himself as hubby to a girl he is courting:

snrpablo: What is with unmarried guys calling themselves HUBBY… NIKAH DULU OIIIII!!!#FAIL

Within a few hours, it was retweeted by more than a dozen local twitterers. @Emmagoodegg tweeted how the usage of ‘hubby' creates a social dilemma

@Anniekins36 Gawd that's true Anniekins, even when I have to shorten Beloved Husband to , ‘Hubby' on Twitter I cringe just a lil' bit! Haha

@esteillha What gets my goat most is kids referring to themselves as “Hubby” when not married. Is this a trend? Am I too old and not cool??

I asked the same questions on Facebook and interestingly the following response came from an educator who is concerned about the current trend of unmarried guys addressing themselves as ‘Hubby':

Irene: I am so 200% with you on this one!!! My students (some of them) call each other hubby and wifey!!! Kan terjeluak mendengar!!!!It's a challenge for me as I have to deal with these young adults, as they want us to call them (??!!??),… everyday but so quite immature at the moment, na'udzubillah, I have kids growing up as well but the level of maturity that I get to teach every year just keeps on becoming very very low!!! A very vast difference with the ones I used to teach in the late 90s and early 2000. I think these youngsters need to be re-educated once more! Kalah2 ketani yg andang expose dari damit ani tah pulang. hehehe

Some guys from the Nasi Katok Productions made a response video, The ZEK. They wrote

dedicated to Zek Zek Kaachinggzz, from NKP. we are always gonna support you bro. Kaachinggzz all the way!

Within another hour, another song video dedicated to Zek appeared on Facebook. Isyrah Fikri Osman made the song video tribute.

Zek's popular video is being compared to the video of Achai, - a young soldier who dedicated a song to his girlfriend, Aku Bana bana kan kau!! ( I'm serious about you). Without a doubt, Zek is now the newest internet overnight sensation in Brunei.

Brunei: Double Rainbow

Senor Pablo — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:28:11 +0000

On 20th July 2010, at 5.00pm, many parts of Brunei witnessed a Double Rainbow

Brunei: Great Tasty Tour goes East Asia

Senor Pablo — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:24:18 +0000

Two Spanish Foodie Bloggers, Inaki and Esther, are currently on a gastronomy tour in East Asia for some ten months. They left their jobs and much of their belongings behind due to their strong interest to learn more about Asia, its people, culture and history via food. They are currently in the Republic of Korea and intends to return to Spain in October 2010, where they hope to produce a series of videos about their adventure. Blogging in Spanish, The Great Tasty Tour documents their journey to the many countries in the region. What amazes me about the Spanish couple was their passion for food and getting to understand the local culture. I personally caught up with the couple during their Brunei leg of journey last December 2009. Read about them on Brunei Times but it was my affiliation with Geek in White, who informed me on the Great Tasty Tour's intention to meet local foodie bloggers. Together with Cookie Monzters, we took them to various foodie joints in the capital, including the infamous Gadong Night Market.

Another local blogger, Arabfamilies invited the two Spanish foodie bloggers to his restaurant and blogged about their visit.

It was a great opportunity to meet Inaki and Esther blogger from Spain, who are currently travelling in East Asia, to document their gastronomy travels and spending their New Year with us recently. They both speak some English, so we are able to communicate with one another. They both spoke about Brunei and are happy to be here for a short stay and discovering many thing about our food. Here are some of the videos taken by them at the recent visit to our Brunei Restaurants with Great Tasty Tour.

I asked Inaki and Esther a couple of questions about the whole idea of the foodie trip.

1. What is your background story for the Great Tasty Tour?

We have always had a dream, to know the East Asian cuisine. Firstly, because when we visited some countries in this part of Asia almost four years ago, we fell in love with its food and its people. We wanted to investigate what people in these countries eat, also where they eat and why. It was our great dream and is becoming a reality.

2. What is the inspiration to tour Asia and try the food?

Our inspiration came from the trip we did in 2007. We visited French Polynesia, New Zealand, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, China and Japan. The truth is that we fell in love with the flavors of Brunei, Padang food and Chinese. We had the need to further develop the theme and give it to meet the people.

