National Day 2006: Looking Back

National Day (1984)

It gives me very great pleasure to extend my warm welcome to Your Majesties, Excellencies the Presidents and the Prime Ministers, Their Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen on the occasion of the first National Day of Negara Brunei Darussalam in commemoration and celebration of the resumption of our full independence and sovereignty on the 1st January 1984.

Since resuming, her full responsibility as an independent sovereign nation, Brunei Darussalam. has been most fortunate in being admitted into the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Commonwealth of Nations in rapid succession. Allow me, therefore, to take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation to those countries which have been responsible for ensuring the smooth entry of Brunei Darussalam into these Organizations. It is my earnest desire to improve further relations with those countries which have supported Brunei Darussalam's entry into those Organizations. However, in cultivating new relationships, Brunei Darussalam does not intend to abandon long established friendships. In particular, I wish to place on record our deep appreciation for the role that had been played by the Government of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second in our development, and sincerely hope that Brunei Darussalam's relationship with the United Kingdom will always be a cordial and friendly one in the years to come.

Upon resuming her full responsibility as an independent sovereign nation Brunei Darussalam is also fortunate in many other ways. It has a stable political order including and established civil service, good infrastructure facilities and relatively well developed social overheads including a largely literate populations, and one of the highest standards of living in Asia. Allah has been kind to Brunei Darussalam in having us provided with such important resources as oil and natural gas, which are our major sources of income. As a result, my Government over the years have been able to finance all its development programs with its own financial resources, while maintaining substantial surplus every year for investment overseas.

It is my earnest wish to see the development programs, including the provision of land and housing for my landless native Subjects, carried out with greater vigour and enthusiasm to enable my people to enjoy a progressively higher standard of living. And as oil and gas are depleting assets it is my desire to see Brunei Darussalam's oil production maintained at a more rational level in keeping with the need to prolong the prosperity now enjoyed by my people. At the same time I would like to see her overseas investments to be more efficiently managed while efforts at economic diversification be further intensified. In these endeavors as Head of State, as well as Head of Government, I shall spare no effort in working for the benefit of my people.

Brunei Darussalam has never been a colony but had a special treaty relationship, with the United Kingdom which began in 1847 when Brunei entered into a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with the United Kingdom. This Treaty was later succeeded by various arrangements which included the transfer to the United Kingdom, amongst other matters, of responsibility for the conduct of Brunei's external relations, and culminating in 1979 with the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation under which it was agreed that Britain would by the 31st December 1983 relinquish all its powers and responsibilities in relation to Brunei Darussalam and that on 1st January 1984 Brunei would resume full international responsibility as a sovereign and independent state. Unlike a colonial territory becoming independent, therefore, Brunei resumed its status as an independent sovereign nation with a Declaration of Independence at midnight of 31st December 1983 which we celebrate today.

As the country which had international responsibility towards Brunei before our independence, it is most fitting that the United Kingdom is represented here at these celebrations by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales as the personal envoy of Her Britannic Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, and for whose presence I wish to express my sincere appreciation.

I would also wish to express the sincere appreciation of my country and our people to nations which are represented here at this joyous occasion by their Heads of States, Heads of Governments and their leading statesmen and representatives, and also to those who have sent us their warm greetings but are unable to be represented here today.

As a new state amongst the international community of nations, the problems facing Brunei are no different to those facing older members. The task for my Government, therefore, will be difficult but challenging ; the more so because people in a newly independent country tend to identify themselves with the current expectations of the developed world. In facing the challenges ahead of us, I am confident that my people will rise to the occasion by increasing their efforts in playing their rightful role towards achieving progress and prosperity. With the existing infrastructure which were established under previous National Plans, and with prudent management of our resources, I am confident that Brunei will be able to meet those challenges, God willing.

