First of all, we would like to thank "Museum Care" for visiting Brunei Museum, Jalan Kota Batu after 15 years, and for his/her comments, which appeared in the Borneo Bulletin's Opinion column on March 5 2005.

Our top priority is to provide excellent services to the public, both in terms of facilities and exhibitions.

Many improvements have been done to the Museum itself, since Museum Care's last visit.

For the last 15 years, Brunei Museum, Jalan Kota Batu had seen many changes especially to the exhibition galleries, notably Gallery 1 - Islamic Art Gallery was established in 1990, Gallery 2 - Oil and Gas Gallery (renovated in 2000), Gallery 3 - Natural History Gallery will be renovated this year, as planned. Gallery 5 - Archaeology and History Gallery was fully renovated in 1998 and Gallery 6 is the latest exhibition, on Brunei's Sunken Treasures opened in 2000. Besides permanent exhibitions, the Department also organises temporary exhibitions at the lobby.

Our records show that the air conditioning system was perfectly working the day "Museum Care" came to Brunei Museum on February 19th.

He/she may agree that to maintain the air condition to its full operation on a building that is 33 years old is a great challenge, however, the Brunei Museum management will continue to monitor the situation, with continued support from the Electrical Department, for better improvement.

It is true, standing fans are placed at certain locations in the Brunei Museum for extra comfort.

Some of them were placed near benches and visitors can use them freely.

As for this new financial year, these standing fans will be replaced with air coolers.

The Oil and Gas or Gallery 2 is fully sponsored by the Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd and was renovated in 2000. We note that few of the exhibitions in this gallery are out of order, especially the electronic gadgets. They are prone to damage, especially due to prolonged use.

The Brunei Museums management is fully aware of this and appreciates the care taken by visitors to prolong the lifespan of these gadgets.

The Brunei Museums Department is aware of the challenging responsibilities in providing a comfortable and free public service facilities.

Nevertheless, the Brunei Museums Department fully praises the public support and highly appreciates their comments and suggestions and will continue to provide the best services to visitors.

- Public Relations Officer
- For Director, Brunei Museums Department

I am writing to complain about the slow services provided at the airport.

I regularly go to Singapore and I usually choose the morning flight on Thursday.

We're informed by RBA that we need to check-in at least 2 hours before departure so I usually make sure that I am at the airport by 8.30am as the flight is at 10.40am.

Check in is never a problem as the counters are always open by the appointed time.

It's the immigration counters, which take some time.

This year alone, I've gone to Singapore three times on the Thursday morning flight. And on these occasions, I had to wait until around 9.45am before I was allowed to go through to the immigration checkpoint.

- RoyalSky Member

I would like to report an extremely distressing incident, which happened early this week at the Berakas Forest Reserve. We were having a small family picnic and generally having a good time, relaxing and spending time with family on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

We were all down by the seaside, playing in the water and witnessing the sun set, when we saw a repeatedly flashing torchlight, aimed at our direction. There were a number of men at the top of the cliff, which is the picnic area, flashing their torchlights and shouting "HHUUU, HHUUU!!"

They were motioning us to come back up. How rude that was!

We all meekly obeyed the men's order but there was an annoyed couple that inquired why we were being signaled in such a rude manner. One man, who said he was the security guard, said that he was merely following orders from his superiors, that the park was closing at half past six.

I understand that he was following orders but I do not think that hollering and flashing torchlights the way they did was a good mannered way of informing people of closing time.

I didn't also realise that there was a signaling system, but I still think it was not appropriate.

Imagine if it was tourists being treated in this manner, I am sure the good name of Bruneians will be sullied.

What happened to our courtesy and good manners? They could have easily gone down to the beach and told the people politely that it was almost closing time.

I hope the Forestry Department will respond to this complaint and remedy a solution.

- Disappointed Beach Goers

I was surprised to find out a latest report that said there were more than 400 crimes involving Bruneian Victims in our neighbour country for a year. That means on the average it is more then one a day. That is a lot considering the fact that we are just visitors.

That brings me to a point especially on car theft. I understand that some thieves in Miri are targeting Brunei cars parked at hotels or at the airport.

These are very prominent places - especially the airport.

It is true that if Brunei cars are parked in the airport, it will surely be stolen or at least have spare parts stolen.

It seems that theft in this type of prominent places are easily spotted and stopped but there just seems to be not enough action.

We just wish that the authorities in the country would help assure us that it is a safe place to visit.

