Borneo Bulletin Opinion
| Promoting
transparency The current sessions of the Legislative Council, judging by your reports in the Borneo Bulletin, are indeed an eye-opener to most of us. As decreed by our Ruler, the Council seems to discuss and debate key issues that concern the well-being of the people. As reported, His Majesty in his Titah on the first day of the sessions urged the Council to be a platform of inspiration and act in an advisory capacity in matters relating to the interest of the people and the nation. The Ruler's aspiration quite admirably was to give the people ample opportunity to express their views. As loyal citizens, we ought to be grateful for this new august assembly where the representatives could discuss and debate issues constructively and seek resolutions through a consensus. Your reports suggest that this is really being done as the LegCo deals with the current budget. We must be thankful to the media for its role in keeping the people informed of important issues like this. Having read budget debate reports in some overseas papers by so-called lobby correspondents, I think it must be quite challenging for your journalists to cover all the details that transpire at the LegCo sessions. We are indeed thankful that we have this Council as it also enhances the nation's own commitment to transparency and accountability. - Trans-Parent, BSB |
| E-speed in slow
motion For the past few days since March 15 connection on e-speed was very slow. Trace route shows the latency/ping time was all in the region of 1000ms+ to everywhere (Europe, East Coast USA, West Coast USA etc etc). Is there a problem with our Internet routing again? During the day, the problem is worse where ping times sometimes hit the 1800ms mark (to all servers including USA and Europe). I've checked the connections at a few locations just to make sure it's not my equipment, and true enough the problem is not at my end. All other locations showed the same problems i.e. high ping times. Is JTB aware of this? I've checked the JTB website and there is no mention of anything. The ping times only return to acceptable levels round about 1am in the morning (everyday). Please fix this ASAP. - Annoyed e-speed user |
| It's not only about
women's football I would like to comment on the recent report urging women not to play football. I do believe and agree that women should not resemble men in terms of their garb, conversation or actions. But if women's football is not proper, I guess there are other things that we should look into. For example, there are lots of men or women in Brunei who tend to act or some even dare to dress as their opposite gender. Transvestites are becoming an increasing social illness and is anyone doing anything about them? If we want to pick on women's football, I believe there are also other men's sport that are also played by women in Brunei. Talking about their attire, I believe we can implement a suitable gear for women so as not to resemble men. The main concern here is covering their 'aurats' not resembling men in their attire, actions or words. Football is a sport and everyone can play it. I have seen Bruneian lady pilots in the same outfits as their male counterparts. - Linda |
| How about the men?
The headline in your paper draws mixed emotions. On one hand I applaud the intervention from the imams on women's football, putting and labelling it haram on the grounds that football is a man's sport. Yet on the other hand, I can't help but see the other side. Most of our male footballers play footie in shorts. Isn't that haram as shorts reveal the 'aurat'? Even in the national league and even while representing our country. Most males play until well past dusk (Maghrib). Not to mention endless other scenarios like mixed swimming pools, mixed gyms etc. If we try to single out certain groups of people wouldn't that be considered unjust? - A.B. Delima |
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Respond ASAP |
| Employers who don't
play fair & square I've got a very nice job offer from one of the leading companies. They asked me if I could start immediately. I told the HR Personnel that I cannot join their company that fast because I need to give my present company at least a month's notice for my resignation, which I did the day after I confirmed that this new company is willing to wait for my availability. My problem now is that my current employer did not accept my resignation. The reason they gave me is that the company still needs my service. I've been in this firm for quiet some time now and for the last four years, our salary has always been delayed. The company has nothing great to offer to the staff; no bonus; no salary increment; and no more room for advancement. Is it fair for them to keep holding their employee if the staff is no longer happy serving the company and that the company can no longer satisfy the needs of their employees? It appears to me that my present company is being selfish in thinking only of what they can gain from the employee. My case is not to be considered something new with this company. It has happened a few times before and the staff ended up staying over; losing their opportunity to grow up as a better individual in a different company. I hope the relevant department can help us with this situation. - Time To Grow |
| Hazards at the
clinic I appreciate the efforts made by the Ministry of Health and other relevant authorities in combating the recent onslaught of the HFMD (Hand-foot-and-mouth disease). One of the guidelines that has been well-publicised is to ensure cleanliness of public toilets and to avoid sharing hand towels. However, when I was at the Bunut Clinic just a few days ago, I could not find any tissue papers or toilet roll, let alone disposable hand towel or hand dryer at the toilet. There were only a couple of slightly damp hand towels hanging above the washbasin, which had obviously been used by others. It is good to issue stringent guidelines to step up cleanliness in the country. But if these guidelines were to be implemented effectively, shouldn't they first be implemented at places so frequented by young children and parents such as the government clinics? - Concerned patient |
| Customer is not
always right A customer once called me to look for something he could not find. Since we don't have it, I told him that we were out of stock and walked away from him, as I had to attend to other people. The customer then asked me where he could buy the product other than our store. As I didn't realise, I replied him in the negative. Maybe my reply sounded a bit harsh. He glared at me and said "tidak boleh kasar" (in English don't be rude). I promptly apologised to him but he was still not satisfied and started making rude remarks himself. What I want to know here is, who is rude? Doesn't he know how to use "excuse me" or "hello" instead of saying: "Eh! Shh...shh...shh...?" I guess we can't do anything as we are told that "customers are always right" and we have to tolerate our customers' wrongdoings as well. - Buah D. Jln Tutong |
| Is chicken a healthy
diet?
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| It does not pay to
be paranoid This is a reply to Equally Concerned (Note: I will not reply again to this subject). I thank Equally Concerned for the response. We now have the first case of Bird Flu in dogs since the last publication of BB letters to the editor, following the first cat infection as reported. Part of my BB comment was intended to be humourous, which was lost in the translation and got labelled as being bizarre. So, where does the infection come from? It comes from migratory birds mainly and unhygienic battery farming practices (this is not a comment about Brunei farming). Banning chickens will not stop this from happening. I repeat that the efforts of the various health organisations have been excellent. Keep compounds clean and ensure effective personal hygiene. If you keep animals, including cows, goats, pig, rabbits, chickens, dogs or cats, make sure that you keep the compounds clean. Bird Flu has killed 100 people worldwide. Should we also ban cats and dogs which could get infected? HFMD has killed eight people in East Malaysia and one in Brunei. Humans develop immune response to events. We all develop an immune system to combat intro-duction of bad elements on a day-to-day basis. A classic example would be eating some roadside food. My previous letter to the Editor was to say that we should not be paranoid about what is published in the world media, in a lighter vein. I repeat, follow the appropriate Ministry guidelines please. I myself do not have any "pets". But we get dogs and cats coming to our property everyday. They leave their presence. I see staff of other houses placing dog waste into streams or over the back fence. Am I going to pretend that birds, migratory birds, dogs and cats do not exist or are banned totally? Don't be paranoid. Should we ban children living next door due to HFMD? If you think people are not cleaning their compound, then, you should take it up with the occupants or owners. It is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Health, which is busy caring for the big "picture" to police every house. If the owner does not respond, then revert to the correct Ministry. Simple solution. - Heavy Pet |
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