Category: Government

Brunei Darussalam celebrated the National Level Maulidur Rasul through a special programme broadcast on RTB Perdana, RTB Aneka and RTB Sukmaindera television channels as well as the Nasional FM, Harmoni FM and Nur Islam FM radio channels and RTBGo. In the programme, Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, Minister of Religious Affairs as the Chairman of the Major Islamic Events Celebrations Executive Committee and National Level Musabaqah Al- Quran Reading for Adults 1443 Hijrah, touched on the historical event of maulud, namely the birth of Prophet Muhammad Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam is remain commemorated. It is a national commitment which is also the religious commitment of Muslims and upholds Islam as the official religion of the country.

 

The Minister of Religious Affairs said that we are grateful for the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala for sending Prophet Muhammad Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam to be Allah’s messenger. We are grateful to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and at the same time remember the struggles of Rasulullah Shallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam in propagating da’wah, and defending Islam as the religion of mankind throughout the ages and we are part of his ummah. Earlier, the reading of Al-Quran was delivered by Awang Afiq Haririe bin Haji Md.Daud, champion of the National Youth Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran 1442 Hijrah/2021.

 

The Maulidur Rasul celebration was highlighted with the Dikir Marhaban by joint representatives of Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and Ministry of Education. This year’s National Level Maulidur Rasul Shallallahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam Celebration carries a theme of “Rasulullah Kekasih Allah, Kekasihku Dunia Akhirat”.

 

The culmination of the ceremony was a Special Tazkirah or talk titled “Rasulullah Kekasih Allah, Kekasihku Dunia Akhirat”,  delivered by Dr. Awang Haji Norarfan bin Haji Zainal, Rector Of Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University, UNISSA. The talk among others touched on the effect and impact of love for Rasulullah and the aqidah or faith of a Muslim. According to Doctor Awang Haji Norarfan, as a Muslim, we must cultivate our love for our greatest Prophet Muhammad Sallallaahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam above all else as there is a hidden wisdom that can strengthen one’s faith and also the manifestation of our love for Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala.

 

The ceremony was enlivened with the Selawat by the An-Nida Group and youths from the Youth Religious Programme under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The event was also highlighted with poetry performances from undergraduates of Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University, UNISSA and Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College, KUPU SB as well as the Da’ie Youths.

 

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, this year’s Maulidur Rasul celebration was held differently without organising a mass gathering and procession as normal. The ceremony was organised by the Ministry of Religious Affairs with the cooperation of Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports with the support of Radio Television Brunei, Prime Minister’s Office. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Religious Affairs through the Islamic Da’wah Centre in cooperation with Radio Television Brunei will broadcast a Premier Forum in conjunction with Maulidur Rasul 1443 Hijrah through television channel on Thursday, the 21st of October 2021 at 9 at night.

 

 

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

 

Last night, several ministries held the Dikir Maulud ceremony virtually.

 

The Ministry of Home Affairs and its departments held a Dikir Ceremony jointly organised by the Setia Ali Mosque Takmir Committee in Muara Town. The ceremony was participated by Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia Doctor Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Home Affairs.

 

The Prime Minister’s Office and its departments also held a similar ceremony. Joining the ceremony were Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Mokti bin Haji Mohd. Daud, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office; and Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Doctor Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister of Finance and Economy.

 

The Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications and its departments and the Authority Agencies also held such a ceremony. Joining the ceremony was Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Abdul Mutalib bin Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Setia Dato Paduka Haji Awang Mohammad Yusof, Minister of Transport and Infocomunications.

 

Also holding a similar ceremony was the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and its departments together with strategic partners comprising associations and non-government organisations. The mass reading of Surah Al-Fatihah was led by Yang Berhormat Retired Major General Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin, Minister Of Culture, Youth And Sports.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

Several mosques, suraus and religious halls nationwide also held the Dikir Maulud Ceremony in conjunction with the Maulidur Rasul Celebration virtually by providing links for the members of the Mosque Takmir Committee, Congregants, Muslimah, Mosque Youths and Village Consultative Councils.

