Referring to the comments made by 'Annoyed Trader' in the Public Opinion Column BB dated July 23, 2005, I wish to inform you that all mail from USA are dispatched to Brunei via the following Offices of Exchanges:

1. Honolulu
2. San Francisco
3. Chicago

The selection of routes to Brunei is under USA Postal Administration Jurisdiction. As far as USA is concerned, we only have an agreement on EMS (Express Mail Service) for priority delivery.

All other mail is treated equally as ordinary local mail, once they arrive in Brunei.

Letters are delivered much faster than printed matter, small packets as they are subjected to certain procedure within the laws and regulations of Brunei Postal Laws, Customs Act and any other relevant rules and regulations of Brunei Government. 'Annoyed Trader' may give us more information with regard to his/her mail to enable us to further investigate by meeting the Head of Operations, Brunei Postal Services Department, Brunei Darussalam.

- Haji Azari bin Mohd Ali,
- Post Master General

I wish to refer to the news headline "Critical care gets critical" reported by Achong Tanjong & Azaraimy HH published on July 31, 2005.

We noted that the second headline 'Kidney transplants in the offing' may be misleading. Actually the kidney transplant is not in the offing.

The Ministry is currently in the process of planning the upgrade of surgical procedures including kidney transplantation.

- Dyg Hjh Fatmah Bte PJDSMDSU (Dr) Hj Md Jamil
- For Permanent Secretary,
- Ministry of Health, Brunei

My daughter recently got accepted to Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).

First of all, I must says that I really appreciate the university accepting my daughter., though I was annoyed and frustrated over the way the 'Hal-ehwal Pelajar' (HEP) staff treated her when she went to lodge in her application.

We drove all the way from Kuala Belait and were rudely turned away by the staff, as my daughter was not wearing a headscarf (tudong).

She was otherwise dressed appropriately i.e. in long sleeves and slacks.

As my daughter was about to hand in her application to one of the staff, she was curtly told that they can't accept her application as she was not following the university's dress ethics code.

She tried explain that it had been a long ride from KB to the university, but they still refused to accept the application.

Because of this we had to return the next day - making another long trip to the university.

I just do not understand what the big fuss was all about! The dress code states "Non-Muslim female students are welcome to wear the headscarf".

Doesn't this mean that it is optional?

I just didn't like the way the administration staff treated my daughter.

Why couldn't they be a bit courteous?

- Irritated Mom, KB

This is in reference to a letter in the Borneo Bulletin dated July 30 on the qualifying standards set by this association.

The qualifying standard is only a guideline for the selection committee.

Selection for International competitions including the Sea Games is done by the selection committee of the association in consultation with the Department of Youth and Sports.

Any complaints or unhappiness by any athlete is to be brought to the attention of the association or the Department of Youth and Sports and not to the newspaper.

The department of Youth and Sports have sent quite a number of athletes this year to participate in the Islamic Solidarity Games in Saudi Arabia and also Arafura Games.

Unfortunately the times recorded by most of them were quite poor except for one or two.

As quite a large number was already given a chance to go for the Arafura Games and the standards shown was not that impressive we had decided to set these standards for further competitions.

Anyone reaching the standards or near the standards will be analysed by the selection committee including members from Brunei Amateur Athletic Association and Jabatan Belia dan Sukan.

- By Chairman of Selection Committee of Brunei Amateur Athletic Association

Students told to evaluate courses conducted by lecturers

In response to the opinion "Are Reviews Taken by Students Taken Seriously?" on July 27 2005, Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) would like to clarify that the 'lecturer evaluation system' raised by Disapointed Ex-Student is actually a course evaluation system which is conducted by all lecturers at the end of each semester.

The objective is for lecturers to get feedback on the courses they teach from their students for their own efforts to improve their courses.

Advertisements for lecturers in any university is a continuous process because of faculty expansion and the usual gaps that arise when lecturers reach their end of employment contract or retire.

UBD appreciates your concerns and interests. For further inquires, please do not hesitate to contact UBD Public Relations Office or email pro@admin.ubd.edu.bn.

- Public Relations Office
- Universiti Brunei Darussalam,
- BSB

I fully agree with the letter published in Weekend on July 30 written by Hjh NA, KB.

There should be SPCA in Brunei to take care of unwanted pets that are left behind by their irresponsible owners. By setting up SPCA, numbers of stray dogs and cats would be reduced; SPCA will take these unwanted animals from the street and put them into a shelter.

Animals in the SPCA will be vaccinated to prevent disease like rabies and also the animals will be neutered or spayed to prevent them from producing unwanted litters.

All animals taken in by the SPCA will be put up for adoption therefore people who would like to own a pet could visit SPCA to get a pet. As mentioned in Hjh NA's letter, there should be a 24-hour hotline telephone number available for the public to inform about animals in distress.

Like our neighbouring countries, we too must form this organisation without delay.

Malaysia has SPCA in most of its states like Selangor, Malacca etc.

Singapore to has SPCA. We seldom see any stray dogs and cats wondering around the streets in Singapore as these animals have been taken care of by the SPCA.

As SPCA is a non-government and non-profit organisation, we can invite volunteers and seek public's donations to operate the shelter.

Animal lovers like myself, I would very much like to volunteer working in the shelter to help take care of these poor animals.

There are a lot of non-Muslims out there like myself who would like to volunteer to help take care of these poor animals.

Perhaps those who do not want to deal with stray dogs could help take care of animals like cats, rabbits etc, while others will handle all animals including dogs.

With the setting-up of SPCA, the number of stray animals shall be greatly reduced, as these animals will be taken out from the street and relocated in a SPCA shelter.

Also the number of stray animals knocked down by cars and abused by people will be reduced while cases of people attacked by stray dogs will also be reduced.

- Blythe, Berakas

Referring to Hjh N A, KB's Opinion page on Saturday, July 30, 2005, I just want to say that I am touched by your letter as some people had earlier left a bad impression on me when it comes to the issue of stray dogs; but you showed me otherwise.

It breaks my heart to hear complaints about stray dogs (monkeys etc), and people asking the authorities to dispose of them.

I think the more humane way to control strays is to,

I) Neuter them (I would also like to inquire: Why does the government vet only neuter cats and not dogs? Can't we get non-Muslim vets like we have non-Muslim doctors working for the government?),

or

II) like what the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) may do - put the most hopeless cases to sleep in a PAINLESS way.

I'm not really sure of how the authorities here deal with this problem but I hear some people get rid of strays by cruelly poisoning their food.

Who are we to play God and take their lives in such an agonising way?

I totally agree with you that what we really need in this country is the presence of SPCA and when one is formed, I'll be lining up to volunteer!

But how can we set up SPCA in Brunei?

- Be Kind To Animals