Tourists and foreign nationals stood out from the crowd of people flocking to the Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien to meet and greet His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam at the final get-together ceremony on the occasion of His Majesty’s 65th birthday celebration. In several interviews with the Bulletin, foreign residents and tourists alike shared a common perception of His Majesty’s relationship with his people.

They also agreed that they had never been in any country where such proximity is allowed between the royal family and the people.

Fred Johnson, a Londoner on a six-day transit in Brunei, came to the capital with his Australian wife and daughter.

“It was a pleasant surprise as we’re here for transit. We’re very lucky to (have been) able to catch such a historic event and not only that, we got to shake hands and talk to His Majesty,” he said. “Never in England have I ever heard of anyone talking highly of the Queen as they did the Sultan here, which I could understand perfectly seeing how close His Majesty is with his people. He is very friendly and had a few conversations as we shook hands just now,” he added.

His wife, Michele Flack particularly liked the traditional performances, which she said were fantastic and colourful.

They were also pleased with the warmth and friendly hospitality of the locals during their stay in Brunei. The family was on a holiday in London to visit Fred’s family and are on their way back to their home in Australia.

Meanwhile, a family of tourists was on their way to the field when the Bulletin stopped them for an interview. Also on a six-day visit to Brunei, the family – Mr Varga Peter, wife and daughter – came for a holiday in Brunei out of curiosity.

“I became interested in the country after hearing about it from one of my Bruneian students in Switzerland. Indeed, Brunei is as beautiful, peaceful and developed as they say it was,” said the French national.

Asked about his view on the celebration, Mr Peter said, “I’ve never seen such importance of someone’s birthday in other countries.”

Mr Doug Udy-Bothwell, who hails from New Zealand and had just arrived the previous night with his wife, found themselves very lucky to have been able to witness “a very big event” in their short two-day stay in Brunei.

Another family of New Zealanders were also seen lining up with the locals for their turn to greet His Majesty. In Brunei with his wife and daughter, Mr Simon Gleeson is employed under CfBT and is currently teaching at Jerudong Primary School.

Having resided in Brunei for four years, Mr Gleeson said it was the first time they attended such an event as a family. “I’ve participated in several other big events like the National Day but only to chaperone the schoolchildren. It is very fortunate to have today’s event on a school holiday so we can bring our daughter along to experience the atmosphere.

“Maybe they could have a children’s zone for families with small children as well, next time,” he added.

Indonesian and Philippine nationals were seen coming out of the storm of people surrounding His Majesty at one of the booths. They were Susiana Mara and Maeruz Moderacion, both workers at a beauty salon in the capital.

Having been in the country for two and four years respectively, the duo could only manage to see the event from afar during previous years.

“This year we decided to come down and witness it first hand. We’re so lucky to be able to shake His Majesty’s hands and take pictures with His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Mateen,” they said, visibly excited.

To further improve the production of excellent, knowledgeable, skilful, disciplined, competitive and resilient individuals, the Youth Development Centre (PPB), Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS), organised a discussion session between the trainers and the Advisory Board members of the PPB in Tanah Jambu.

The Permanent Secretary at the MCYS, Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Hamid bin Haji Mohd Jaafar, said the government of His Majesty has allocated a huge amount of financial assistance to prepare and implement training programmes and, for the welfare of the trainees, residential area, food, drinks and allowances.

“Despite all these, there are still more rooms for improvement,” he added.

According to statistics on last year’s training intake at the Youth Development Centre, 47 per cent have been employed in the public and private sector, three per cent are undergoing higher education, another three per cent are involved in entrepreneurship while the remaining 47 per cent are still hunting for employment.

“The centre should be equipped with more skill-training programmes, self development and leadership programmes as well as beneficial, patriotic and religious activities to achieve its goal. The centre should be maximised as it is responsible for helping those edged from the chances of acquiring further formal education.

“I believe we could achieve our goal with the proper planning and systematic budgeting and monitoring, apart from handling the programmes with a positive and proactive attitude. By exposing the trainees to many hands-on skills such as computing, cooking, sewing and others, they will be able to stand on their own two feet and not depend solely on the government upon completion of the courses.”

Increasing training courses and implementing research to find out employment demand in the country are among suggested movements to be executed by the centre.

Among the issues raised were the shortage of professional teaching staff with appropriate knowledge and qualification, lack of raw materials for teaching and learning and uncertified recognition from the Ministry of Education for some courses.