Sultan Frowns On Series Of Failures And Faults
Sultan Frowns On Series Of Failures And Faults
Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 July 2009 02:43 Written by Azlan Othman Tuesday, 14 July 2009 06:42
His Majesty delivers the titah
Bandar Seri Begawan - His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei expressed his unhappiness on many issues and made pointed queries during the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) meeting at the Fire and Rescue Department at the Old Airport yesterday.
Also present was His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office.
His Majesty clearly made his dislike known on the initiative by government agencies in lobbying for donations for the monarch's birthday celebration.
The monarch questioned why the Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) is not among the compulsory core subjects in the new Sistem Pendidikan Negara 21 (SPN21).
The ruler wanted to know why low ranking officials travel alone to attend meetings while big groups accompany high-ranking officers when they travel abroad.
The Sultan also expressed his unhappiness as the initiative to boost self-sufficiency in food supply kicked-started only after the monarch himself repeatedly mentioned about food security in many of his titahs.
His Majesty said in his titah that the NDMC should be forward thinking in looking at events that have not happened but could occur at any time such as terrorism, tsunami and earthquake in the country. His Majesty added that he prays to Allah for the nation to be free from such calamities.
"What are the steps taken or our preparations? We should not laugh at this matter. In Brunei, we hardly see big floods and landslides. But recently such phenomenon (big floods) occurred and the flood reached a level hardly seen before and landslides damaged many houses, buildings and also claimed lives.
"These remind us to be cautious and not to wait for such calamities to happen. This is not right. Now, we are facing Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, a scary global catastrophe where many social activities have been affected including celebrations in Brunei marking the birthday, which have been postponed. However, I believe the celebratory atmosphere and spirit is still in the air," His Majesty said.
Touching on His Majesty's celebration, the monarch thanked all parties who were involved in making the preparations. The celebrations are organised by the government, private sector and individuals and the monarch appreciates such efforts.
"But I want to comment on the initiatives taken by the government all of which don't please me, as they seem to burden the people. The organising committees make big plans by lobbying earnestly and ask the public to donate. Big companies are the main target.
"Those who come forward to donate would be given publicity, and gatherings would be held to accept the donations. It did not end there. Electronic and print media publish the news where the minister or high ranking officials appear to accept the donation as if the celebration is used to lobby for donation," the Sultan said.
"I am convinced that in the name of celebration and with such a tagline, the response could be overwhelming. But the question lies in whether all people are sincere or are they forced to donate. This should be looked into and scrutinised and not be made into an annual routine or trend.
"Frankly speaking, I don't like the celebration to be used as a tool to attract donations or to accumulate donations. Is the budget not enough or is it not joyful enough?" His Majesty asked.
"I don't encourage wastage or to burden the people. What is more important, the celebration runs smoothly. We organise the event in large scale. In some other instances, we do the budget allocation and then calculate from it. Once the project runs, we demand a company to pay, and on some occasions the company is incapable to pay. The government in turn ends up paying for it. Is this not a disaster? A disaster in burdening the government and bringing misery to the people," the monarch added.
Touching on the Influenza A (H1N1), the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it as a pandemic on June 11, requiring all countries to take precautionary measures against the spread of the virus. Brunei is no exception. From time to time, the nation has and will take preventive measures, but the cases continue to rise with one death already recorded.
"All these are just advices. The most important preventive measure is to temporarily prevent Bruneians from travelling to the affected areas, especially to countries worst affected. But this is not being carried out or thought until a circular was issued by the Prime Minister's Office on July 7, 2009.
"However before this, there were ministries or departments that sent their officials overseas including to the affected countries, even though the officials asked others to refrain from going abroad as the virus could spread to other staff or the individual himself/herself or the family.
"Such officials travelled as instruction was yet to be issued by the PM's Office. This is what I did not like to hear. The Heads of Department work just like a robot with no discretion or common sense.
"They just wait for instructions. If there is no instruction, they will not take any steps even though they are mandated to make certain considerations and take logical steps, especially relating to the safety and welfare of the staff," His Majesty said.
