Finally It's the Last Day of April...

I have been anticipating the end of April the moment it started... I just hope time can pass so much faster... If possible I sure hope it's Christmas right now, and 2008 would just be around the corner...

I haven't been doing much lately... For no apparent reason I have been feeling rather down lately, so much that I have no mood to do anything at all. Feel like hiding myself in a corner of my room and cutting off communications with the rest of the world. Everything feels so mundane. Nevertheless, my daily expenses spiral downwards to less than $4 per day as I seldom feel hungry and took only one light meal per day.

Received a call from home, and is rather dismayed that my citizenship application will most probably not get through this year. The oath-taking ceremony to inaugurate new citizens as required under Brunei Nationality Act will temporarily be postponed until the celebrations for His Majesty's birthday in July are over.

Not that I wanna complain, but this whole citizenship process is taking ridiculously long up to the point of exasperation. I applied for it in 2004, right before I matriculated into NTU, sat for the Malay Language exam in May 2006. Okay, the 2 years of waiting is plausible, given that there are other requirements to fulfil, such as background checking as well as preparation for the upcoming Malay exam.

I received a letter congratulating me that I passed the citizenship exam in Dec 2006, and since then, I have been left wondering if my file is languishing in the office. Both sides of my family had been residing in Brunei for at least 2 generations, and my parents even joined in the Merdeka celebrations at the Padang in 1984. No one in my immediate family had any brushes with the laws and hadn't even thought of migrating overseas, unlike some of my parents' friends who disappear from the country for a few years and later returned as Canadian citizens. My parents attempted to apply for citizenship but failed the exam, and my youngest sister had just applied. I even flew back into the Sultanate almost immediately when I was told there are parts of the documents that I need to sign in January, thereby skipping some lessons.

Yet, I would have to wait till maybe 2008 or even 2009 to receive my citizenship certificate. My cousin applied for Singapore citizenship around the same time I applied for mine, and to date, she has been holding her Singapore passport for almost 2 years now, while I still DUN even have a passport!! I really envy the other guy in the batch right before me, as he managed to receive his citizenship certificate this February, having waited for only half a year after receiving official letter informing that he had passed.

No matter how much time or effort I invest or how meticulous I sought to be, things will just go awry and in the end, the outcome would just be bitterly disappointing. It has always been like that in my life. I really feel burnt-out. Maybe I should really adopt a non-chalant attitude towards everything to avoid whatever negative outcome that will arrest me by surprise.

Anyway, I've decided to sit for my driving theory in Malay, and fortunately for me, my proficiency in written Malay remains intact, though the same could not be said of my spoken Malay.

I still have one more paper and the stupid FYP assignment, and there are tons of perplexing formulas to memorize. Anyway I guess I would just get a pretty average grade no matter what I do.

Generous Welfarism...

This post is originally intended as a continuation from 'Wealthy Nation'... A friend of mine was rather interested in the welfare system of Brunei after watching the videos, and I decided to make a post on it only now...

Actually I realized not many people know where Brunei is located, including West Malaysians, much less realize that Brunei is a fully-fledged welfare state. As a sidenote, Asia does not have many welfare states, which includes Kuwait, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Brunei is the only country with a generous welfare system among ASEAN members.

Brunei is located within the green box, an enclave of the Eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak, which together with Sabah were once part of Brunei...






A larger version of the map of Brunei.
Brunei is approximately 10 times the size of Singapore, with an area of 5,765 km square, but only has a population of approximately 380,000.




Brunei's welfare system can be summed up in 2 words: OIL & GAS!!! At the turn of 20th century, Brunei was an economic backwater relying on agriculture and fishing, until the oil struck in Seria on 5th April 1929 transformed Brunei into one of the most prosperous nation in the region.

Since then, money began piling up, and there wasn't a fast enough way to spend it. In 1955, the then Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien III, 28th Sultan of Brunei, promulgated Brunei's welfare model in the First National Development Plan (NDP), catching the people in the country by surprise.