- 4 Wheels Missing

I am writing to thank the Borneo Bulletin for publishing on Saturday March 12 2005 the letter by MCL, KB on the Opinion page, entitled 'Horrifying case of Wrong Diagnosis'.

The writer MCL did not furnish specific details as to the name of the patient and date of admission and operation.

Nevertheless, the Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Health has investigated the matter and found that none of the cases operated for appendicitis (inflamed appendix) at Suri Seri Begawan Hospital during and around the stated time had been wrongly diagnosed, as implied in the title.

However, we would like to highlight that in the early stages of appendicitis, patients may and can present lower abdominal pains that are often similar to other conditions, including urinary tract infections, as in the case.

And it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate between the two conditions.

We would also like to address the second question of whether doctors employed by the Ministry have any experience or not.

In this matter we wish to stress that the Ministry of Health has always strived to provide high quality patient care, especially in appointing appropriately skilled and experienced doctors.

We also strive to ensure that our doctors are not only trained but continue to upgrade their skills and knowledge while in service, through our Continuing Medical Education (CME) Programmes.

Therefore, we welcome concerns by the public regarding issues such as that raised by MCL.

Anyone concerned may contact the Chief Executive Officers or the Customer Care Department at our hospitals or directly to the Director of Hospital Services, Ministry of Health, Brunei Darussalam.

- Dr Hjh Norlila Binti Dato Paduka Hj Abdul Jalil,
- Acting Director of Hospital Services
- Ministry of Health,
- Negara Brunei Darussalam

I would like to share an incident which occurred to me last night, and I seek the advise of the relevant authorities to solve this problem.

We were dinning in a restaurant at a hotel.

At about 9.30pm, some customers came in and started to smoke.

As far as we know, all restaurants in Brunei should by now have received a notice from the municipal board stating "restaurants should be smoke free".

We asked the waitress about this, and she said this was a problem they faced all the time. If they did not provide an astray, the clients will just drop the ash on the carpeted floor or on the table. The waitress had tried to tell the smokers, but the smokers had just ignored their request.

I think the authority can clarify the following few questions

1) Is it true that the authority has made it "compulsory" that all the restaurants should be "smoke free" or, is it only at "air conditioned restaurants" that this rule occurs?

Or is it still up to the owner to decide to have the restaurant be a smoking restaurant or otherwise. If it is not a "law as yet", then, of course the diners have every right to smoke. If it is already a "law", is the restaurant owner obliged to put up a "non smoking" sign in the restaurant and take action when there is a smoker?

2) If it is already a "law", in that case, if the waiter has tried but the customer did not oblige, is there a telephone number that we can call (after hours) so that officers from the department can inspect and take some action?

Smoking is not only a hazard to the smoker him/herself, but passive smokers will also be affected. This will create a heavy burden on the government (to provide medical care for them) later on.

Also, has the workers any right to complain to the labour department if the owner of the restaurant refuses to take any action to make the work place a "safe environment"?

This not only applies to the restaurant's eating area, but also to those who work in the office where the manager/boss is a heavy smoker, and the workers are "forced" to be passive smokers.

- FOO C P

I would just like to voice out my frustrations on the status of Pejabat Buruh. My case was submitted some three months ago but up to now I haven't heard from the officer in charge in regard to my case in Pejabat Buruh.

I have given them enough time even if they needed another half year to settle a case.

I call them up from Monday to Friday, all I get is no one to answer the call or if they do happen to pick up the receiver, the message gets passed to an officer who is at a meeting or not in at the moment.

I find this so unbelievable.

All I needed is confirmation on my case or just to follow up with it but it really frustrates me because I couldn't even get a response on that.

Even if I dropped by the office it wouldn't be of any help because I can't even get an appointment to see the officer.

- Desperately Crying For Help

Referring to views expressed by " Concerned Public" in Borneo Bulletin March 12, 2005 on the demolition of the King Kau Association, I too have another concern.

The building is now in the midst of being demolised and the contractor is using an earth mover to break up the structure. However the roof of this building is made of asbastos, and the dust that results from the breaking of the roof is spreading in all directions.

There should be a recommended practice that asbastos roof must be removed carefully and packed in air tight bags / container and remove from site for disposal at designated area.

The relevent authority should see that this is done.

As this work is being conducted in the middle of the town, what measures are in place to minimise noise and dust that results from the demolition and the subsequent construction?

- ISO14001