Roar.

Had to pull a few strings, faces and money before reaching singapore. Had to land in KL even before reaching singapore =// Its 3 days holiday for Brunei and everyone (i assumed everyone since all flights are full and brunei has only 400000 people)is going out of the country. and now i am here at ABC backpackers at jalan Kubor. The shower's clean, the breakfast is free and internet is free. all is worth it for $21 per night. Loving this place. Yes i'm saving up for indonesia so my intentions in singapore are purely for jalan jalan.

When should i go back home ah? haven't decided yet,.

A jewel we so often neglect and undervalue.

A ten days of memories. I miss ASEM. And this video really gave that ASEM biodiversity workshop feel. Miss doing the things with them and listen to things related to biodiversity of brunei. I've been emailing them and keeping update and some of them has continued their phd (especially the two chinese) some are continuing masters in solar energy,politics and etc. Sometimes it made me feel like "so where does that leave me?" haha honestly i am not a very dicsciplined biologist. I don't read books that often. I have my own way to deal with things. i play alot. Not a good thing but i hope this is the path i shall continue till the end and i hope i will not regret it. for it has been enjoyable so far.







Tho i will go to Kuala belalong field centre again at the end of my third year with my awesome course mates this time. Looking forward to it! they're crazy fun. You just can't imagine. haha. Exam finished in just 6 days. I HOPE i will pass all of my subjects this time and get an okay grade AMIN. I am very not confident.

This past few days after the exam, we've becamse research assistants helping Fandi's sis collect data for her PHD research. Quite enlightening. We gained insight on the plight of Brunei fishing resources. we always talk about tunas in Japan and whales. But infact, our own coasts is being depleted of resources. Most had complained that some commercial trawlers are "mengikis" the coast of fishes and that in their 20-60 years of fishing experience, the number of fish caught has a huge decrease since then.


And yet when people start talking about plastics, forest, energy they think they're being Green and environmental. Think again. There are more to environmental sustanaibility than just using plastic (for a day) or asking people to save energy.

Brunei is more than just oil and gas.

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei has the potential to become a model country with regards to disability development and to achieve this, the country just needs community-based policies in place as well as facilitation and implementation."I thought that Brunei's main resource is oil but I found a resource that is bigger - the cornmunity and the family," said Akiie Ninomiya, the executive director of Asia-Pacific Development Centre on Disability (APCD) which is based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Read more here.

Last week i went to Animal shelter charity bazaar and in one booth they sold paintings. I adore paintings and have quite a collection hanging in my small room. Haha But these paintings sold in the bazaar are rather special. Because it was painted by Orphaned/disabled children of Cambodia. The association is called Orphan and disabled arts association and currently houses around 20+ orphans in Siem Riep Cambodia. It was founded by Leng Touch, also an orphan and an accomplished artist. He passed his knowledge to these kids and these kids and with this knowledge and aqcuired talent, they sell paintings. These money from the paintings support them, hence they do not need to beg. Some of the postcard sized paintings are only sold for 1US which is around 1.50 BND .I find it amazing.

I attended a public lecture on Poverty in Brunei last few weeks (which is a part of the Poverty Project UVC is doing) and a lecturer have said that "We need to be cruel to be kind, not kind to be kind". Interestingly, Bruneians have always been kind to be kind, giving gifts without anything in return. But maybe if we can incorporate this "cruelty" and help those who only wished to help themselves out of poverty cycle/miserable situation, it'd be better. This is what ODA is doing. Children have to learn to do it on their own, feel miserable while studying but in the end, this acquired knowledge is what that can bring them out of their situation and rebuilt lives.

http://orphansdisabledcambodia.org/

As Akiie Nomiya has said, we have the potential to use our Community network. Why not use it to motivate the underprevilage in Brunei (regardless whether it is for disability or poverty)?

Just a thought. Its exam week and i am thinking things which are exam-non-related. LOL Struggling to keep up with exams. The past papers are terrible but nvm. I wish there is some miracle that can lift my geo and math marks. I hope i can pass all and get a better result than last sem though. AMIN. last sem's result was aweful.