"Whilst we tackle H1N1 through health measures, we also recite doa with 'Qunut Nazilah' or Hajat prayer. The more the better as it is a commendable spiritual weapon in Islam especially when we are running out of options particularly when physical control seems to be ineffective as H1N1 cases continue to rise.
"Is it not appropriate for such spiritual efforts to be multiplied? But as I can see, there is no effort to upgrade this. Hajat prayer at mosques on Friday is not as intense as we would expect.
Qunut Nazilah' is only confined to Friday prayers when it could be extended to other prayers. In addition, there is no guidance or encouragement to the public to recite 'doa' or 'Zikir'. We have many religious officers but not even a single officer is seen handling a special programme, be it on television or radio to inform and lead the public on the importance of 'do& and Zikir' in an effort to protect oneself from such pandemic.
"We hardly see on TV any guidance or information such as 'Don Wirid' or `Zikir' which are good to be read and so on. Do you also have to wait for my order to do that?" the monarch asked his Cabinet Ministers.
"Schools have now reopened but there is yet any initiative to ask the students to recite 'ddoa' before learning to seek for Allah's blessings. Is it difficult to do, when religious officials are aware that children's 'ddoa' or prayers are swiftly answered as they are free of sin. Can't you think about this?" His Majesty asked.
"I wish to highlight another example of a big disaster, which is lack of food resources.
We have been independent for a long time, but the self-sufficiency of rice production is just 3.12 per cent. It's like nothing has been done. Has anyone ever thought of it seriously?
"Has anyone ever mentioned or highlighted such a 'magical' (3.12 per cent) figure among the ministers? No one," the Sultan said.
"Why is it not highlighted? Is it because we are scared to plan until I myself mention it repeatedly? Imagine if the supplier stops supplying us due to this crisis or other causes. I wish to mention a neighbouring country as an example whereby their self-sufficiency is 70 per cent. But they still continue and plan to go for 100 per cent self-sufficiency.
"After I repeatedly brought up this matter, the concerned ministry answered the call and praise to Allah, I am now glad to hear that in 2010 we will achieve self-sufficiency of 20 per cent and 60 per cent in 2015. This is the way to prepare and counteract disaster in the form of shortage of food supply and this is the way of looking at matters and not just with a 'wait and see' attitude.
"Six months ago, I attended an Islamic Religious Council meeting where 1 brought up the issue of a huge balance of `Zakat' money, which reached over $100 million. What puzzled me was that why such a huge balance existed. What was the meaning of such balance?
"Is it right that there are no more eligible recipients to receive them? In this context, I emphasised three categories of recipients namely the poor, needy and debtors or `Al-Gharimini.
"Is it true that there are no more poor, needy and 'Al-Gharimin' categories in Brunei? The answer is, they still exist So, if they still exist, how come such a huge balance existed? Why I raised this matter was, the issue of poverty, if left unchecked, would lead to disaster," said the ruler.
"Haven't we heard of people committing many criminal activities due to poverty? People kill due to poverty, people change religion due to poverty. Are these not a problem? This also goes to those who are in debt.
"Praise to Allah, the Islamic Religious Council has settled dues of 190 people under the 'AlGharimin' category for those under the national housing scheme, landless scheme, Kg Sg Bunga and Yayasan housing schemes amounting to two million, three hundred and seventy seven thousand, five hundred and seventy five and fifty four cents, ($2,377,575,54). Money that is still left unspent is around $50 million. Disaster is not just confined to flood, landslide, HINT but also many others," His Majesty said.
"In the field of administration and management, the Islamic Religious Council has outlined a guideline to send officers and staff overseas. There are instances whereby some ministries and departments are not aware of their staff welfare when sending them overseas.
"An officer travels alone to attend meetings, seminars and so on. This matter only happens to low ranked officers while directors (and above) as well as ministers, deputy ministers will be accompanied by many officers and staff and possibly with the diplomatic staff for consultations and discussions.