The Billionth Barrel Monument in Seria and a nodding donkey beside it

Brunei provides generous welfare benefits for her citizens and residents. Note there is a clear distinction between citizens and residents in many aspects, that'll be another post for another day. The welfare includes:

• NO TAXES: Brunei does not require her citizens and residents to pay any form of taxes to finance the welfare benefits of the state. There are NO income tax, NO Goods & Services Tax (GST) or Value-Added Tax (VAT), NO licence fees for television sets etc. The only tax I remember paying for was the Road Tax for our cars.
  
  
• FREE EDUCATION: Brunei citizens enjoy the privilege of free education in public schools in the Sultanate from primary level right up to tertiary level. Promising students are sent abroad to UK and Australia on government scholarships. On top of that, the government generously provides an allowance of SGD1000 per tertiary student per month, regardless of whether they are in local or overseas tertiary institutions. Unlike Malaysia, education in Brunei uses English as the medium of instruction and most students possess at least a GCE O Level or GCE A Level certificate.
  
  
• FREE HEALTHCARE: Brunei citizens are entitled to free medical services. They do not have to pay for consultations with any doctors, nor do they have to pay for any operations or surgeries performed. However, Permanent Residents are required to pay a nominal consultation fee of a few dollars. In the case that a Brunei citizen requires a very specialized treatment that is not available in the Sultanate, he/she will be sent overseas to Singapore or UK to receive treatment, being that all expenses are borne by the government. Accompanying family members also have their expenses paid for by the government. For expecting mothers, pre-natal checks are completely free. After birth, the government would generously provide free milk powder and tonics.
  
  
• PENSION SCHEME: Since the First NDP in 1955, the government had placed a heavy emphasis on taking care of the elderly in the country. Pension rates had been revised recently, and all citizens and residents above the age of 60, are now entitled to SGD250 per month, funded directly from the government's coffer! On top of that, residents also have a Workers' Provident Fund, or what is locally known as Tabung Amanah Pekerja (TAP). Apart from that, widows, orphans and invalids are also entitled to handouts.
  
  
• HOUSING SCHEMES/SKIM PERUMAHAN: Since independence in 1984, the government had been actively advocating a policy to ensure that everyone has a right to own a house. If you are a couple with no assets, you will be entitled to a free land with no strings attached. The government will even provide a very low interest loan to build your dream house. Civil servants, however, will be entitled to an interest-free loan instead. A typical house costs only around SGD100,000 to SGD200,000 to build. Otherwise, you can always opt for readily-built houses from the government, and if you are starting a family, you can pay interest-free installments of a few hundred dollars for over 10 to 20 years. Thereafter, the house is yours forever, unlike the 99-year HDB lease in Singapore and you can bequest it to your descendants. The benevolent monarch is so concerned about the housing welfare of his citizens/rakyats that he personally hand them the keys to their new house. Some pictures of houses in Brunei below:
  

Government Housing - Ready-made units(left), Non-ready made(right)

Private Houses

Another house - think is Perumahan

Semi-Detached, Kuala Belait



• SUBSIDIZED PETROL AND AMENITIES: Many things that we Bruneian locals take for granted day to day are actually heavily subsidized by our dear government. Being an oil-producing country, we enjoy one of the lowest petrol prices in the region - SGD 0.53 per litre. For the same amount of petrol, Singapore costs around SGD 1.74 to SGD 1.90 and Malaysia costs approximately RM1.92. Apart from that, we also enjoy low water and electricity tariffs, prices which had been unchanged for the past 40 years since 1960s. With water tariffs as low as SGD0.11 per cubic meter, we have one of highest rate of water consumption per head in the region.
  