3. How has the trip changed you, especially your perceptions of Asian Food and people? Do you miss home?

Life changes because we have had the opportunity to meet so many different cultures, we see all life more simple and the material thing loses value, feelings will be with us forever. We have discovered the true kindness in the people of many East Asian countries, especially in Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and China. Maybe is because in those countries, people love their food and love sharing it with us. Also in these countries, it has been easier to record our documentary because they understood our passion.
We do not miss our house because we are doing what we love, in fact we miss countries where we would have liked to spend more time eating and enjoying their meals and spend time watching quietly. (You know we would like spend more time in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, they have been the big discovery for us.)

Inaki and Esther in Bruneian traditional costume. Photos reproduced with permission from Hyperclicks

4. What have you learned in Brunei?

In 2007 we were in Brunei for five days. In 2010 we were in Brunei for 14 days, and we learned many things. A country that is different from the rest of the world and better. When we visited for the first time we feel very good, there was something special in people, and we felt happy there. We savored the unimaginable, but the best of the food in Brunei is not the taste, or cheap price, it is that people love it. What we have learned from Brunei is the love of food, any food, more or less simple, more or less special, they love the food, and then the food is good. It was also very easy with the help of the people of Brunei (you know).
Brunei is a different country where foreigners feel at home. We don´t know why, but that is the truth.

5. Food from which country interest you the most?

We have investigated the cuisine of eleven countries in East Asia, and all are interesting because the food of a country is its culture. But we have been surprised and entertained are those of the Malay cultural world (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia), Cambodia and China. But where we would have liked to stay longer is in Indonesia, we were sad when left it, is a vast country full of friendly people and great food.

6. Upon your return, what will you do with all the videos and photos?

We have different projects. The most important is the broadcasting of the television documentary, but with all the collected information and photos we want to write some books and also participate in specialized publications, such as travel and food magazines.

8.What is your advice to others thinking of embarking this similar kind of journey?

Our advice is that travelers must go to countries without travel guides (Lonely Planet for example), with a map is enough. Living culture not only visiting famous places, is necessary lost in towns and cities, seeing as time goes by, without haste. We must breathe deeply in each country, to observe and live. Of course, eat, eat anywhere, because the food brings people together. Although we record a documentary, we do everything ourselves and with a limited budget like travelers, we feel travelers and think that the best is have enough time, time to discover.

You can follow Inaki and Esther on their food journey here.

Brunei: Sultan makes surprise school visit

Senor Pablo — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:28:50 +0000

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan and Yang Di Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam paid a surprise visit to one of Brunei high schools in the capital, a day before His Majesty's 64th Birthday. The event at the Sixth Form Center at Katok (PTEK) was without pomp and ceremony. This is not the first time His Majesty has made a surprise school visit since it is part of the “working monarch's” agenda to get to know the students' aspirations and their involvement in the school. His Majesty also visited the PTE Meragang school last May, as blogged by Vance Tan.

According to a source, His Majesty was willing to come down to Pusat Tingkatan Enam Meragang spontaneously without any preparations so that he could speak to the students on a human level and show them his appreciation of their hard work and talent.

The Brunei Times carried a story of His Majesty's visit to PTEK which inspired many students. Brunei tweets were also buzzing on the surprise visit.

A student/blogger that was lucky enough to have the opportunity to greet and meet His Majesty was Hanee504

Despite having only a day in between entertaining the Prime Minister of Malaysia and taking part in the celebration of His Majesty's own birthday, His Majesty touched down to PTE Katok yesterday and shook a wave of surprise to all of us.We've been expecting his visit since last week but of all the days, we totally didn't expect it would be the day before his birthday. It was indeed a huge gratitude to all of us. I had few conversations with him, got his signature and it was such a great honor!

Randomly notes that PTEK students appreciate the unexpected visit of His Majesty. Vance Tan, another student from a different district also learned about the royal visit and blogged about it .

Brunei Lifestyle echoes the sentiments of most Brunei citizens who feel lucky for having a monarch who is interested to know more about the aspirations and concerns of his subjects

I sincerely think that His Majesty is a far-sighted ruler with his many visions, all for the goodness and welfare of Brunei’s future.

Photo courtesy of Hanee Majidah

Borneo Island: Uniting bloggers through Borneo Colours

Senor Pablo — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:14:05 +0000

Kellybays, Tuaran, Borneo. Photo by Nancy Peter

Borneo Colours is a website that links bloggers from Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan (Malaysia) and Kalimantan (Indonesia) which are all located in the island of Borneo. It's a platform for the bloggers in this region to network and create greater understanding about their neighbours.

To date, Borneo Colours or BC has over 1,000 members with almost 200 registered bloggers and the number is said to increase daily. Speaking to the CEO and founder of the site, Daniel Doughty shared with this author the history of the website.

The idea came about during the early part of 2002. The aim was to facilitate and encourage Borneans to show goodwill to the world. Later, the founder realized the huge financial challenge in maintaining the project called “Borneo”. Eventually in 2007, BC was quietly launched but sadly the idea was momentarily put aside as the founder was offered to assist an international NGO in initiating a marine conservation project. It was in early 2009 that the founder decided to bring the idea back to life. Around July 2009, armed with fresh funding and support, Team BorneoColours.com began their work by promoting their ideas to the Borneo Island Community and tourism bodies in Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan, Brunei and Kalimantan. BC had its soft launching on 25th September 2009 but it was only last January when it became operational.

Photo by KCDPhoto

What are your aspirations for Borneo Colours?

To be the official new media and community portal endorsed and recognized by governments within Borneo island, but most importantly by the Bornean and international online community. Our goal is also to shape borneocolours.com as a mechanism for a transparent sustainable financing to raise funds for local charity organization, community development and environmental awareness activity on the island.

What can one get from reading/being a member of Borneo Colours?

Content is provided and shared primarily by registered members also known as bcbuddy. The community shares content by promoting events, happenings, or showcasing their talent and interesting articles that would be of help to others. There is also the Borneo Business Directories and Bloggers Listing. One particular feature that Borneo Colours is proud of is the integration of our content and a social networking tool similar to Facebook.

You got a Blogging Competition going on at Borneo Colours? What do you aim to achieve from that competition?

Borneo Bloggers Award 2010 was designed to give prominent and upcoming bloggers in Borneo island a network window to understand, accept and appreciate each other's differences but most of all to create a sense of Borneo without borders. We are also hopeful that this program will help Borneo bloggers to be much competitive and improve their content, style and creation of original content. At the end of the day, who else is better in promoting their tourism destination and attraction if not the bloggers themselves.

Any future plans?

BorneoColours.com will be organizing a dialogue called B2.0 as in Borneo2.0 “Borneo Bloggers + New Media Dialogue”, This dialogue is schedule to be held at 1Borneo, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in mid-October 2010. B2.0 would bring together diverse blogging communities and creative local and international new media practitioners to provide rich opportunities for learning, networking and growth.

Many bloggers from the island of Borneo are endorsing BC:

A Woman Diary says ” It's practically everything you wana know about Borneo. Made by Borneo-an. I like”

Rungitom, a BC buddy has this to say in introducing Borneo Colours.

Are you a BC Buddy? If not, why don't you guys check out BorneoColours. Its a site where you can get info surrounding Borneo designed with a social networking function, BC Buddy. BC Buddy is a place for online community to hang out like other social networking site.

Choco8Vanilla says that

Borneo Colours is a website designed to gather people to know more about borneo or to gather the people of borneo itself to know more about its beloved island and the latest news or just simply, be friends (Isn't it great? XD). The site is new. But everyday its more new people coming, don't you want to be part of this beautiful community? Its a bit… kinda same… or so alike… facebook or friendster or tagged (maybe?) Besides the website, I had one more thing (should I stated here WOW!) that would make all you Borneans Blogger click the ‘Sign Up' button… what is it?

Pearls Stud Earrings mentioned in her blog,

it’s been 5 months already since the first day i registered as Borneo Colours Buddy. And what did i gain as a member???? more FRIENDS!! \^-^/ and i can promote my blog some more.