Without peace and political stability, however, there can be no economic progress ; and without economic progress our independence and freedom will be in jeopardy. In an increasingly interdependent world aggravated by a depressed world economy, the need for cooperative endeavors has never been more urgent. It is, therefore, my country's declared policy to work together with all our friends and allies towards the achievement of peace, economic progress and friendship amongst nations on the basis of equality, mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity ; and on the principle of non-interference in the affairs of the other nations

Brunei is fortunate in having as its neighbors the ASEAN countries of which Brunei is a member and with which we share common ideals and objectives. As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, we are able to continue the existing relations with countries with whom we have traditional ties through our association with the United Kingdom. As a Malay Muslim Monarchy we appreciate the expression of friendship from Muslim countries towards Brunei. We value also the warm and friendly greetings from the many more countries with whom we have established friendly ties on the achievement of our independence. All these have made our transition as an independent country smooth and peaceful. With such goodwill and friendship from the international community towards Brunei, we are confident that in this atmosphere Brunei is able to pursue the economic and spiritual progress of its people and to work together for peace, progress, and prosperity throughout the world.

In conclusion I express the hope that our guests from overseas are having a comfortable stay in this country and I express once again the deep appreciation of my people for the honor they have given us by their presence in joining us in the celebrations of our emergence as an independent and sovereign nation.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE CAN BE ACCESSED FROM:
http://www.brunei.gov.bn/government/speech/speech_nd.htm

It was a tough morning, but it was my fault anyway ^_^;

My nose is blocked, I still have a cough, my head is dizzy because I slept way too late last night, I overslept this morning, ran to class and immediately had to deliver my speech, voice gave out on me twice, teacher kept nit-picking my handouts, held us back during lunch, afternoon had the most agonising politics-economics paper I've ever sat through.

And then I read Fae's blog entry with Gaboo Air. ^_^ How nice could a day ever be?

I guess I could say, ignoring this morning's haze, that today can only get better! Outside, whilst walking to and from the dormitory to/from this Centre,l there was an awesome breeze. If only the smell of cut grass was stronger (and my nose not so blocked up) it would have been a perfect, cloudy and windy day back home in Rimba. Had the wind smelt like the sea it would have been Tungku or Muara Beach all over again. It's so warm there's basically no need for jackets either (though one had better have at least a woolen shirt on).

My crazy friend, De We, is back to wearing sandals again, mind you it is still around 13 to 15 degrees outside. He had been wearing sandals until maybe the last week of December... and he was even wearing it the first time it snowed around here! Well anyway, apparently he'll be going to Hokkaido University which is going to be even colder that how it is here. Think Russia-cold. It's right around near those borders anyway.

Right! After this I'm going down to the AV Library to catch a Korean drama called Secret. Yes, I'm watching a Korean drama with Japanese subtitles, and loving it! After that I'll be going down to chill out at the dormitory's first floor (ground floor) in the (hopefully) empty TV room to watch Naruto which I just realised airs today at around 7.30pmJST ^_^ And then maybe I'll go take a long night's rest.

...Gaboo Air. I'm going to have that stuck in my head for weeks. ^_^;

My first exam

Today's exam was Listening. We had to sit in a lecture for 30 minutes on a designated topic (this year's was The "Correct" Japanese, or something like that) and after that a Q&A session of 10 minutes, break for 10 minutes and then a written paper about the lecture for about 1hr 10-20mins. It was kind-of okay I suppose I could say. Weird.

Anyway can you believe that I am 39 days away from 100% completely finishing my course? 23 days away from Graduation Day? 11 days away from completing the final examination term? Egad.

A thought

Oh how can I descibe how life is like for me right now? These words might express it well enough.

Kick start

Talk about WAKING UP TO REALITY. My exams, SHOCKINGLY are going to start MONDAY NEXT WEEK.

