Brunei for Friendship Games in Sulawesi
By James Kon

A total of 41 athletes from Brunei Darussalam will be competing against the best from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines at the 5th BIMP-EAGA Friendship Games, which is scheduled to take place at Makassar, west Sulawesi, Indonesia from Nov 23-26.

Brunei will be competing in five sporting events namely pencak silat, sepak takraw, tennis, swimming and athletics.

According to Brunei's chef-de-mission Pengiran Sabri bin Pg Hj Mohamad: "This time our biggest hope for gold lies in two events namely pencak silat and swimming."

He further added that in pencak silat, although we might face tough opponents especially from Indonesia, we can still expect to achieve good result while Brunei swimmers have proven their strength which is at par with top swimmers from BIMP-EAGA during the recent trial.

A national flag handing-over ceremony for the Brunei contingent was held at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium yesterday.

On hand to present the national flag to Pengiran Sabri was Pehin Major General (Rtd) Dato Awang Hj Mohammad bin Hj Daud, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Prior to the flag handing-over ceremony, the minister highlighted the importance of sports in the development of the community.

Pehin Hj Mohammad said: "Sports is not only good for health, it also acts as education and social activities. By participating in regional sporting events, athletes will be able to learn about the culture of other participating countries to foster closer ties among neighbouring countries."

"Large part of producing potential athletes lies with the sporting bodies within the country. Apart from that, private associations and agencies should also take responsibilities in increasing the partici-pation of communities in sport activities toward excellence."

Meanwhile, Awang Hj Metassim bin Hj Jibah, Director of Youth and Sport said that this is the third time Brunei Darussalam will be taking part in the BIMP-EAGA Friendship Games.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin