Holidaying Fixes Family Bonding
By Asri Razak

Bandar Seri Begawan - Residents and foreigners in Brunei took the opportunity to spend quality time with their families and friends over the long weekend which was stretched into Monday, a public holiday.

Primary teacher Fatimah Ismail said that the public holiday plus the long weekend was a great opportunity to enjoy a barbecue, especially with the 36 members of her extended family.

She said, the public holiday was also a great way to spend time with the family, especially for those who had busy schedules.

In the past, fishing and going to the beach were among the few activities carried out during public holidays. "Instead of going abroad and spending money, spending the public holiday in the country is also a great way to consolidate family relationships amongst one another," she said.

A mother of five, Sharifah Marianah Malai Othman, said with the growing norm of busy schedules, public holidays were a great time to spend time with children, who were also off from their busy school schedules and tuition classes as well.

She said doing the laundry, cooking and relaxing is how she spent her public holiday. Student Zul Razak pointed out that public holidays were also the best time to keep abreast on the latest movies out in cinemas and to sleep late.

Whilst Bruneians took advantage of the long public holiday, foreigners in the country were celebrating Christmas side by side with the sultanate's long weekend public holiday.

Expatriate Stephen Officer, who works with a local construction company, said that the public holiday which fell on Christmas day was very different from that in New Zealand, where it was celebrated in a similar atmosphere as that of the Hari Raya 'festivities in Brunei Darussalam. He said that he did not celebrate it with a "big dinner" as most of his family members did in New Zealand. He took the opportunity to go shopping instead during the three-day holiday.

Romy Wong said that having lived here for three years, Christmas celebrations were almost the same as those in the Philippines. Even though family members were not here, friends held a get-together during the holiday.

He said there were over twenty thousand people who made up the Filipino community that celebrated Christmas every year in Brunei, besides the Muslim Filipinos that were the minority in this community.

"Regardless of religion, we (the community) get along, and are very close," explained Romy. Emergency nurse Brian Beltran in service with the Ripas Hospital for four years said the public holiday had allowed him to take time off from work to celebrate Christmas with his wife.

He said having lived here for sometime, celebrating Christmas was still joyous as there were many friends for him to celebrate and enjoy it with.

"I feel welcome here," said the only foreign nurse with Ripas' Emergency Unit. Arlene Quiambao, a staffer at the Royal Brunei Catering (RBC) explained that working in Brunei was pleasant and not as stressful when compared to working back in the Philippines.

She said that working with RBC was "good" as the company offered better benefits to employees in the form of discounted air tickets and an annual free airline return ticket for staff to go back home.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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