Day: June 16, 2022

The reading of Al-Quran marking the launching of the 76 times Khatam Al-Quran Ceremony for members of the Mukim and Village Consultative Councils, school students and higher learning institutions nationwide in conjunction with His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s birthday celebration was held simulatenously in the four districts, this afternoon.

In Brunei Muara District, the launching ceremony took place at Jame’ ‘Asr Hassanil Bolkiah in Kampung Kiarong.

The ceremony began with the mass reading of Surah Al-Fatihah led by Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin Bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Othman, Minister Of Religious Affairs.  Also present was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman, Minister of Home Affairs as the Chairman of the Executive Committee for His Majesty’s 76th Birthday Celebration.

In Temburong District, the ceremony was held at the Utama Mohamad Salleh Mosque, Pekan Bangar.  Present was Awang Haji Rosli bin Haji Ibrahim, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

In Belait District, the launching ceremony was held at the Mohamad Jamalul Alam Mosque, Kuala Belait. Present was Awang Amir Hairil bin Haji Mahmud, Permanent Secretary for Safety, Welfare and Law at the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

And in Tutong District, the ceremony was held at the Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque, Pekan Tutong. Present was Pengiran Mohammad Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud, Permanent Secretary for Administration, Finance and Estate at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.  

Source: Radio Television Brunei

The transportations carrying the Brunei Darussalam’s Haj Pilgrims from the First Flight arrived safely at the accommodations that have been provided in Madinah.

The pilgrims comprising of 157 people are from the Darussalam Holdings package and stayed at the Dallah Taibah hotel.

Meanwhile, 67 people from the Straight Central Agencies Sendirian Berhad package stayed at the Shahd Al Madinah hotel.

And, 13 people from the Al-Hijrah package and stayed at the Front Taibah hotel.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

The first group of the Brunei Darussalam’s intending haj pilgrims safely arrived in Madinah Al Munawarah last night.

Upon arrival they were greeted by His Excellency Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yusoff bin Haji Ismail, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Brunei Darussalam to Saudi Arabia.

Transportation services have been available to bring the country’s haj pilgrims to the accommodation provided.

The second group carrying 206 intending haj pilgrims is scheduled to arrive in Kota Madinah Al Munawarah at 2.30 in the evening local time.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

The second and final flight of Brunei Darussalam’s intending haj pilgrims departed for Madinah at 10:01 yesterday morning. 206 intending pilgrims boarded the Royal Brunei aircraft, RB BI4203.

Present at the Brunei International Airport to bid farewell were Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, Minister of Religious Affairs; Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Retired Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohammad Yussof, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office; and Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Doctor Awang Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar, Minister of Health. Also present were Awang Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid, Acting Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister of Finance and Economy as Chairman of Darussalam Holdings Sendirian Berhad’s Board of Directors.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

2 cases are in Category 5, and 3 cases are in Category 4.

The Ministry of Health in its press release yesterday informed that the total first dose vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 is 84.3 percent, and 69.6 percent for the second dose. Meanwhile, 72 percent of the country’s population have received three doses of the vaccine.

546 new cases were recorded yesterday, while 379 cases have recovered, with 3,446 cases remain active.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

 A total of 207 Brunei students, from the diploma programmes, launched jointly by their vocational education institutes and a Brunei-China joint venture, were awarded the Conditional Offer of Employment (COE) yesterday.

Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd, is a petrochemical joint venture between China’s Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Damai Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary under the Brunei government’s Strategic Development Capital Fund, owning 70 percent and 30 percent of the shares, respectively.

Haji Khairuddin, Brunei’s Acting Minister, at the Prime Minister’s Office, and Second Minister of Finance and Economy, and Yu Hong, the Chinese ambassador to Brunei, were present to witness the COE-signing ceremony.

During the ceremony, representatives signed the COE on behalf of 176 students and 31 students respectively, from Politeknik Brunei (PB) and Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE), two local vocational education institutes.

The collaboration with PB and IBTE is an initiative by Hengyi Industries, to create a platform where the youths of Brunei have the opportunity to hone and develop their skills, Deputy CEO of Hengyi Industries, Zou Hui, said.

As part of the collaboration, seven diploma programmes are offered to PB students, while one diploma programme is offered to IBTE students.

All the programmes are three-year full-time programmes under which, the students will undergo two years of studies at the respective institutions and one-year industrial-based learning with Hengyi Industries.

After completion of the programmes, the students will be given the opportunity for full-time employment at Hengyi Industries, Zou said.

The COE reflected Hengyi’s continuous commitment towards the country’s “Bruneianisation Directive,” a government initiative to drive the hiring of Bruneians in the private sector, and contribution to bilateral education cooperation and collaboration, in the human resources development, Zou added.

Hengyi signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Mar last year with PB, to run tailored academic programmes for students, including Thermal Power Plant Technology and Water Treatment Technology and awarded scholarships to 48 students from the IBTE in Aug, 2020.

The Joint Chemical and Process Engineering Scholarship Programme, established by Hengyi with Universiti Brunei Darussalam and China’s Zhejiang University, has also given over 100 local students scholarships to further their study in China and eventually be employed by Hengyi.

Hengyi invested about 3.45 billion U.S. dollars in the first phase of its oil refinery and petrochemical project in Brunei, which went into full operation in Nov, 2019. The company’s 13.654-billion-U.S. dollar second phase project is awaiting the green light from the Brunei government.

Source: NAM News Network

China is showing off new sea-based technology as it seeks to assert its dominance in the Pacific, analysts say.