 

The ceremony organised by Kampung Tanjong Maya Mosque, Tutong District was participated by Yang Berhormat Awang Haji Abdul Wahab bin Apong, Member of the Legislative Council.

 

The Temburong District Mosque Youths in collaboration with the district’s Mosque Affairs Office also held a similar ceremony. It was joined by Awang Haji Amir Hisham bin Haji Masri, Acting Director of Mosque Affairs.

 

The Dikir Maulud ceremony among others aims to strengthen the love for the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam as well as to enliven major Islamic events.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

His Majesty in the titah said that in facing a situation, we should not be silent and instead, make efforts among them by supplicating.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al- Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di- Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in a titah stressed that the muslim ummah should have good thoughts towards Allah as anything determined by Allah is all good and Allah has never tyrannized anybody.

 

His Majesty in his titah said recitations of Selawat for Prophet Muhammad Shallallahu ‘ Alaihi Wasallam is a type of supplication or zikir that is best used to deliver intentions. Thus, the monarch expressed his hope for the muslim ummah to recite the selawat as supplication or zikir in order to be released or freed from the corona virus disaster. In the titah in conjunction with the Maulidur Rasul celebration for 1443 Hijrah / 2021, His Majesty underscored that although for the first time the Maulidur Rasul celebration is not conducted in an assembly or gathering due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, however, we can still celebrate it in a way appropriate to the situation.

Source: Radio Television Brunei

Brunei Darussalam will be undertaking a Study on Women’s Development, which will be used to strengthen the Plan of Action on Women. The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports while attending the 4th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women, AMMW via video conference stated that the Brunei Darussalam Digital Economy Masterplan 2025 launched in June last year will support the objectives of Wawasan Brunei 2035, and further deepen the strides on women’s participation and skills in science, technology, maths, engineering and mathematics fields in the country.

 

Yang Berhormat Retired Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin also shared a few of Brunei Darussalam’s initiatives, such as the provision of fiscal and economic support packages, including business counselling and skills training, to help manage the economic impact of the pandemic on MSMEs which are mostly fronted by women. Virtual social enterprise marketplace platforms such as Community for Brunei is designed to help small businesses digitalise, mobilise and scale in the move towards Industrial Revolution 4.0, was also shared. The meeting was officiated by His Excellency Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, and chaired by Her Excellency Madam Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, Minister for Women Empowerment and Child Protection, Republic of Indonesia. With the theme of “Digital Economy and Financial Inclusion for Improving ASEAN Women’s Competitiveness”, the 4th AMMW was held to promote constructive dialogue and regional synergies oriented towards creating an enabling environment for women.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

PHNOM PENH —

Russia is attempting to expand its influence in Southeast Asia through meetings and plans with Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, say analysts, but appears not to have the military or financial power to become a larger player in the region.

The effort includes Russian adoption of a five-year roadmap focused on trade and investment cooperation, the digital economy and sustainable development with the 10 ASEAN members.

Meanwhile, at the Sixth Eastern Economic Forum held last month in Vladivostok, Vietnam offered itself as a bridge to connect ASEAN to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union – an economic grouping including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan — with analysts forecasting Moscow would seek to shore up regional political ties in response to diplomatic shifts in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Russia wants to be seen as a global power for its own domestic audience,” said Bradley Murg, of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace.

“It wants to be seen as not just as a regional entity, and Southeast Asia is a relatively easy way to enter,” he said, adding that access to the Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine and the opening of trade corridors through China’s Belt and Road Initiative were providing additional incentives for Southeast Asian countries to improve ties with Russia.

“With the expansion of infrastructure, the expansion of Belt and Road and the connections to Southeast Asia to Central Asia to Europe through the Silk Road initiative, and as that’s connected to the economic corridors in Southeast Asia, there are arguments for increased trade,” Murg said.

Likes and dislikes

Another analyst said Russia was “privately outraged” by the AUKUS naval alliance – forged by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States – and the rise of the Quad, which comprises Australia, India, Japan and the United States. Both were designed to counter Chinese influence.

