RBA Golf: 1) It is possible for errant golfers to hit balls into the Hassanal Bolkiah Highway (Hole No 1. 16 & 17) but it would be highly impossible to hit any plane.  2) Golf courses built next to airport and highway are not uncommon; in fact Panaga golf course is built along side a public road and has far less safety net to keep golf balls hitting the road.  3) It would help if only lower handicapped golfers are allowed to play but this would be unpopular; most golfers are above 18 handicap and this would not be commercially ideal for RBA.  What can be done?  1) RBA can build higher fences in these holes.  2) RBA can install a close circuit camera in these holes as evidence of any untoward incidents and making sure who is responsible.  3) For golfers - more practice.  No golfers want to hit out of bounds - it is a two shot penalty.  4) For non-golfers - try to learn how to play and appreciate why millions are just mad about it.  5) For drivers - drive carefully wherever you are.  6) And for those who just hate golf and/or RBA, keep your thoughts to yourself, thank you. Golf guru 25.03.2002

borneo tour,no head huters:  It is excellent move to boost tourism in Borneo but the government must show how they will protect tourists from the head hunters and the poor village people out there, Islam must prevail and taught to the people that killing is haram, No good and those who kill must be hanged specially those who lives there with out religion must be brought to justice and prosecuted. Borneo is part Malysian and part Indonesian Muslims are the majority out there and all others are minorities and they must realize that government troops must be deployed out there and control the place and take care of diverse different groups and not make more friction between them. All christen propaganda like new born again and Jehovah Witnesses should be stopped and forbidden. Those who try to preach there must be kicked out and arrested there keep the villages out of those who want to cheat the poor and convert them to be infidals by giving them money and food and create war lords who cut the timber land and exploit the forest and build churches....
Wake up Muslims and take control of the big evil around you and kill the snake before it is too late and lose the battle like we did in Timor.  Steve  steveramsey2000@hotmail.com 25.03.2002

MD vs MT: Assalamualaikum.... I'm all in favour of people’s opinion yang mengatakan apalah special sangat MD atu? Ndakan semestinya kalau dapat very good results atu mesti jua masuk sana? Apatah paidah gov’t bukakan other sixth forms atu kalau nda sama kualitinya dengan MD. Perhaps(!) it's true that most of the lecturers are more senior and more experienced diMD atu, tapi nda semestinya lecturers yang lain yang mengajar at the other sixth forms are not good at what they're doing. Or perhaps, the fact that kana cap MD students make them feel cooler? Mind you, ada org MD turun jua ketempat lain, I mean berpindah jua because they know what they want and they can't get it there, so they choose different college. For instance Maktab Teknik (MT). Bukan kan mengada2 or kan menjaja my academic achievement, tapi I was one of the students yang banar2 berharap supaya masuk MD. Bukan apa it's like a trend right, your sis and bro masuk, then you obviously want to be there as well. But unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, aku nda dapat masuk, so aku masuk MT. Memanglah sedih bukan kepalang mana nda dlm utak ani, mun nda masuk MD nadatah memijak lantai UBD ni, maklum waktu muda2 pemikiran pun nda bernas everything kan negative saja. I know you people will say Teknikal(MT is rather famous with this name)...apa ada.....I was thinking the same thing as well, tapi memandangkan aku nda lagi dpt repeat and I do still want to learn, aku masuk saja. Macam2 cabaran yang ku tempuhi, banyaknya ramai yang mengucapkan, what the heck could you obtain from there? What can I say at that moment, I strived even harder and it turned out that jalan yang diciptakan Allah untukku, rupanya bermula dari sana. And alhamdulillah!I managed to get a good result,applied for scholarship and got it! Honestly, this was not easy, from what I heard masa ani scholar untuk Teknikal students kana abolished udah, if it's true and it did happen, I can only say, kesian students disana! Some of them are very dedicated to what they're doing and they obtained very good results, and mind you since we did lots and lots of practical, nama jua Teknikal college kan, it helped so much with my first year in HND and further, my Degree. I want to express my deepest sympathy to all the students sana yang memang kan apply tapi nda dapat lagi. For me govt nda adil, napa Teknikal students kan dianaktirikan? Kalau dorang dapat keputusan memuaskan, ndakan dorang nda mau further, apalagi kalau course dorang atu nada HND programme dBrunei, where can they go? Kan tarus Degree, nada jua dapat kali ah, Brunei's Ministry of Education likes to go in sequence! They will ask you to do PMB, O levels, A levels (from secondary schools) if you go to Teknikal, start from PND(if not eligible for ND)ND, then HND, then you can do your degree! If you want to do Degree, from ND, they'll panic! Do PhD from Degree, havoc!chaos!danger!problems! and bla...bla..bla... Maybe dorang kan suruh these students to work immediately after obtaining ND, hellloooo....jelama bedegree, bemasters dBrunei ani lagi menumpuk, payah2an kan dpt kaja, kaja apatah yang dorang kana bagi? I owe it sooo very much to all my lecturers yang mencabar dan mengalakkan to apply scholarship. Thank you very much if any of you are reading this. I would definitely go back to Teknikal after I'm done here, and the first thing that I want to do when I reach Brunei is to go to Teknikal college. Yang memberi seribu satu pengalaman manis dan pahit, yang mengajar aku bahawasanya nda menjadi MD students does not mean that you can't go to overseas! I am a living proof of it, I'm sure ada ramai lagi Teknikal ex/graduates under govt scholarship, and I know each and everyone of you are very damn proud of yourselves! Me too, people! I'm not from MD and I'm here! Doing my final year! We did it people, no more worries bout not being an MD student. For me it is an old story, and one thing that I shouldn't even be upset of at the beginning! Please reply me if any of you are on the same boat! To those 'Aku Mau Masuk MD students' my advice is, think again! Each and every one of us is destined to our paths, dalam kitab Tuhan, tertulis segala sesuatunya mengenai manusia, perjalanan hidupnya dan dimana kah punca rezekinya. I believe in this, and I still do! And I want you to believe in it as well, because once you do, any place is just the right place! lalalatamplom! 24.03.200