Geek in White, the only Bruneian quaified in the final round of votes for the Blogging Competition,

hope to bring the title to Brunei and really put Brunei bloggers on the map. If I do win this (amin!), I promise to share the proceeds with some local charity groups

Photo Contest of CSIS Southeast Asia Program

Senor Pablo — Sat, 08 May 2010 03:50:40 +0000

The CSIS Southeast Asia Program is organizing a photo contest to feature images taken in Southeast Asia that demonstrate the importance of communication and cooperation - across countries, races and religions.

Brunei Foodies Go Pink 2010

Senor Pablo — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:46:12 +0000

Brunei bloggers have initiated a new charity project for 2010. Last year local bloggers and foodies got together to support and promote a charity recipe book which resulted in B$10,000 funds raised for the participation of Brunei Special Athletes for the Special Olympics Games in Greece in 2011. This year, bloggers and foodies have agreed to support another local cause to raise funds and create awareness about breast cancer. The project this year is better organised and coordinated hand in hand with the Brunei Breast Cancer Support Group ( BBCSG). The theme chosen was aptly named as Brunei Foodies Go Pink in support of the Pink Pride Breast Cancer Awareness. For this year's recipe book project, desserts were selected as the main food offering.

Food tasting commenced

Pink Merchandise were sold to raise funds for the Support Group

A Pink Sunday Foodie event was recently organised to kick off the project. Recipe contributors and foodies were invited to bring their contributions to Casa Esperanza for food testing. A voting was conducted to select the most popular recipes. Some 53 dishes were shared and as a result, 51 recipes were collected which will be published and sold to the public. All proceeds will go to the Brunei Breast Cancer Support Group, in helping them raise awareness about a disease that affects many in the country, to buy prosthesis and support for cancer patients.

The project has raised the standards of blogging in the country as blogs provide an avenue for bloggers to get together to support local causes that affect the community. It was also a success as the respective talents of the bloggers complement one another ranging from those who blog on IT, photographs, ideas and public outreach. These talents were all utilised in ensuring that the project would ran smoothly. The other success of the project was having the event in an informal and social setting which provided a free flow of exchanges on an issue that many still see as a taboo.

Mr. Thanis Lim, the winner in the event with his Chocolate Lava Cake

The Brunei Times reported:

“BRUNEIANS should take the initiative to offer their voluntary support in promoting local non-profit organisations' (NGOs) good causes, rather than wait for the NGOs to hold fundraising activities.”

“We hope to see more of this, not only bloggers but also whoever wants to come up to us and collaborate in activities and raise more funds,” said Masjuwita Hj Abd Hamid, president of the breast cancer support group.She said that the support group will use the proceeds from the fundraiser to promote more awareness activities and provide breast cancer patients the necessities which some could not afford.”

Ciliqueen shared her experience after attending and supporting the cause through her blog:

“It is really rewarding for me when I can see people giving up a little bit of their time to attend the Go Pink! event. You will feel a real sense of pride for helping to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. I met new people and of course plenty of mouthful opportunities to have some fun tasting with those sinful and delicious desserts!”

Speak off the Cuff shared her adventure at the Pink Foodie Event

“Can't wait for the book to come out tho'. Hopefully, each entry/recipe comes with the contact details of the baker/creator, as I am keen to order some of these goodies..nom..nom..nom..nom”

Two local bloggers Chef Nash and Turquoise and Roses also wrote about the event.

“For those who do not know, Pick-Me-Up is the English word for Tiramisu. I chose this dessert because I think it’s appropriate owing to my recent obsession with coffee. That and I found these awesome big giant sweet strawberries in Hua Ho. Happy!”, said Turquoise and Roses.