  
• SUBSIDIZED FOOD: The Brunei government also attempts to make food cheap and affordable for all. The government imports plain fragrant rice from Thailand and sells to the population at cost price. As most food supplies in Brunei are imported, to offset the cost of imported food like beef and mutton, the government owned a huge cattle ranch in Wileroo, Darwin, Australia. The entire ranch is larger than the whole of Brunei, with an area of 5,859 square kilometers. This ranch is responsible for ensuring fresh beef and mutton supply to the Brunei populace at low price.
  
  
• SHELL-FARE: Shell Petroleum Brunei is one of the largest employers in Brunei's labor market. It is actually also part of Brunei's welfare system, but under the disguise of corporate welfare. Shell in Brunei is like a mini-state of its own. It has its own recreation club (BSRC) and Health Center (with free dental) FOC for its employees and their dependants. Not only that, they even have provides their own housing for their employees (expats, BSP and BLNG staffs). Shell Brunei owns a myriad of houses around the district - from the Canadian Houses in Panaga (so called because the houses are Canadian-styled and timbers are imported from Canada) to housing estates beside the sea in Kuala Belait. Shell is concerned about welfare of its employees, and provides allowances such as housing allowances, transport allowances etc. If your dependants study in a private school, Shell will take care of your dependants school fees and education allowance.
  
  
• FREE COOKING GAS & EXCELLENT ROADS: Cooking gas is absolutely free in Brunei, actually, in my town, Kuala Belait, and Seria probably. Due to close proximity to the oil fields in Seria and Shell in Panaga, cooking gas is actually PIPED into our kitchens! There is no need to purchase the cumbersome gas cylinders. Turn on the stoves as you would turn on a tap, and VOILA! We have got gas and currently it is still FOC! Since we are an oil producing nation, it is imperative the we have an abundance of asphalt - a by product of crude oil during refining. Apparently, the asphalt has to go somewhere, and thus we see new roads being built and roads/highways being paved and then re-paved from time to time. It would be a real challenge to find badly-weathered roads in major towns.
  

Roads: Highway leading to BSB(Left), Road to BSB(Belait)

• FINANCIAL BAIL OUT: There are cases where people who had gotten themselves into debt got bailed out by the government. I remember reading somewhere that, for some unknown reasons if you took out some loans financing your studies abroad and somehow managed to convince the authorities that you are unable to repay your loans/debts, the government can lend a helping hand and bail you out of your debts. However, whether this bailing comes with any ensuing conditions or not I do not know.

Despite being a welfare nation, Brunei does not readily give handouts to unemployed masses. This is to prevent corroding the work ethics of the society and to ensure that no one fall one into welfare trap - whereby people live on welfare handouts than be gainfully employed.

The above list is most probably not be a comprehensive list of the Brunei welfare. There could be other welfare benefits which I am not aware of.

Sometimes, I feel lucky to be born in Brunei, though I am not a citizen YET. Probably won't be blogging till next Wednesday, after I finished my first exam - Advanced Data Management. Wish me luck!!!

Vivocity Outing

Went to vivocity the whole afternoon to celebrate my close friend's birthday... Felt guilty for turning up late as I missed the stupid 199 service... Haven't been into Vivocity since it started its operations... The place was huge, but thanks to the numerous signboards all over the place, it was easily navigable...

Purchased a violet Pierre Cardin as birthday present for a staggering $75... Went to Sushi Tei for lunch with a nice view, and at least the birthday girl is conscientious enough to foot the bill to offset my expenses for the day, keeping my expenses to slightly over 3 digits... Later I make up with a fondue at Haagen Dazs (which I started patronizing after watching some TVB dramas)...

Lunch at Sushi Tei... Hmm... Ebi Don is delicious

The Birthday Girl

Views from our seats

Went for a walk around vivocity taking random pictures....

Docking boats and monorail linking Harborfront to Sentosa (reminds me of KL's monorail)

Random Shots of Myself

Birthday Girl and Tree of Flowers

Yay... Got myself a new digital watch for $15!!

