by Rob Fenn |
May 3, 2013 | Reply
On Commonwealth Day (11 March), as High Commissioners in Bandar were gathering inside the Legislative Council building for our celebration with Pehin Speaker, one Bruneian was flying the flag for the Sultanate inside Marlborough House, at the celebration graced by Her Majesty The Queen. By publishing Fatin’s guest blog here, I have a strong sense of completing a circuit in the Commonwealth network, through which the energy of young Bruneians … Read more »A Surreal Commonwealth Journey: From Brunei to New Delhi to London
by Rob Fenn |
April 30, 2013 | Reply
I never used to be a “morning person”. At university, I could stay up until dawn (studying!), but then I had to sleep for 24 hours. Here in Brunei my body clock has changed completely. I need to get the boys to school by 0720. So I set my alarm for 0600. But I am frequently awake before then, keen to watch the sun come up out of Brunei Bay. … Read more »Dawn Ceremony for ANZAC Day 2013
by Rob Fenn |
April 25, 2013 | Reply
In an earlier blog I described the Commonwealth as “the world’s first social network”, and Bruneians as amongst its most savvy practitioners. You’ll see what I mean in this guest blog by Helen Yeo, one of two professional Bruneian women who are representing the Sultanate in the CSCLeaders programme, in London, Manchester, Oxford, Mumbai – as part of a new movement of global bridge-builders. And watch this space for another … Read more »My CSCLeaders Conference Experience
by Rob Fenn |
April 17, 2013 | Reply
Do you know what QC stands for? And why Queen Elizabeth I coined the term? My sister-in-law, Poonam Melwani QC, came to Brunei last week on holiday. Like many successful women, she seems able to switch like lightning between a host of different roles. She appeared first as a rainforest explorer. At the Ulu Ulu Resort we climbed the canopy walkway in the hush before dawn – with six loud … Read more »Common Law
by Rob Fenn |
April 3, 2013 | Reply
Here are four ways to get the latest news about education in South East Asia. Ask SEAMEO, the regional Ministers of Education Organisation which the UK joined last week, as an Associate Member. We are deeply impressed by what SEAMEO has achieved over the last two years, under the active chairmanship of Brunei’s Minister of Education; and excited about what this network can do in the years ahead. I was … Read more »“English as an ASEAN Language”- The Movie: Coming to a SEAMEO Centre near you!
by Rob Fenn |
March 18, 2013 | Reply
Practise what you preach, we are always told. With my Australian colleague, I had invited six other High Commissioners in Brunei to answer the question “What does the Commonwealth mean to you?” – so I was going to have to come up with an answer of my own. I’ll tell you what it was in a second. First, I must record my thanks to Pehin Speaker and his staff – … Read more »Commonwealth – the world’s first social network?
by Rob Fenn |
March 8, 2013 | Reply
Guest blog by Julia Fenn, the British High Commissioner’s wife, on the importance of International Women’s Day and what this day means to her personally. I have celebrated International Women’s Day in Brunei for the last three years, though I have to confess that I never particularly marked the date anywhere else before. It is strange how these things happen. In Spring 2010, I was thinking of inviting some women to the … Read more »International Women’s Day 2013
by Rob Fenn |
February 25, 2013 | Reply
Before choosing that slogan for the latest Education UK Exhibition here in Brunei, and the dramatic logo which went with it, we discussed what it meant. Some of us thought it sounded too incendiary. Then some bright spark recalled that the I-Centre had pioneered use of the word “ignite” for their excellent “Business Plan” competition. We needn’t have worried. When I visited the exhibition – at the Empire Grand Hall … Read more »“Ignite Your Future!”
by Rob Fenn |
February 13, 2013 | 1 comment
Be careful what you wish for. That mantra went round and round in my head as I and twelve other Excellencies paddled down the Brunei River, vainly trying to catch the boat in front, urged on by friendly cheering (or was it laughter) from every jetty, doorway and window of Kampong Ayer – Brunei’s Water Village. Scroll back to last year, “Regatta 2012”, and I admit I did fantasise about … Read more »Regatta Brunei 2013
by Rob Fenn |
December 21, 2012 | Reply
Realizing a dream It was such an honour to have been awarded the Chevening Scholarship. I remember during my high school years reading articles in the Borneo Bulletin about scholars being awarded the prestigious Chevening grant every year. Never in a million years would I have thought that one day I would be following in their footsteps. It was exactly a year ago, in December 2011, when this life-changing experience … Read more »Realizing a dream – Abdul Matiin’s Guest Blog