Can you believe that? Besides the dissertation and speech classes that we've been having I am barely aware that any of my other classes have been going on, and all of a sudden. LISTENING EXAM MONDAY 20th! POL/ECONS EXAM WEDNESDAY 22nd! 3rd, FRIDAY. MORNING. READING COMPREHENSION. AFTERNOON. HISTORY. (AND so on...) Eh.... It's like I've been sleeping all this while and I hadn't been awake for any classes. And only now I realise I have to pass all these exams or else I don't graduate!

Talk about panicked.

Talk about really panicked.

Silly as it is, I'm kind of panicked and calm at the same time? I mean, I feel comfortable that I feel panicked. Would anyone understand this?

And I just read Ali's blog - about Only One by Yellowcard. Incidentally I've just started listening to it again too, weird (it was Faye who made me listen to it in the first place though - listening to it reminds me so much of all those afternoons in MD waiting for Dad to pick me up... ^^;).

But what really gets me nowadays is Hoobastank's Unaffected. Talk about taking a step back in time. The first notes just pull me back to that period before E.Lit's, which paper was it, the one with Wide Sargasso Sea in it. I remember I was agonising so much over that book and listened to the song so much because I used to think that it would help me understand the mood of the book more. Whatever. It didn't work anyway. Surprisingly, this techno version of Little Mermaid's Under the Sea was the one that kept my sanity during that exam. Hehe.

I wonder how many others use songs as a way to trigger memories. It's a rather weird thing maybe.

I'm listening to Good Charlotte's Seasons right now. This was something I liked listening to over the end of Summer (even if the beginning dies begin with 'Warm October nights...') I'd be opening my window every night to let the cool air in whilst desperately trying to ignore the sounds of those incessant cicada. The song would calm me down considerably all the time.

There's also The Rasmus' In the Shadows and Guilty that never fail to remind me of that one trip Anni, Aurelie and I with Yoshi, his friend Eric, Radu, Diana and another girl from Bulgaria took to Nara for sightseeing.

Ah. This shouldn't really be the time to go reminisce. I'm going to go back to completing that dissertation now. I have a speech to prepare for Wednesday too. (turns green)

Slow month so far?

I caught a cold a few days back... My fever topped 39.6 degrees hahahah... how's that for something. Anyway, am almost completely back to normal now.

If only this sudden bout of cold winds will stop maybe I'll start really feeling better- heheh.

Bookshelf 001

Ryotaro Shiba's The Last Shogun



When Commodore Matthew Perry brought his squadron of "black ships" into Tokyo Bay, the world imagined that at last Japan had been "opened up" After two and a half centuries of determined self-isolation from the rest of the world, it seemed the process of modernization was inevitable.

In Ryotaro Shiba's account of the life of Japan's last shogun, however, Perry's arrival was merely the spark that ignited the cataclysm in store for the Japanese people and their governments. It came to its real climax with the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1868, the event that forms the centerpiece of this book. The Meiji Restoration, as history calls it, toppled the shogunate, and brought a seventeen-year-old boy emperor back from the secluded Imperial Palace in Kyoto to preside over what amounted to a political and cultural revolution. With this, Japan's extraordinary modernization began in earnest.

The facts Ryotaro Shiba provides us with in this account of Tokugawa Yoshinobu are unquestionably true. Yet The last Shogun, when published in Japan, was, like the rest of his work, published as a novel because Shiba uses a number of fictional narrative devices. In its accuracy, however, it is a faithful depiction of events of that now far-off time, and can safely be called history.

This is something I bought around April or May last year and I never really got around to reading it until only recently. In history class now we're studying about the Meija Era, which comes just after the Edo Era which is where this piece of history takes place. In fact, it's just on the borderline when Japan was forced to open the country after 260+- years of isolation and there was a upsurging movement in the country to replace the rule of the Shoguns and return all the power to the Emperor.

This book is so fantastic, if there were a word even more fantastic than fantastic I'd use that instead. For anyone who wants to know more about Japanese history as well as some cultural background and a little insight into the mind of a Japanese - this your book.