Fondue at Haagen Dazs

Hmm... What should I eat first??

Birthday Girl enjoying the fondue

Enjoyed myself in this outing... I seriously think my weight would have inflated..

Attachment Selection

I will soon be bidding goodbye to NTU as the current semester is my final semester in campus... However, I still have another semester left and will be fulfilling my internship then as I have completed all required academic modules...

I postponed my internship to the last semester as I wanted to complete my studies continuously... This is to prevent me from losing momentum, especially when some of the modules right after the original internship period are maths intensive modules related to the semester beforehand...

Anyway the companies list are out... Have to dig out all my diplomas and O-Level certificates to key in subjects/modules I have taken into the long-winded "Student Data Sheet".... Stumbled upon an entry that caught my attention, but ALAS!!!!

Ministry of Home Affairs (Non Bonded only.Singaporean only.)

Design and build an autonomous and intelligent robot that is able to process video and/or audio information and translate them into tasks (navigation, surveillance etc) described by predefined rules. Robot shall also be able to transmit/receive data via wireless means, e.g. IEEE 802.11a/b/g, 802.15.4. Over the course of this attachment, the student would be able to gain invaluable knowledge in the following areas: - Microcontrollers (Atmel AVR, PIC etc), - Hardware interfacing, - Programming, and - Sensors, e.g. light sensor, motion sensor, audio, video and more.

Students with experience in robot building are preferred.

Haiz... The offer is only for Singaporean students... I guess this requirement is reasonable given that it is the Ministry of Home Affairs... Looks FUN!!! Anyway if I'm Singaporean there is a chance that I might not be selected...

Wonder why they make open the system for only exact 7 days... No matter what have to come up with some choices by this Wednesday...

Good Friday Post

Reach home around 9+... Went out for a whole day and did not really do anything productive academic-wise...

Coincidentally today (Good Friday) also marks another Buddhist event - Kwan Yin Dan... I have no idea what the translation is in English... Visited the famous Kwan Yin Temple in Bugis, and Bugis was so crowded!!! My cousin and I got stuck while attempting to cross the road towards the Flea Market from Seiyu, and it took 3 successive green lights for us to make the crossing...

The temple was basically teeming with people, crowds everywhere... Coupled with some inconsiderates who of all spots choose to pray in the middle of crowds when there are empty spaces at the side... Maybe they get a kick from being a 'roundabout'.... To reach the donation bins within the temple one has to diligently squeeze one's way in... But overall the situation was still under control...

Went to SLS (Sim Lim Square) to scout for desktops and laptops after praying... Found a particular desktop model that I like: Aspire L310 if I didn't remember wrongly... The CPU is so sleek and portable... I think I have developed a knack for all things portable... Lolx

Ate a vegetarian dinner and returned to my hall... Felt so tired and hungry while composing this post... But I must refrain from taking suppers... No supperss......

Just Some Rantings...

Today is Ching Ming festival proper, and this year will be another year where I did not help in cleaning the tombs of my ancestors. I guess most people would have finished tending to the graves over the weekend, as today is a weekday...

Exams are just less than 2 weeks away... Fortunately I only had 2 papers - Advanced Data Management and Robotics, and both papers are spaced at least 2 weeks apart, haha... Starting to feel stresssssss, as some of my classmates had finished revising the mentioned modules.

Had been fiddling with the dumbbells, and now my muscles are sore... At least I'm not so much of a couch potato nowadays, though I am still very lazy to do other forms of exercise...

I had absolutely no idea what happened to my choice of music these few weeks... I had been listening to Vietnamese songs, or more specifically, Vietnamese songs that are translated from old Chinese songs, though I have no idea what they are singing... Not only that, old songs, especially songs like 情花开 (Love flower blossoms)，姑娘十八似花娇, 爱我的人和我爱的人 (The person I love and the person who loves me) etc...