Another blogger and baker, Sas Monroe attended the event:

“I just came back from the Go Pink Foodie Event for Breast Cancer. Not knowing what recipe to contribute at first, i settled for my simple Banana Cake recipe. One of my many favourite things in this whole wide world.I was first introduced to the cake when i was studying in Melbourne… Will be selling the banana cake on The Cakery soon..and will be donating $2 for every banana cake sold to the Breast Cancer Support Group Recipe should also be available in the Pink Foodie Recipe Book which will be out pretty soon. cant wait. i have to thank Pablo for pushing me to contribute a recipe. lol. “

Pasir Puteh, a photoblogger, shares his wonderful shots of the desserts in his post. His photographs will be used to illustrate the wonderful recipes for the book. He also observed that there were more participants this year compared to the previous blogfest activity.

“Was at Casa Esperanza on Sunday to give a wee bit of support to the Pink Foodies crew. I think the turn out was something like 3 times as many as the previous one in December . If it gets any bigger (which it definitely would), we may need a villa/the ballroom @ the Empire ;P. “

Foodies Contributors . Photo by Chee.

Thank you to a local bank who has kindly sponsored the cost of printing the book and many from the local community who came forward to donate cash and prizes for the Pink Foodie Event. This shows how bloggers can unite in their aspiration to contribute towards a meaningful cause in the community. The book is currently in the final editing stages before being sent to the printer for publishing.

All photos are from Senor Pablo apart from the last group photo.

Bloggers raise funds for Brunei Special Olympics Team

Senor Pablo — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:23:22 +0000

In providing support to the Brunei Special Olympics team, local bloggers are creating awareness on the team’s forthcoming participation in the World Special Olympics in Athens in 2011. Major fundraising activities were held last May 3: a walkathon and bazaar. The intention is to help raise enough funds to sustain annual programs such as the regular training of special athletes for various sporting events. The Walkathon hopefully will also generate enough funds in preparation for the event in Athens.

Photo courtesy of Hard Break kid

AnakBrunei wrote a heart warming post on ensuring that these special citizens are given opportunity to participate in sport activities and to compete in global events. The intention is not only to ensure participation but to be part of a global community.

People with an intellectual disability are often misunderstood or ignored, yet when they are given a fair chance they can, and do, participate as valuable members of the community. For this belief, Special Olympics Brunei Darussalam endeavors to provide sport for all people with an intellectual disability, regardless of their skill level. Through sport, Special Olympics Brunei Darussalam (SOBD) aims to give our special athletes the opportunity to get fit, develop skills, make friends and be part of a community.

Let us be together and united in supporting our nation’s special athletes. Let us be together and united in helping them to be part of the community, to achieve their potentials and most importantly, to fulfill their dreams. Let us be together and united in supporting their mission:

Let me win, But if I cannot win, Let me be brave at the attempt…”

Ultimate Foodie Bloggers' Challenge

It was a coincidence that some bloggers got together over dinner and decided to do a charity event to raise funds for SOBD. Within a few days after discussions over emails, invitations were made to to get bloggers and non-bloggers alike for the first Ultimate Foodie Bloggers’ Challenge, held on 26th April 2009. Support was also provided by Blogging Nation. As reported in one of the local papers:

“In an interview with Senor Pablo, a representative from the organising committee, he said, “The competition is one of the meaningful ways to contribute to the society. As part of bloggers community, food is a common theme that binds people, so I thought why not organise a foodie challenge, which invites not only food bloggers but also food enthusiasts.

“The event was organised by well-known local bloggers in Brunei with support from food contributors. Bloggers and contributors had contributed 49 good recipes and the recipes will be collected and compiled into a book made available for everyone. The recipe book will be sold during the Special Olympic Brunei on May 3, and all the proceeds will go to charity. — Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin”

One of the dishes from the recipe book

Much work took place within a week to get the book ready for the Special Olympics Bazaar on 3rd May 2009. Efforts in producing the recipe book were made through recipe contributions from local bloggers and others, with editing, lay-out design and cover design done by local bloggers. Since we didn’t have any funds to pay for the printing cost, we managed to get a local printer to sponsor the cost of producing the book.

The bazaar was the event to start the sales of the Recipe book. For the whole day, we managed to sell 100 copies of the book. With the price of $10 per book and all 100 percent sales donated, we raised B$1,000, which was handed over to the SOBD Committee on the same day.

Turquoise and Roses got a booth set up at the bazaar with special emphasis on selling the recipe book.

