I sometimes observe tourists being at a loss especially when they choose to walk around unaccompanied.

It looks easy for us who have lived all our lives here in Brunei to walk anywhere we want - but not tourists.

Bandar area seems to be lacking of signs where locations of interest for tourists can be spotted. Clear signs should be set up for the convenience of tourists.

Signs showing our Water Village, Royal Regalia, History Centre, Handicraft Centre and etc should be tastefully displayed.

There are lots more unique quiet spots of interest here in the capital but since we have taken everything for granted we have obviously forgotten to look at our beautiful country from a newcomer's angle.

Starting from a proper walking trail to the museum is a good idea. A small map yet unique and easy to read by tourists should be produced and distributed among hotels.

Once I spoke to a tourists in Bandar who was staying at one of the hotels in town.

He was completely clueless and actually thought the only place worth visiting in Brunei was the Bandar area. He did not even know of Gadong or Kiulap, or any other place of interest in the capital.

There is something missing here, for sure.

Guidance? Lack of observation on what a visitor would need?

Most probably a lack of feedback from us locals.

Once, I wrote an opinion about the importance of getting feedback from people or at least to set up a counter or an e-mail address where by people could contribute positive suggestion to improve the tourist industry in Brunei.

- BruneiBeauty, BSB

Am I wrong or are there more stray dogs living and wandering about Kiarong, where I live, than humans?

Everywhere I go, I am confronted by ownerless pets. These hapless cats and dogs, dumped in vacant blocks by irresponsible humans, wander around looking for food.

It's time pet owners leaned to act humanely and responsibly by firstly, not dumping their unwanted pets and secondly neutering their dogs and cats, so that they will not over populate.

- HN

There are two young boys terrorising some parts of the community and the Law can't do anything because they are minors.

They live in a squatter area. Their father and older siblings are in jail for drugs and their mother has since remarried.

Last week they accosted and robbed my friend's son, when he was walking home alone from the shops.

A few days later, my friend met them and asked why they did it.

They replied that the boy was "slow". Indeed my friend's son is a slow learner, but does this give them the right to bully and rob him?

I have heard that these two terrors allegedly go to the clinic and mix up medical samples.

Authorities there can't do anything, except move the specimens to a higher shelf.

It is alleged that they also go to the old folks home and disturb the inmates.

Is the Law going to excuse them because they are under aged and turn a blind eye to their crimes and just let them grow up to commit more crimes before action can be taken?

We may need to build a reform school to take in such youngsters.

The peace of our community is being disturbed and the name of Brunei Darussalam, the Abode of Peace, is being tarnished by these two ierresponsible people.

- Traumatised Resident, Seria

The recently published news item of a girl being bitten by a neighbourhood dog really caught my attention. A similar situation occurred sometime ago and the child required a few stitches following the attack.

The area we live in, Kg Menglait, has a number of residents who keep dogs as pets.

Following the dog-biting incident in our area, I wrote in to the Borneo Bulletin calling for dog owners to cooperate and not let their dogs run around freely without a leash.

I am happy to add that majority of them have been supportive and understanding.

Unfortunately, one neighbour's dog still runs loose in the neighbourhood, unleashed and unsupervised.

- Mengalait Resident

We have been encouraged not just to rely on the government-housing scheme but to build our homes on the LTS (Tanah Lesen Tumpang Sementara) land.

I have applied to have LTS land, which is approved by the land department.

I had been planning to build my dream home next year for my family but now, due to limited personal bank loans, it is impossible to build a house within only twenty thousand dollars.

Is it possible for us to apply for government housing loan to build on the LTS land?

Please can the authorities help us settle this problem.

- Need House To Live In, Jalan Muara

'Empower' again

With English, most words have two disimilar meanings.

The word 'empower' is one such word. The second meaning is to cause a person (or group of people) to feel confident and in control of their own lives.

This is the intended usage of this word as they are trying to instil a more positive attitude in their employees.

- Andrew Hall
- Lot 4748 Jalan Pandan Empat
- Kuala Belait KA 1931

I am a resident of Spg 102, Jalan Dadap, Kilanas.

For the past eight years, we have been sending letters to the authorities asking for a better road but action has not yet been taken.

The authorities were kind enough to provide us with a nice explanation such as "does not meet the criteria", "no budget" and so on.

For so many years, our road has been only covered with stones. Our road is bumpy and dusty and it can also damage our cars. The situation becomes even worse during the rainy season.

We request the authority concerned to look into our problem because as 'rakyat' it is our right to deserve every single development that had been offered by the Government.

- Frustrated Resident

As a recent visitor to your beautiful country and having stayed in a prominent Five star hotel, I took advantage of a recommended visit to a suggested tourist attraction over the border in Sarawak.

I had a rental car and found to my dismay I had to park a long way from the immigration post which necessitated a considerable walk.

I realise there may be traffic reasons for preventing parking but would lie to suggest a shuttle service could be provided in a mini bus or such or one of those purple buses to help tourists and other visitors to make the experience more enjoyable.

Otherwise I enjoyed my stay immensely.

- Chris Latham

A friend's 1-year old daughter recently came down with a fever. As it was still early and clinics were still closed, she decided to take her daughter to the A&E.

This was on Saturday, 21/05/2005 around 7am and she was attended by a non-local male doctor. She told the doctor about her child's fever which was in the range of 39 degrees C and which the daughter had been having for over 24 hours. She also informed the doctor that her child did not have a cold and was not coughing.

The doctor did not check the child apart from the usual ritual of listen-to-the-chest-using-the-stethoscope.

He then proceeded to prescribe the child a 5-day course of antibiotics without any explanation.

This is what bothers me.

I am no medical doctor but I have read that one does not take antibiotics to cool a fever unless the fever has been going on for more than three days which means that the fever most probably is due to a bacterial infection and needs to be treated with antibiotics.

In this case, the fever had only been going on for a day. Surely the doctor knows this simple and basic rule? As it turned out, after a few course of the antibiotics, my friend's daughter suffered bouts of diarrhoea.

She then called me since I have small children of my own. I told her to go to the hospital again to get a second opinion and she did so.

The second time around, she was met by a local female doctor who told her that the antibiotics might have been the reason for her daughter's diarrhoea and she was told to stop the antibiotics immdiately as the daughter did not need it at all.

This doctor was patient and she took her time to explain to my friend the reason for the fever and the medications she was prescribing.

I sincerely hope the Ministry of Health will look into this matter seriously.

- WhiteVenus