Posing for a group photo
The S'porean participants being greeted upon arrival at the airportTwenty Secondary School students from Singapore that comprising five boys and 15 girls arrived in Brunei yesterday afternoon to join 20 of their local counterparts for a six-day Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008, which will run until December 5, to promote international understanding, collaboration and bonding.
They were greeted on arrival by last year's student participants, of a similar camp that was held in Singapore, who have now been promoted as trainer-guides for this year's camp, as well as supervising teachers, and Education Ministry and Singapore High Commission officials.
After their arrival, the Singaporean students, accompanied by four of their teachers, as well as their local trainer/guides and local supervising teachers boarded waiting buses to take them to the Wasan Vocational School, which will be the participants' home for activities conducted in and around Brunei-Muara District.
At the school, the Singaporean students met with their local student counterparts participating in the adventure camp for an official opening ceremony as well as an ice-breaking session. The local student participants comprise 10 boys and 10 girls that have been selected from secondary schools nationwide.
Today, the camp participants will explore Kampong Ayer as well as visit historical sites around Bandar Seri Begawan.
Tomorrow morning, the participants are scheduled to participate in padi farming activities at Wasan's padi fields. Sometime later in the afternoon, the students will go trekking along Bukit Shahbandar.
On Wednesday, the adventure campers will go on an exploration of the Tasek Merimbun Reserve Forest and see how sago is processed into 'ambuyat', a local delicacy. Later that evening, the students will get to sample 'ambuyat' for dinner and play traditional games.
Temburong will be the venue for their activities on Thursday at the National Park and the Kampong Amo Longhouse, where they will be spending the night at the Bangar Rest House in the district.
The following day, they will be taken for a tour to see the making of two popular traditional delicacies 'wajid' and 'cendol', before attending the closing ceremony of the adventure camp later that same evening.
One of the objectives of the adventure camp is to forge new friendships across national borders through various team-building games and outdoor activities. The camp also serves to educate students on the need to conserve the natural environment, to preserve its biodiversity and the need to preserve the cultural heritage of one's country through nature activities.
Student exchanges through the adventure camp is a key area of cooperation in the Memorandums of Understanding on Educational Cooperation that were concluded between Brunei's and Singapore's Education Ministries in February 2006.
Brunei and Singapore students playing 'Kayu-Tiga'
Students from both countries work in teams during a game activity at Bukit Shahbandar
The visiting students at the paddy field in Kg Wasan
The Wasan Paddy FieldBandar Seri Begawan - Twenty Singaporean students visited the paddy field in Kampong Wasan recently.
The students joined by 20 other local students, are here for a six-day friendship camp, entitled Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008.
Besides visiting the paddy field, the students also hiked at the Bukit Shahbandar.
Included in the programme in the coming days in Brunei are witnessing sago processing in Tutong, eating ambuyat, participating in challenging activities at Temburong National Park, visiting Kg Amo Longhouse in Temburong, watching the manufacturing of traditional food of wajid and cendol in Temburong and many more.
Yesterday, the students visited the Tasek Merimbun. (Note: This was written wrongly, it was supposed to be Bukit Shahbandar)
Separated by the South China Sea, there are much to learn about each other, the students said, both in terms of culture and its geography. The students told the Bulletin that they had so far enjoyed their programme here in Brunei, adding that Brunei has so many unexpected surprises.
Throughout the camping, students from both sides will interact and take part in team building adventure activities and games to promote international understanding, collaboration and bonding.
The Bruneian and Singaporean national flags held high together.
Muhammad Yusrey receiving his award. - PHOTOS: James Kon
Mr Kuang Yoke Wee exchanging souvenirs with Dayang Hjh Aishah
Participants from both countries singing side by side.
One of the comical skits being performed about a lightning in the sky.
One of the scenes from the winning Sultan Bolkiah story.
The guest of honour presenting the prize of Best Performance to team Killer Beez.One of Brunei's participants, Muhammad Yusrey bin Hj Yusli, described the alliance that was formed between the participants of the two countries as, simply, "unbelievable".
Speaking to the Borneo Bulletin, Muhammad Yusrey went on to say, "At first I thought it would be hard for us to get together but as time went by, we got along and built up strong friendships with each other."
He hopes that the programme will continue on to generate even more friendships between the future youths of the two countries.
The Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008 came to an end yesterday that was marked by a ceremony at the Rizqun International Hotel.
The guest of honour was Dayang Hjh Aishah binti Hj Muhd Husain, Director of Schools, Ministry of Education.
At the start of the ceremony, representatives from both countries took to the stage and spoke about their enriching experiences from the programme. Pang Chai Seng represented Singapore whilst Maydelyn Ling Mohd Tong Ling represented Brunei. What followed were four entertaining performances by all the participants.
There was also a prize presentation, presented by the guest of honour, in which the winner of the 'Best Performance Award' went to 'Killer Bee' with the story of Sultan Bolkiah. The 'Best Actor Award' went to Muhammad Yusrey bin Hj Yusli of G Cube whilst 'Best Actress Award' went to Maftuhatus Sainah binti Mohd Hambali.
Female student participants from Singapore and Brunei bidding tearful goodbyes to each other after a weeklong bonding experience. - Rosli Abidin Yahya
Bandar Seri Begawan - After a week of packed camping activities that included visits, study tours and participating in physically and mentally challenging activities, the 20 students from three secondary schools in Singapore returned home on Saturday evening teary eyed as they bade farewell to their local counterparts who had been their camping partners throughout the Brunei-Singapore Adventure Camp 2008.
| The participants found it hard to say goodbye to each other, so much so that the Singaporean students had to be coaxed to enter the departure hall. One female Singaporean student said they were looking forward to going home and reuniting with their families but she said it was difficult for them to leave their Bruneian friends behind, as they did not know when they would see each other again. Bidding goodbye at the airport was Awang Koh Phong Hua, Deputy Director of Secondary Schools at the Ministry of Education, who was happy to see the success of the camping activity in promoting international understanding, | |
| collaboration and bonding between the students. | |
"Next year, the activity will take place in Singapore and hopefully it will be carried out for many more years to come so as to forge closer friendship ties between students from the two nations," Koh said. |
The students carried out their activities at the airport hall singing camping and patriotic songs and getting involved in various intellectual games and quiz.
Once in a while, they hugged each other and took pictures for their album whilst wiping tears from the corner of their eyes.
The student camp was aimed to forge new friendships across national borders through various team-building games and outdoor activities. The camps also served to educate students on the need to conserve the natural environment, to preserve its biodiversity and preserve the cultural heritage of one's country through nature activities.
These were carried out through expeditions to Kampong Ayer, historical centres in Bandar Seri Begawan, Tasek Merimbun Forest Reserve and Bukit Shahbandar, planting paddy at the Wasan Paddy Fields, witnessing sago processing in Tutong, eating `ambuyae, participating in challenging activities at the Temburong National Park, visiting Kg Amo Longhouse in Temburong, watching the making of traditional foods such as wajid' and ‘cendol’.
Student exchanges through adventure camps are a key area of cooperation in the Memorandums of Understanding on Educational Cooperation that were concluded between Brunei and Singapore's Education Ministries in February 2006.
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