To bala especially..you famous person you: It's so obvious that this bala person doesn't believe in bala, and I don't know whether he/she is a Muslim or not but even if he is not, then he is better off keeping that opinion that there is no such a thing as bala to himself if he has any respect for Brunei's religion. Not saying that he has to believe it, but saying that "bala" is superstition clearly implies that he thinks Islam is a made-up religion. If he is Muslim, then why call yourself Muslim when you don't accept the whole concept of Islam?
I am doing my degree in science and geography and I know the whole theory of global warming etc etc that bala has mentioned. I believe in all that, but I also believe in bala. It is said in the teachings of Islam that bala will always befall any community that goes against Islam's teachings, and of course it will be something that people will see as "science" or just a phase in nature. What do you expect? A bolt of lightning at each and every individual? If it were that obvious, everyone would be scared and want to beribadat to Allah. But life is not that easy, banyak percubaan in life, and this is just a test on a person's iman, and this is how the real Muslims are separated from the ones who put a mask of it on only.
Not only is this a case of the new year's celebration as I see is constantly being argued here, but think also to what other things have been going on around in this country. This is a country based on the teachings of Islam, and yet there is still zina here and there especially with the younger generations who no longer are seeing smoking as being cool but instead sleeping around is. Gambling, betting, clubbing, drinking, whatever!! when people especially students go overseas, ooh ahh what such great free wild exciting life it is out here, they say, and they drown themselves with the culture and life of that world, forgetting about Islam (am talking about Muslims here, obviously). It’s so very embarrassing when I see people like this because behind their backs, they are being laughed at by non-muslims at how easily they are to be pushed from their own culture and religion  just by pure peer pressure (and some don't even need to pressure them) and this is a fact that should not be ignored and pushed aside as if its not happening, people!! It is the worst thing to be happening in a muslim country as Brunei. Sure it is acceptable in other countries but are they under islamic laws? If people who are not happy with the islamic ways of Brunei then you are welcome to leave and find your own place in the world. As I was saying, we all have to look into what goes on in our community, and don't let people like bala here be a discouragement to our beliefs. To all the Muslims in Brunei, please ask yourself, are you being a good mMuslim yourself? who cares what the non-believers say, in the end, if our beliefs are correct, then we won't be the ones who will regret anything, right? So who should be complaining then? LadyIx 23.03.2002