Borneo Bulletin Opinion
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Students with bad attitude I am surprised to find that some UBDians who are currently undergoing their observation semesters have a very poor attitude. My sister came home from school one day complaining that some of the UBD undergraduates who are doing their observations in her school were being rude during classes (e.g. sighing loudly in boredom at the back of the class while the teacher in front is teaching). This had happened more than once. As a student of UBD myself, I am ashamed of such conduct. It portrays low levels of professionalism from those who claim to be future educators of our next generations. Jobs are scarce in Brunei and with the high levels of unemployment in the country, you should be grateful you even have a job waiting for you after you graduate. Although teaching is a profession many deemed to be "the last resort", for others who have the will to become teachers such attitudes portrayed by our undergraduates not only belittle us, but also label us as unprofessional and immature. Even if teaching was not your first choice in the first place, make an effort to respect those who are already in the field. - Future Teacher |
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not answer to differing opinion I simply agree with the writer of the recent opinion letter that spoke about law being of paramount importance. The justice meted out to an Australian woman on drug smuggling charges seems to have blown out of proportion. All kinds of allegations have been made by some who believe that the woman was innocent. But she was found guilty after investigations and by the judicial systems in Indonesia. As the leaders in Australia have rightly pointed out one should rely on the legal systems and respect their decisions. I too believe that there is always recourse to appeal in higher courts if there are any doubts. But what has happened in the so-called fair dinkum land is something that is very strange and regrettable. All kinds of protests are being held and the media too has joined the circus. There was also some strange suggestion that the nation demand tsunami aid back from Indonesia. How moral does it sound? Now on top of all that comes this most horrendous stunt where a biological agent has been sent to the Indonesian mission in Canberra. If this is not terrorism what is? Fortunately, the leadership lost no time in condemning this most dastardly act. But what should bother most rational people is the general reluctance by some elements there to reject systems of justice elsewhere, thus generating anarchist behaviour like terror attacks on foreign embassies. - Fairplayer, KB |
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Hazardous reckless grandma There is an old lady in her 60s living in the Belait District, who I think is a very irresponsible and reckless driver. Every afternoon, she picks up students from schools to send them home. A couple of times I was so unfortunate driving behind her, she suddenly stopped her car on the middle of the road and let the students out. Neither did she stop her car beside the road nor did she signal. I would urge the police to stop her from driving. I wonder why the parents of those kids don't really care about their kids' safety. Do you think we should pass a law that drivers who are above 50 to go for driving tests before they are allowed to renew their driving licenses? However, I would like to thank those policemen who regularly check the drivers in our area. Now, more and more residents here fasten their seatbelt while driving. - Road User, KB |
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Credible use of the ‘reliable sources' Like most of my friends, I have been rather critical of your newspaper using anonymous sources in your news reports. It has been rather irritating to read 'reliable source' or 'informed sources' in some of the reports you write in the paper. But this week I have changed my mind after the global exposure of the famous "Deep Throat" who helped journalists expose the wrongdoings of certain people including the late US President Nixon. If not for this anonymous source these newspaper reporters would not have had crucial information to bare wrongdoings. Therefore I think that these reliable sources are after all important for the community's benefit as a whole. - Anonymous |
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fangled mobiles bane of fixed phones Brunei seems moving fast into the mobile phone era. The number of users is obviously rising fast. It is heartening to note that our younger generation is second to none in the region having the best of mobile units in their hands. While the service providers have not failed in offering the SMS, GPRS and other basic services, we are yet to have MMS and other more sophisticated services. Recently we read of the lack of SMS services to USA too. We await anxiously for the 3G systems that will not only provide a higher platform of operation besides a new service, it will also give a good run to the current service providers. But when it will come into operation is everyone's guess. Meanwhile we see some vendors selling 3G phones like Nokia 6680 and the Sony-Ericsson z800i etc, which could indicate that the service is already on its way soon. I also have some friends who claim that they can already get 3G services from a Malaysian network here in Brunei when they use the Malaysian sim card called celcom. I am not sure. They also claim that this service provider charges much less than what we get here, with free incoming calls etc. Whatever the case may be, mobile phones are taking the business away from fixed lines. It's high time they faced the competition. - MobileFreak, Bandar |
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Poser over credit card payments
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these cause cancer? I always update myself with the latest news regardless of local or global issues. What interest me to write in this opinion page is an article from my e-mails on Cancer News From John Hopkins. It attracted my attention because I like any health articles. After reading it through, I wonder to my self, is this true? So I would like to seek the reliability of the article from any experts in or outside Brunei. If the article is a reliable one, well I think it is good for all to know for the benefit of health. The article reads as follow: No plastics in micro. No water bottles in freezer. No plastic wrap in micro.This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dioxin Carcinogens causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Don't freeze your plastic water bottles with water as this also releases dioxins in the plastic. Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle hospital was on a TV programme explaining this health hazard (he is the manager of the Wellness Programme at the hospital). He was talking about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxins into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Dioxins are carcinogens and highly toxic to the cells of our bodies. Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, without the dioxins. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He said we might remember when some of the fast food restaurants moved away from foam containers to paper. - Health concern |
| Scourge
of billboard stalkers I read with interest your news about a certain woman who reportedly gives nuisance calls to those who advertise on supermarket billboards. In a spirit of free-market, she has every right to telephone prospective sellers of whatever they deem fit to advertise on these free display boards. But what amazed me, and I am sure most of your readers are the modus operandi of these telephone pests, is that she seems to behave like a serial phone stalker giving some people the creeps. I also wonder if she is just a single culprit. I have heard of some people complain of various nuisance calls coming their way whenever they post ads on these free billboards. I suppose nothing much can be done to prevent someone calling you when you have displayed your phone number in public. But if the callers try to victimise you with various scams or threats, then it becomes illegal and deserves a police report. - Billboard victim |
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cheap flights? I am trying to book a flight to one of the ASEAN countries in advance. I surf the RBA Website which says that it's cheaper to buy two months in advance but everytime I get the same price in all the months leading up to December. - Flyer |
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library user-friendly We, as students, are very disappointed with the service provided in the public library in Seria. There were many times when we returned our books and we were asked to put back our returned books on the tray or table provided at the first floor (where we borrowed from). And we were told that their job is to arrange books that were returned! Isn't it supposed to be a librarian's job to collect all the returned books and arrange them at one time or at the end of the day instead of asking us to put them back on the first floor? We really hope that this should stop to prevent any inconvenience to the public. - Disappointed students |
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