“One of the most fashionable trends today is the so-called Indo-Pacific strategies that are invented by the United States,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the recent 29th Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a Moscow-based organization of high-level officials, executives and academics.

“All of this follows the line of eroding the universal formats in the Asia-Pacific region which existed for the past decades under the auspices of ASEAN,” he said.

His criticisms were delivered as the Russian government news agency Tass reported a detachment of ships and submarines had sailed into the Indian Ocean en route to a permanent deployment as part of Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

Lavrov also found support in Malaysia, where Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told parliament that AUKUS “could also provoke other powers to act more aggressively in this region, particularly the South China Sea.”

Hussein said the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting scheduled for Brunei next month was expected to strengthen regional defense cooperation in light of AUKUS, but analysts were unconvinced Russia has the firepower, money or trade deals to give it any influence in the region outside of Myanmar and Vietnam.

“Russia sees itself as a great power,” said Ian Storey, with the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

He said Russia dominates the Eurasian Economic Union and has “strong influence and significant vested interests” in multi-national groups like the Arctic Council, a Norway-based intergovernmental organization aimed at promoting Arctic cooperation; BRICS – the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa; and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a multilateral security and development organization including China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“It wants a seat at the table, it sees that as its birthright, it’s a sense of entitlement but it doesn’t like multilateral institutions unless it has an overwhelming influence in them,” Storey said, adding Moscow did not have that kind of “strong influence” in ASEAN or the East Asia Summit.

Hype versus reality

Russia’s traditional influence in ASEAN is limited to weapons sales to Myanmar and Vietnam and, as Murg said, “Vietnam has made clear it cooperates with Russia in a way it does not with any other state” – a legacy of their close ties during the Cold War.

Those sentiments were echoed by Storey, who noted Russia was a “very transactional player,” and that other countries, such as Britain, have much greater interests in Southeast Asia than does Russia.

For example, bilateral trade between Russia and ASEAN before the COVID pandemic was about $20 billion a year, while the bloc’s 2019 trade with Britain was $52 billion and it was $93 billion with Australia, $362 billion with the United States, and $644 billion with China.

“It’s a player in the region but it’s not a major player,” Storey said.

“Their military presence is paper thin. You know their closest partner is Vietnam and they haven’t actually conducted a military exercise with Vietnam, or maybe one, and that’s extraordinary for two countries that have had defense ties for decades,” he said.

That “maybe one” exercise was a reference to a 2019 joint training drill involving a single vessel designed to rescue distressed submarines. However, Russia has held joint military exercises with Laos in its far east Primorsky territory.

Murg also said that Russia remains too close to China to be considered an independent player in Southeast Asia, but on the economic front Singapore and Vietnam free trade agreements with the Eurasian Economic Union could provide prospects for future economic growth.

“But Russian investors have been relatively cautious,” Murg said.

“With Russia it’s yet again wonderful photo-ops, more meetings, more declarations of pathways to the future and that’s about it,” he said.

 

Source: Voice of America

The Minister of Health also shared on several amendments on the conditions imposed on those allowed to enter Brunei Darussalam such as the RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 required for any individual wishing to enter the country, must be performed not less than 48 hours before arriving in the country. The condition is applicable to every individual whether for Brunei citizens or foreigners.

 

For those who have completed the COVID-19 vaccination of which their second dose has been obtained more than 14 days from the date of entry into the country, will be allowed to shorten the mandatory isolation period in the isolation hotel for a period of between one to seven days, subject to a risk assessment of the country they departed from. They are required to upload the status and proof of their vaccination in the Arrival Declaration application system for citizens or permanent residents of Brunei Darussalam or Entry Travel Pass for foreign nationals. However, this shortening of the isolation period is subject to several factors such as the type of vaccine, a negative RT-PCR swab test for SARS-CoV-2 performed not more than 48 hours prior to departure and also a second RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 upon arrival in the country. It should be noted that the consideration for admission applications for foreign nationals into this country at this time is only for essential travel which is of important matter. However, for those who do not have a complete vaccination, including those whose second dose is less than 14 days from the date of arrival in the country will be required to undergo mandatory self-isolation in the hotels according to current procedures. All the amendments will take effect on Friday, 15th October 2021.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

