Web design sadly done by Zed.

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Education/Society

Brunei enjoys one of the highest literacy rates in the region and our government spends a fortune to make sure its people have access to quality education up to the highest levels. So we would like to think we have a pretty educated population, but an educated individual is still susceptible to many shortcomings and social illnesses i.e. unemployment, drug-addiction, violence, crime etc. There is no possible way governments can shield its societies against these mishaps, but they can and should be prepared to deal with social problems that will arise efficiently. With that said, there should not be any instance when authorities become dumbfounded and are unable to solve a given problem. In democratic theory, if this were to happen then it would be time for others with better capabilities and resources to be allowed to take charge.

Let us be pragmatic and not assume a religious bubble and force feeding the youth with Islam (or any other belief) will eliminate social deviancy. Secular education such as maths, language and science has afterall been able to cement children with intelligence, a desire to cooperate and creativity. A religious belief can add to that by giving him or her ideas of morality and conservatism. But it is the education which he or she learns through experience that perhaps is just as important. Through hobbies, sport, art, novels, these give them a sense of self-gratification and self-identification that really can't be taught. Further as they grow older, they are able to acquire more understanding of themselves through friendships and relationships built outside the household. As they reach the point of independence, they may choose to refine their ideas through exploration, travel and debate. I believe it is important that people should have access to all these forms as well.

Let us not teach our students that aiming for numbers 1, 2 and 3 in class is the only way there is and should carry this mindset throughout their lives. Let us not teach them to be afraid to raise their hands to ask a quetsion. Let us not teach that just because one is different, then they do not belong. Let us not teach Racism, or Inequality, or Bias, or Hate. Let us instead teach them about integrity and individualism and how both coincide with each other. Let us teach them that Brunei is heading into a new era of development and will need bright new minds. But let us first give them everything that is positive about this world. Before they start to forget, and become victims to the many cruel things that happen all around. Before they have to learn the hard way.

"Dedicated to the future, and those who fight for it".
-Micbandits

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Here's another one of those books which mention Brunei.


Dogs of Truth is a collection of short stories by Kit Reed. Her stories in this collection are quick and quirky, and very easy to get into. The first story, called 'Grand Opening' is about a dilemma set in New York city in the future, when it comes under control of the Sultan of Brunei. Although it doesn't say when, its during a time after Brad Pitt and Madonna have died. The story is about an old Bruneian man's struggle to kill Salman Rushdie, who of course is the author in hiding today for his satirical work Satanic Verses. Theres lots of irony and humour and I was mildly entertained, so its not just because the main character is Bruneian, or at least suppose to be. The story focuses more on the absurdities of today's world, and she mocks the fatwah issuing the death of Rushdie, who in the story is already an old man and no one even remembers who he is. The Bruneian, named Ahmed Shah plans to murder him using a glass kris, and theres a funny show down at the end when both him and Rushdie meet in the Bruneian owned Yankee Stadium. How's that for fiction?

Other fictional stories about Brunei include
Green Days in Brunei, which is also a short story, and is one of my favourite. Then theres also the novel Holy Fire by Bill Yenne, which wasn't as nice. But check them all out anyway, and if any of you guys know more books about Brunei, please share 'em!

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Saudara Awang Tengah (1924 - 1995)

Family trees are usually interesting to explore. Some families are lucky enough to keep records of their lineage, to know where they come from and make sure the family history doesn't disappear. Unforunately, I don't even know a great deal about the lives of either of my parent's parents, but I hope to in the future. This post is about my grandad from my dad's side, whom we all call Papoh. His real name is Awang Tengah bin Awang Hasib. These are some pictures of him from old newspaper clippings my dad gave me.


He had been the treasurer for Partai Rakyat Brunei. If the party had been allowed to come to power having won the 1962 legislative council, he was set to be the Minister of Agriculture and Corporation (Al-Sufri 2003, p. 108). Instead, the PRB staged a rebellion that was quickly suppressed by the Bruneian and British authorities. The PRB was banned and he was imprisoned for a short while along with some of his comrades, others fled the country.



Besides being a political figure, he was a successful businessman who owned a timber company situated in Kampong Burung Pingai under his name, ATH. He passed the company down to one of his sons, Abu Bakar, who we call Uncle Gugok, and his wife. Uncle Gugok sadly passed away after a tragic car accident in 1997.

My memories of Papoh during my childhood aren't many. I remember being around him during family gatherings and he comes over to our house in the afternoon every once in a while. He wore a pair of thick glasses and was intimidating for some reason, well for me and my siblings at least.

And thats my knowledge of Awang Tengah. Papoh.

Reference:

Al-Sufri, J. (2003) "8 Disember: Dalangnya Siapa?" Brunei: Pusat Sejarah Brunei

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Family Tree

Lyrics

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Presonus Eureka Microphone Preamp (USD 320)

You know that feeling you have that things just weren't meant to be? Here is a story that all started in 2008 in a quiet town called Loughborough. It ended today as I type this post.

As you might know, I buy studio equipment. I go far and wide looking for the best deals around and do research on equipment constantly. As proof here is a pile of Sound on Sound magazines, which is a magazine all about music production and equipment. I won't be surprised if I'm one of the few bruneians who buy them.




