Earth Hour at Traders Inn

How time flies! This is the fourth year that we're witnessing "Earth Hour" at Traders Inn. My colleagues were very serious in seeing that all the non-essential lights were switched off at 8.30pm and switched back on at exactly 9.30pm, not a minute early! However, please bear in mind that conservation of energy is an ongoing process and I've a habit of switching off all electrical appliances, air-conditioning, lightings and even the water pump when there's no one in the house and not for that single hour when we celebrate "Earth Hour" once a year! 

Celebrating Chinese New Year with His Majesty

Breakfast at Happy Dean Restaurant before carpooling to ICC

 SL & Azlan

 Sammy & Tay

 Ellin

 Souvenir (jewellery box)

This morning, the Chinese Associations of Brunei Darussalam celebrated Chinese New Year with His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam and other royal family members at the International Convention Centre at Berakas. Representatives from Persatuan Warganegara Malaysia (including yours truly) assembled at Happy Dean Restaurant at 7.30am for breakfast and carpooled to the venue as there were limited car passes available. The Royal entourage arrived at 10.00am and were treated to cultural dances, Chinese musical instruments performances and wushu; all performed by students from Chung Hwa Middle School. There were more than 1,000 invited guests and it was indeed an honour for the Chinese community that His Majesty consented to grace this event. Belated "Gong Xi Fa Cai!"

Borneo Fighting Championship

SL & Leong Chen Luk

 At RM25, it's a bargain!

Brazilian BJJ fighter Leondro Luiz Da Silva KO his opponent in 21 seconds of the 1st round in the 60kg pro category!

L-R: Coach Eazy, Alwee, Dayat, SL, Luk & Nobel

 The following images were from BFC's Facebook profile featuring our man!

 Noticed our TI logo?

 The winner is....

The Borneo Fighting Championship (BFC) was held at Likas Sports Complex, Kota Kinabalu on 16th November 2013. Scheduled to start at 11.00am, the first match took place at around noon and ended around 3.00pm. More than 700 spectators attended this first mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament in Borneo and as a sponsor for a Brunei fighter from Busiido MMA, what better way to support our fighter, Mohd Norhidayat, than to witness the event live! Initially, there were supposed to be ten matches but two matches were cancelled as one fighter did not qualify at weigh-in and one fighter didn't show up! Mohd Norhidayat was pitted against Effendi Kalai, a national boxer from Sabah in the 60kg amateur category and scored an impressive win by submission (rear naked choke) after 21 seconds in the 2nd round. Congratulations! 

UPDATE

Flag Raising Ceremony

 The Acting High Commissioner giving a speech

This morning, a flag raising ceremony was performed at the Malaysian High Commission's grounds to celebrate 56th National Day of Malaysia. Malaysians from all walks of life converged at the High Commission as early as 7.30am to witness and showed their patriotism and loyalty to our beloved country, Malaysia. After the flag raising ceremony, the Acting High Commissioner gave a speech followed by the presentation of trophies to winners of the recently concluded Muhibah table tennis and basketball tournaments. Light refreshments were served after the ceremony. 

Hari Raya Open Houses 2013

At Pg. Dr. Yakub's residence on 10 August 2013

 At Azlan Ahmad's residence

 At Pehin Hj Hapitz's residence

 At Pg. Mansur's residence

 At Dato Alimin's residence

 At Pehin Harbi's residence

 At Dato Alaihuddin's residence

Above are some of the photos taken at the various open houses we attended this Hari Raya. Except for Pg. Dr. Hj. Yakub's residence which I attended with some of my colleagues on 10 August 2013, the rest were taken on 11 August 2013 with PWM members after our visit to Istana Nurul Iman. Selamat Hari Raya to all my Muslim friends!

Istana Hari Raya Open House 2013

This morning, 11 PWM members (including myself) lead by our President, Mr. James Lee and our advisor, Mr. Simon Gelan assembled at Traders Inn at 8.30am and took the hotel van to Istana Nurul Iman for the annual Hari Raya open house. Today is the second day the Istana is opened to the public (Istana open house is open for three days starting from the second day of Hari Raya) and we finally left the Istana at around 11.30am after shaking hands with the Royal family. These three days of celebration at Istana Nurul Iman has become somewhat of a tourist attraction as many tourists can be seen visiting Brunei during the Hari Raya holidays and one of their itineraries was a visit to the Istana for that rare opportunity to greet the Royal family!