“We sold exactly 100 copies of the Foodie Bloggers’ Recipe Book with the help of Pablo, Muaz, and our wonderful volunteers!!! Thanks boys and girls!…I am very glad that the spirit of voluntarism and activism is alive in our youth. They make volunteering seem cool! Keep it up!”

AnakBrunei reported on the bazaar, whereby a special copy of the My favourite Recipe book, signed by Her Royal Highness Princess Azemah was auctioned, to raise more funds for the SOBD.

Ranoadidas organised a first local blog auction.

“There’s one limited edition “My Recipe Book” which was personally signed by Her Royal Highness ‘Azemah Ni’matul Bolkiah during the Charity Bazaar and this signed recipe book will be going for auction and the starting bid will be BND50.00. Oh yeah, the special book will be framed with the picture of HRH signing the book. So that’s a pretty good buy indeed. The deadline will be on Saturday midnight.

A special thanks to Her Royal Highness Princess ‘Azemah Ni’matul Bolkiah for signing the Recipe Book as well as giving the consent for the Recipe Book to be auction for the Special Olympics Brunei Fundraiser campaign. A big thanks also to those involved in the making the auction possible and Mr. Reeds has kindly sponsored the frame for the limited edition book. A shout also for Pilihan FM and Kristal FM for plugging the auction.

As of now, the 500 copies of the books have been sold out with less than a week. Now that I have say is a great achievement and it’s comparable to achieving a platinum status on CD sales. So what’s next? Bloggers’ Singles compilation album? *lol* Well, you’ll never know but there are just thousand of ideas that we can come up with. All I can say is if we bloggers do something, it always start with a BANG.”

The progress of the auction

$100 –> $200 –> $250 –> $300 —–> $386 —-> $400 —-> $486 —-> $500 —> $1,000 —-> $1,086 —-> $2,000 —-> $2,086 —–> $3,000 —–> $3,386 —-> $4,000 —> $4,186 —-> $5,000 —-> $5,586 as of press time (11:20pm 9th May). Bid ends at BND 5,586.00. Thank you to the two bidders who made the bid very, very interesting and your kind gestures are very much appreciated.

Emmagoodegg bought the book and in her post, listed out the recipe contributors and wrote:

“I feel most guilty at not being able to partake, but hopefully there'll be a next time. I've read that the recipe book gathered some vitriolic discussion over on RA's tagboard over some missing ingredients in some recipes, well-intentioned people simply using the book for fame and glory, the usual defeatist comments that seems all too common in our country. All I can say is My Favourite Recipes is a commendable and worthwhile effort and that at least these folks stepped up to the plate and gave their time for charity.”

Brunei Lifestyle reported on the outcome of the auction bid:

“The successful bidder of the My favourite recipe limited edition signed by HRH Princess ‘Azemah Ni’matul Bolkiah is Sheikh Khalid of the Arab families. Sheikh Khalid placed the highest bid of $5,586 almost 40 minutes before the stroke of midnight last Saturday night, the deadline to bid, to get a copy of the edition.

What I can say about the whole project is that the book has managed to collect $10,586 with all of its 500 copies sold in two weeks time. Thats an amazing feat. Bravo! Bravo! bravo! and take a bow Pablo! Also Rano…oh they both end with an ‘o’. Whats next Senor? To Alin, the Kurapak man for designing the front cover . Thank you too to the Arab families for your kind gesture. May God repay you and family for your kindness. Amin. I myself, look forward to contribute in the near future.”

The recipe book project earned $10,586. The funds collected will be passed to the Brunei Special Olympic Team. The project has a quick turn-over: from conceptualizing the project, to the production and selling of all 500 copies within a month. As part of the organising team, I feel honored to be part of this charity drive, an effort organised by local bloggers with no fund to start with. This also shows that bloggers can contribute and support local causes. I also hope that this will be a start of various initiatives organised by bloggers to support local charity and to contribute their spare time on good causes. On behalf of the event organisers, we now wish the Brunei Special Olympic Team much success in their training and participation in the 2011 World Event.