"Aren't there any similar needs for low ranked officers? The officer travels alone and possibly travels without the knowledge of the diplomatic staff. Is it a right approach or is the idea mature enough?" His Majesty asked.
"I believe it is not a mature idea but an idea that is selfish, an idea that doesn't show concern towards the subordinates.
"I do not see the rationale behind sending an officer alone. In addition, there are risks should the person need any assistance, whom to consult or should the person fall ill. These are the disasters faced by the officer who travels alone.
"If an officer is sent, then whom will he or she refer to in order to exchange ideas should the matter relating to policy arises. The managers and administrators should look into this matter.
"Another issue is when the travelling officer is a woman or when male and female officers who have no legitimate relationship travel together. This is worst in the context of religion, which could jeopardise the family," opined His Majesty.
"Several months ago, we were busy with SPN21. When I look at it, there is an obvious weakness. I found that Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) is not in the compulsory core subjects along with Malay, English, Mathematics and Science.
"It is astonishing to note that IRK sits together along with other subjects including music and drama. It is surprising to see IRK along with music and drama and not with the four compulsory core subjects.
"Why Malay subject is part of the compulsory core? Maybe, it is because it is mentioned in the Constitution as the official language. What is lacking in Islamic religion? It is also in the Constitution," His Majesty asked.
"In my opinion, it is more than just a compulsory core as it is the religion from Allah that is obligatory for all Muslims, which otherwise would become a sin for them," the monarch said.
"If the religious subject is taught along with drama and music, the latter (drama and music) would certainly be popular, highly in demand than the former (religious subject) in the context of mankind's psychology. Is this not a problem?" asked His Majesty.
-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
Related News: Some Government Servants ‘Robots' His Majesty Says | Royal Dressing Down For Indecisive Heads Of Dept
Subscribe to this comment's feed
written by WORST.........!?!? , July 14, 2009
written by GDNY7910 , July 14, 2009
bekeraja atu biar ikhlas demi raja, agama, bangsa dan negara...jangan hanya kerana kemewahan yg telah dianugerahkan...abiskita butakan mata...tulikan telinga dan duduk goyang kaki...
written by pin3apple , July 14, 2009
written by Aku sayang my Sultan!! , July 14, 2009
written by bruneikucinta , July 14, 2009
written by Rurouni Hayashi , July 14, 2009
written by AHB , July 14, 2009
written by A Reader in Reading, UK , July 14, 2009
With regards to self sufficiency, Brunei has to first resolve the issue of labor/population in my opinion. Why can't BRUNEI be like Singapore, Australia, Canada accepting skill-shortage migration? Brunei is recently open up his Permanent Resident Permit for those rich who have done many donations to the Government sectors. Why not those blue-collar workers or farmers from Indonesia? I know Bruneian would consider them as low class citizens. I believe they are happy to farm in Brunei. They are productive and can produce more food to the country in a long run. Sikit sikit jadi Bukit. Bruneian has a culture to work only for HM. Many people don't see farming is working for HM. Improvement should start from polishing culture which may take time to enhance. I'm not saying the current culture is bad. We live in the era of change so we need to catch up.
I believe if Brunei Government subsidies land (already exist but difficult to get for small-scale farmers anyway) to those FDI to set up farming industries and grant all staff PR status after working for 5 years. This will be a big boost in Agriculture . Once people have lived in the country for 5 years, they are parts of the system or economy anyway. We need them then why not give them a longer term security- PR status? Why are Brunei Government so scare of giving away PR?
written by A Reader in Reading , July 14, 2009
written by alhamdulilah.. mudahan saja durang ni sadar , July 14, 2009
Kehadapan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia, kami sebagai rakyat yang sentiasa setia kepada Kebawah Duli, ingin mengucapkan selamat panjang umur dan semoga berkat Negara Brunei yang tercinta ini dibawah pimpinan raja yang berdaulat lagi adil dan bijaksana, Daulat Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik, Daulat..
written by mira , July 14, 2009
written by Anak Jati Brunei , July 14, 2009
Akhir sekali, Happy Birthday to ts not only elderly notice and awaken by your titah but to my surprise younger generation talk about it...it is also awaken younger ones...congratulations your majesty...