Brunei Darussalam remains committed to ensure a drug free ASEAN and should not let any obstacles distract from the efforts. The Second Minister of Defence highlighted the matter during the 7th ASEAN Ministrial Meeting on Drugs Matters, AMMD, held virtually yesterday morning. Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Lailaraja Retired Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohammad Yussof, who is also AMMD Leader of Brunei Darussalam said drug trafficking and abuse remains a key concern for the country. Yang Berhormat added, Brunei Darussalam is adopting a strategy, to reduce and curb the supply and demand, of drugs, through enforcement, of drugs crime laws at the same time enhancing drug prevention education programmes to the public as well as providing treatment and rehabilitation services for drug abusers. The Virtual Meeting was hosted by AMMD Cambodia.

 

Brunei Darussalam’s ASEAN Chairmanship theme “We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper” is indeed a clear call and commitment, that ASEAN should work together and share the success together.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

The Minister of Health in the media conference also shared that on the 13th of October 2021, 4,911 individuals have received the COVID-19 vaccine injection.

 

This means that, under the National Vaccination Programme for COVID-19, 337,671 individuals have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is 74.4 per cent of the total population. Meanwhile, 219,505 individuals have completed the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is 48.4 per cent of the total population. Meanwhile, taking into account the decreasing number of people obtaining vaccine injections at the Indoor Stadium Vaccination Centre, the Ministry of Health has reviewed the operating hours of the Indoor Stadium Vaccination Centre for Friday, which will be changed to 2 to 6 in the afternoon. The change will take effect on the 15th of October 2021.

 

The enforcement agencies monitoring carried out during the out-of-house restriction period from 8 last night to 4 in the morning saw 25 violations of the directive issued with compound fines nationwide.

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

 

The Ministry of Religious Affairs on 9th October late afternoon continued the Munajat Night organised by the Ministry to commemorate the Maulidur Rasul Shallallahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam. Over One Thousand 500 staff of Ministry of Religious Affairs and the public joined the function.

 

Joining the ceremony was Yang Berhormat Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji Awang Othman, Minister of Religious Affairs and Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Seri Maharaja Dato Paduka Seri Setia Dr Ustaz Haji Awang Abdul  Aziz bin Juned, the State Mufti. The Minister of Religious Affairs in his speech expressed hope that the Munajat Night Ceremony is conducted solely for Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala. Held on every Saturday, the public participation via virtually is welcome by using the Microsoft Teams or via the Islamic Da’wah Centre’s Instagram ‘@pdi_kheu’.

 

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei

Brunei Darussalam fully supports the development and promotion of sustainable and circular economy that prioritises low-carbon development and ensuring the conservation and protection of the environment. Speaking during the 4th Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities of Asia Pacific, the Minister of Development shared a glimpse of policies and legislation aimed at protecting the environment and natural resources against pollution and climate change impacts which includes the Brunei National Climate Change Policy developed to pave the nation’s pathways towards a low carbon and climate-resilient future.

 

Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Ingineur Awang Haji Suhaimi bin Haji Gafar, highlighted the view that the forum serves as an important platform for the Asia Pacific Countries to re-establish and coordinate efforts in working together towards paving a sustainable and resilient environment and climate. Meanwhile, Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak, Permanent Secretary for Planning, Land Use and Environment at the Ministry of Development during the forum pointed out Brunei Darussalam’s endeavor in strengthening policy measures, strategic actions, cooperation mechanisms as well as on-the-ground action in advancing environment protection and addressing climate change issues. The forum was held from the 5th until 7th of October 2021 via virtual platform. The high level forum was attended by the Ministers and Senior Officials from over 41 countries responsible for environmental affairs and climate change of Asia Pacific. The forum was organized as a platform for the Member States and other stakeholders to contribute regional perspectives to the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, UNEA 5.2 to be held from 28th February to 2nd March 2022 as well as to the Special Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, 50th UNEP on 3rd to 4th March 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya.

 

 

 

Source: Radio Television Brunei