Anyways last year, I found an online deal for a Presonus Eureka mic preamp. The only catch was its from the US and they don't do shipping to the UK, but I had a plan so I decided to spend what little money I had and get it. Just in case you're wondering, a mic preamp is simply something to warm up a condensor microphone, except the Eureka comes with other nifty bits where I can manipulate (eq and compression) the signal coming from the mic, something I could've only done on software. This is th Eureka:




I have a contact that time in New York, a good friend Murad from Malaysia, who I call M. He helped sell some Micbandits' RnP album in NY which was pretty cool. Anyways, I arranged for the preamp to be sent to M, and he would send it to Loughborough. After a couple of weeks, this letter came:


I had to pay 600+ pnds to collect it! To this day I still wonder why this was, and concluded that its because some companies are just plain evil. So having had an argument with the courier service, I told them to just send it back to sender, which was free of course. By this time I had already gone back to Brunei, and M on the other hand went back to KL for good, bringing the preamp along with him. This was summer 2008.

This year I'm living with two malaysian students. I had this crazy idea that maybe M could just hand it one day to their family, who would be coming for their graduations. So I asked for M's address, who lived in Petaling Jaya, and it turns out was a few blocks away from one of my housemate's place. And by sheer luck, his girlfriend, who studies in London, was heading back to KL for a while. So I arranged for the preamp to be with my housemate's significant other and expect it to arrive in british soil safe and sound.

While in London, I picked up the preamp from her and brought it to Leeds to test it out with Kro. It didn't come with any cables or booklets so I had to find someway to make it work. Having a bit of experience with US equipment (another item from the states is my Stanton CD turntable), I knew I just had to buy the UK voltage adaptor. However being the impatient person I am, I used my friend's bass guitar amp cable, since it had the same connection, and used it to power the preamp. This was a mistake from the start. It lit for a split second and went kapoot.

Now I'm back in my place, having all the adaptors and cables for the preamp. And it doesn't work. It can't, not until I find someone to fix the fuse inside. And now I've decide to blog about it, just to recollect all the events that have happened. This is the story about the preamp that went across the world.



New York - Loughborough - New York - Kuala Lumpur - London - Leeds - Loughborough - and Brunei soon.

I waited a whole year just to break it with my own hands. Life, apparently, is full of ironies.

Salam.

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Menakjubkan eh nelson mandela ani, amazing. Nanti aku mau ikut footstepsnya eh. Si nelson mandela ani ia dari damit sudah kan mau ubah negri tersayangnya South Africa yang time atu masih lagi under apartheid lah jadinya orang kulit hitam kirakan nada besuara langsung lah. jadi ia ikut parti African National Congress tapi ganas lah sikit jadi macam rebel tepulang sampai kana detain lah ia ani pasal kan overthrow kerajaan S. Africa. time ia jadi political prisoner iatah masanya ia membagitau ke dunia lah ia punya cerita ani, jadi makin banyak tia orang sokong ia. sudah ia kana lapas, ia bepolitik cara yang moderate lah sikit tapi masih ia lawan supaya ada pilihan-raya ani untuk semua orang di South Africa, bukan saja orang putih. hujung-hujungnya manang partinya ani, akhirnya jadi president tia jua nelson mandela tahun 1994. iatah amazing lah storynya ani.

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Kodak Easyshare Z1085 IS (85 pnds)

Bought my first camera the other day, the Kodak Z1085, and i'm really pleased with it. As per usual, i try to look for bargains and where better to look then Amazon. This camera would be about 120+ pnds new and thats out of my price range, but i probably would've ended up getting it either way. The Z1085 caught my eye cuz it looks nice, its compact but quite chubby, sorta like i am. And it has HD video recording which is the main reason i bought it. And who wouldn't like a good Kodak? Thats as old school as a brand can get.



Its 10 megapixels which doesn't translate to anything to me, as long as it takes decent pictures i'm not complaining. I use the 5 megapixels option anyway, it doesn't take too much space and would be enough to get good 4:3 prints, which is really all i'm looking for. I'm more interested in the size and shape of a camera, and this one is just right. Its not too small and thin that it looks boring, and not too large either that it would be annoying to carry around. The IS on its name stands for Image Stabilization, which means i'd have less chances of taking blurry pictures, but i probably will though.

The functions on the back are pretty easy to follow, which is also a plus. The buttons are neat, and the LCD is nice and crisp. No touch screen or multi button bonanza to get me wondering what to press. At the end of the day, its a straight forward digital camera, that looks good and fits nicely in the hands. With HD video, which i haven't tried out yet cuz i'm still waiting for my 8 gb memory card. And thats pretty much it. Everyone's a photographer these days anyway, whats one more.

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Things are looking real good with the Kartel deal. Been in contact with David quite a few times to talk about things thats been going on. And just to know we have Joe Flizzow's support gives us even more confidence, and we hope to do our very best as artists for Kartel. Me, kro and khaos talked about all the things we wish to do, and we've come to the conclusion that we're really doing this for Brunei; the family, the friends, the kampongs. We wanna make sure if we make it, everyone back home makes it. And I'd have it no other way.

So with the whole Kartel thing going down, and the KL project lined up, this is a dream come true for us. We are so close to taking brunei music into newer heights, and this can surely motivate and inspire other people to try and do the same. The effort and dedication me, kro and khaos have put into pursuing Micbandits was never easy, and i can't thank those two enough. Kro's been with me since day one, and Khaos is one of the most talented people i know. It might just be rap and beats to other people, but to us its actually so much more.

At the same time, the love that people've been showing so far means a lot, it tells me we're on the right track. By next month, i'll be graduating and thats another milestone in my life, and i did exactly what i came to UK to do. Cuz while music really is a passion, politics to me is a commitment, which stems from education and insight. I want to achieve, or at least be a part of the bigger changes that can happen in Brunei, to make sure no one gets left behind. With that said, I am and will always be with Brunei, so much so I have picked Zed "Peace" as my artist name to represent what my country stands for.


And i can't wait to touchdown back to the kampongs!