written by Oz , July 14, 2009
written by LOT 4144 , July 14, 2009
written by Hamba Allah , July 15, 2009
written by J , July 15, 2009
written by PHAR , July 15, 2009
"Praise to Allah, the Islamic Religious Council has settled dues of 190 people under the 'AlGharimin' category for those under the national housing scheme, landless scheme, Kg Sg Bunga and Yayasan housing schemes amounting to two million, three hundred and seventy seven thousand, five hundred and seventy five and fifty four cents, ($2,377,575,54). Money that is still left unspent is around $50 million. Disaster is not just confined to flood, landslide, HINT but also many others," His Majesty said
This is not an indication of any inclination towards unethical activities though. Therefore those responsible to make sure these debts are cleared must not only think of the loss of profits but think outside the bigger box, ie the effect of them taking action to recover their losses, whether it is worthwhile, while in the long run, yes disaster can take effect in the next generation if we dont put a cap now, it could bring hardship.
Think about the "profits" ie Pahala they will get in their afterlife of thinking and helping to relieve peoples' burden which over this while have affected the families. So do not just think about the financial profits in this world. Imagine if you could give a handful of rice to a family, and the family stomach is full which enable them to work and earn income and give food to their children which help them to study effectively and they become successful people and help the nation towards prosperity. I hope this can open everybody's heart. Amin.
written by Pemilik Hampa , July 15, 2009
Disamping itu pemilik tanah dibolehkan mencari tanah sebagai penganti nya.
Saya pemilik Lot 30177 Jangsak sudah beberapa kali berjumpa Pej Tanah dan Pej Saliran hingga ke hari ini belum lagi selesai, Hampir 10 tahun sudah, berapa org pengarah sudah tukar belum lagi selesai2 nya. Silap2 mati saya perkara ani pun belum dapat selesai. Saya percaya bukan saja saya sorang, malah banyak lagi org lain belum di selesaikan.
Saya buat dalam sini mungkin ada pihak kerajaan lain dapat membaca dan mengelinga.
Kenapa perkara ini inda dapat selesai, mahu tunggu menteri lagi menyelesaikan, mahu tunggu lagi titah HM, dicucuk hidung barukan berasin.
written by A.F , July 15, 2009
written by admiring HM , July 16, 2009
i really hope that most of us realised on our mistakes and snobbish-attitude during working.. let's treat everyone equally but with manners and respect.. i'm sure and i believe that if we (officers and adminiters) respect others, then your workers will also respect you. stop being bossy. just do our work for HM, religious and our country.
i believe that some officers whom only know to give instructions to other people or other workers are trying to cover their weaknesses and giving the job to other workers under them. poor thing! these officers are actually do not know how to do their job and giving it to others instead! and whenever there is something wrong, they only know to complain complain complain!!!!
why is that??? if these officers really know how to do their jobs and are trying to let the others being independent, then i believe that instead of giving complain and not appreciating to them, it is better that the officers teach them properly and giving them another chance to improve. most of the officers and higher ranking administers are lacking of psychology (i believe) in handling the working situation and problems. back to basic people! and we can see there is an answer for anything!
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Hot Topics of the Day
-
Education Course: Australia Much Tougher Than In The UK The courses in Australia are much tougher compared to UK. My own experience,...
-
Don't Underestimate Australian Universities I want to comment about what a writer name ‘honored' commented on the honours...
-
Australia's Postgraduate Scholarship Pay You More (1)The average entry requirement in Australian universities is not lower than...
-
Please Allow Us To Celebrate Valentine! Just a couple more days come Valentine Day. It is a day where people and the...
-
You Have To Do Honours In Australia To Understand I don't agree with the fact that honours degree is the same as masters from UK....
-
Odd Claim From "Prof Canadian" I read with interest an article on Canada Universities by Prof Canadian and I...
-
Don't Fret Over Licence Test Issue I would like to comment on an article entitled Do We Need Stunt Rider Test To...