The latest technological tool is the Zhu Hai Yun, an unmanned and autonomously operated carrier for drones. A month into its maiden voyage, the vessel is billed as China’s first “intelligent” drone carrier. It will carry out sea trials of equipment and aim to start operations by year’s end, the city of Zhuhai’s website says.

China is flexing its muscles at sea, and other countries are growing nervous, Jeffrey Kingston, history instructor at the Japan campus of Temple University, told VOA.

“Essentially, it’s this continuation of an argument that’s been going on [for] some time, and now involving large numbers of drones,” Kingston said.

Launched on May 18, the city says the carrier is “expected to bolster China’s marine scientific research and marine economy development.” The Southern Marine Science & Engineering Guangdong Laboratory in the city of Zhuhai will operate the 88.5-meter-long ship.

The Zhu Hai Yun joins the country’s satellites, a bathyscaphe (deep-sea vehicle) and other equipment that China hopes will help the People’s Liberation Army-Navy gain an edge in regional maritime sovereignty disputes.

Other Chinese marine technologies

In 2017, Chinese scientists developed a deep-sea bathyscaphe and an underwater observation network to gather data on the world’s deepest seas, and analysts cautioned then of a military dimension. Space-based sensors ostensibly for research could spot enemy submarines.

The Chinese Institution of Oceanology has developed underwater drones to gather geographic data in the territorial waters of other countries that give the military an advantage, according to the former director general of information systems with the Indian army, P.T. Katoch, who wrote in the New Delhi-based SP’s Naval Forces magazine. Katoch wrote that even unarmed, a Chinese drone “would be used to detect and track enemy submarines’ movements in order to attack them.”

Competition at sea

China has exceeded all Indo-Pacific countries except Japan and the United States in maritime-related technology, said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan. He said China can handily outspend other countries in Asia.

Beijing claims about 90% of the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea as its own, clashing with the claims of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. Asian governments value the sea for oil, natural gas, shipping lanes and fisheries. Japan and the United States have urged China to leave the sea open for international use.

The Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., did not answer a request for comment for this report.

Chinese officials have said in the past that its maritime technology is for scientific research or extraction of oil and gas. China’s state media China Daily reported last year that China’s leadership urged its scientists to come up with new innovations in “strategic frontiers,” including the ocean.

Those officials hope to be seen around the Indo Pacific as a “science and technology power,” said Aaron Rabena, a visiting fellow at the Singapore-based think tank ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute Regional Strategic and Political Studies Program.

“I think it’s not just China, but other countries as well, are exploring ways to maximize the use of technology so that they can minimize the loss of human life on their part, so that’s the game right now,” Rabena said.

The Philippines is looking toward a “modern and efficient up-to-date armed forces” partly in response to Chinese deep-sea exploration, he said. Both the Philippines and Malaysia have announced plans over the past eight years to upgrade their navies in view of external threats.

US, Japan countering China

Research technology alone might not put China ahead of other countries militarily in a conflict, Huang cautioned. “I think they have pretty fast technology innovation and for some limited critical high technologies, they have significant achievements, but I cannot translate it into full-fledged integrated operational edge,” he said.
Japan and the United States both moved this past week in ways that would counter China’s military might.

On June 8, Washington approved plans for the sale of warship parts and related technical support to Taiwan worth $120 million. The sale would be the latest aimed at helping Taiwan arm itself against China.

China’s Ministry of National Defense “strongly condemned and resolutely opposed” the sale, according to the PLA’s China Military Online website.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, a country that has its own maritime disputes with China, pledged over the weekend at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore to “fundamentally reinforce Japan’s defense capabilities within the next five years.” Kishida said he would “secure a substantial increase of Japan’s defense budget.”

Source: Voice of America

Two-day talks between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers opened Thursday in New Delhi with calls for stronger ties between India and the regional bloc.

The talks come amid a heightened rivalry between China and the United States, which Singapore said threatens peace in the region.

India and Singapore, the event co-chair, also underscored geopolitical challenges sparked by the war in Ukraine.

In his opening remarks to the 10-member group of Southeast Asian foreign ministers, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “upended the international system of rules and norms.” He also said the “sharpening superpower rivalry” between China and the U.S. has direct implications for all of Asia.

“So, these developments, if unchecked, can threaten the sole system of peace and stability which we have depended on for the basis of our growth, our development and prosperity over many decades,” Balakrishnan said, marking the 30th anniversary of relations between New Delhi and ASEAN.

In discussing the challenges, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the “developments in Ukraine” and their effects on food and energy security, fertilizer and commodities prices, and logistics and supply chain disruptions had made the task of recovery from the pandemic more arduous.

He said the role of ASEAN would be critical given the new geopolitical challenges and emphasized the need to improve land and sea connectivity between India and ASEAN countries.

“A better-connected India and ASEAN would be well-positioned to promote decentralized globalization and reliable supply chains,” Jaishankar said. “India fully supports a strong, unified, prosperous ASEAN whose centrality in the Indo-Pacific is fully realized.”

The foreign ministers also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Strengthening strategic, political and economic ties with ASEAN has become a priority for India and the U.S. as both countries seek to push back against growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden held a first summit with ASEAN leaders in Washington and said it marked the launch of a “new era” in ties between Washington and the bloc.

Several ASEAN countries have maritime disputes with Beijing, which has built islands in waters claimed by several countries in East Asia, raising worries about Chinese expansionism in the region.

Analysts, however, say with China remaining the primary trading partner for ASEAN nations, the bloc will be careful to balance ties between both sides. Despite efforts, trade between ASEAN and India has remained modest — up to $78 billion in 2021.

Source: Voice of America