The team of Muhd Haziq Siddeq Asmad, Muhd Adi Aiman Hi Rusli and Farah Diyana Abdul Harris will be representing Brunei for the first time in a regional competition.

Both Muhd Haziq Siddeq and Mhud Adi Aiman are from Maktab Duli Pengiran Muda Al-Muhtadee Billah (MDPMAB), while Farah is from Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan (MSPSBS).

They were selected based on their performance during the national Asean Quiz Competition organised by the Brunei chapter of Asean COCI (Committee On Culture and Information) in August.

Prior to the departure, there was a flag-handing ceremony where Muhammad Hadi Muhammad Melayong. Director of information as the Chairman of Sub-commitee for Asean information presented the Brunei flag to the team.

There was also a doa selamat recited by Hj Abd Rahman Hj Mat Yassin.

The top three individual winners for the regional Asean Quiz Competition will be presented with cash prizes of US$1,000, US$700 and US$500, respectively.

The top three winning teams will get cash prizes of US$1,200. US$1000 and US$800, respectively.

Special prizes will also lie awarded for three categories: Most Popular. Most Friendly and Best Team Player.

The Asean Quiz is held every two years and this year's theme is "Towards Building Asean Community".

Siddeq who was presented with "Best Participant Award" during the national competition is quite active in school activities.

"In terms of competition. at the same as the Asean Quiz I was also participating in four other competitions in the same week - the Town and Country Planning competition, an interhouse debate competition (within the college) and also a chess competition." said Siddeq who is presently the president of the Debate Club in MD.

"We (MD team) spent quite a lot of time reading on stuff but we found out that (during the competition itself) we actually have to dig in into a lot of other resources." said Siddeq on the initiatives the team has made.

"Going online is not enough. I found out that our school textbooks actually give more information." he continued adding that, "basically. if you're learning about one country it is generally hard but multiply it by 10 countries and it gets pretty challenging."

In terms of preparation, Siddeq said that it's not an easy task to measure the knowledge one has or whether it's enough so "you never really know if you* re really prepared."

According to him, being involved in the competition has nude him more aware of what is going on in his country as well as regionally.

"You don't have to be an expert I don't think I'm an expert (on Asean) so I'm quite lucky to be here," Muhd Adi told The Brunei Times at Brunei International Airport.

"The quiz can he on anything like culture, economics, administration, buildings ... anything to do with the country." said the 18-year-old.

Farah. the only female representative and from MS has joined a lot of extra curricular activities (ECA) in the past few years of secondary school but has never competed in such events apart from the Borneo Global Issues Conference (BGIC).

"When it comes to history and all that, it's not that hard because it's all facts but as for recent news, it's hard to keep updated. I read quite a lot but don't think I'd be able to memorise everything," said Farah.

The team will he in the Philippines for five days. Accompanying them is Hjh Hamsah Dam Kerna Hj Jaya, the Head of International Affairs at the information Department, the leader of the delegation and Irwan Hj Abu Bakar, the team's coach as well as two other officers from the Ministry of Education. Hj Mill Sofri Hj Md Said and Hjh Selapah Hj Usin.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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