I come across a very nice yet touching Malay song by some Bruneian artists: The Seeds ft Maria - Kau Tetap Di Hati... It is one of the background mp3s played by the site BruneiResources... The lyrics goes as below (Red is the English translation - I hope my Malay is still good):

Kau Tetap Di Hati

Tak Pernah ku terfikir

(I've never thought before)

Terlintas akan terjadi

(Things happen spontaneously)

Semuanya suratan Illahi

(All in the will of Allah)

Andainya kau mendengarkan

(If you are able to hear)

Bisikan suara hati ku

(The whispers within my heart)

Dapatkah kau memahami

(Will you be able to understand)

Tak daya untuk ku melupakan

(I am unable to forget)

Telah terpahat di lubuk hati ku

(It is nailed into the depths of my heart)

Dan ingin ku nyatakan

(and I would wanna say that)

Ku cinta padamu

(I love you so...)

ohhhh....

Seluas langit terbentang

(As wide as the sky spans)

Sedalam hamparan lautan

(As deep as the oceans)

Begitulah kasihku pada mu

(That is my love for you)

Seindah palu irama

(As melodic as the music rhythms)

Selembut gemalai tari

(As soft as dance moves)

Membuai jiwa penuh pesona

(Filling lives full of charms)

Tiada yang dapat memisahkan

(Nothing is able to separate)

Hanya takdir penentu suratan

(Only fate determines all)

Tak usah kau ragu

(There is no need for you to hesitate)

Ku jua menyintai diri mu

(I will always love you)

Namun semua itu hanyalah khayalan

(But these are all only imaginations)

Diri mu dan diri ku takkan mungkin bersatu

(You and I can never be together)

Andai ku sedari, sedari dulu

(If I had realized, realized from the start)

Takkan ku cuba hampiri mu

(I would not had approach you)

Walau berkali

(Though numerous times)

Ku cuba untuk melenyapkan

(I attempt to wipe off)

Bayangan wajahmu

(The images of your face)

Dan kenangan lalu

(And our past memories)

Dirimu tetap di hati ku

(You are still in my heart)

Kaulah yang satu

(You are the only one)

Untukku kau tetap milikku

(For to me you are still mine)

That's roughly how the song goes, through my interpretations though... If anyone spot any mistakes please let me know...

April Fool's Post!!!

Just returned from town not so long ago... and HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!

Went out to town to catch a movie at Cineleisure with a friend I had not met for quite some time - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.... Managed to get a 12% discount for using UOB Campus Card!!

The movie was okay, and the exuberant narrations was intriguing, but I would say the plot was average. Just doesn't seemed to be captivating, though I actually liked all the turtle characters depicted... I wonder if I would dream of some valiant giant turtles when I go to bed....

Purchased a pair of jeans for $15 and went to Secret Recipe at Plaza Singapura for a sumptous dinner... Seriously, I always thought that Secret Recipe serves only cakes or desserts and such, but today it proved me WRONG!!! I tried out both its main course Irish Lamb Stew and Chicken Gordon Bleu, both are fabulous, and the serving was just right!! Even the shakes have me drinking thumbs up!!

Retrieve some dumbbells and carried them across half the island back to my hall.... I think I ate too much!!! Haiz, I think I will have to 'puasa' when I woke up... Most people I met had been insinuating at my 'expansion'...

Exams are just around the corner, and I am starting to get exasperated by my senseless delays in revising my modules, and instead surreptitiously catch some dramas - 学警雄心 (The Academy)...

A very captivating storyline indeed, and is somewhat similar to National Service in some aspects, except that the characters are training in a co-ed Police Academy... Seems fun though, get to study, go kayak-ing and exercising, building up confidence, but alas!!! Dealing with human nature is greatest obstacle of all... The fact that people in the team come from all walks of life further exacerbates the situation... Should I finished watching?

I sure hope I can finished my irritating Data Management assignment by Monday and complete compiling my tutorials....