What can you do with Br$202million?

Za’im Zaini of the Borneo Bulletin reported an interesting fact on what could be used with the Br$202million (or around USD150m) subsidy of gas and diesel last year from the Brunei Government:

- 2,880 units of low-cost housing;
- 20 health centres;
- 12 schools;
- 170km of new roads;
- 100,000 new computers for schools; and
- 1,400 scholarships for students on a first degrees course overseas.

Other interesting facts:

- The $202m subsidy was the highest since the introduction of subsidies in 1978;
- The subsidies paid for 2007 on premium 97 gasoline per litre is $0.3293, super 92 is $0.3207 per litre, regular $0.4127 and diesel $0.4990;
- According to the current market price, subsidies paid on premium 97 gasoline per litre is $0.49, super 92 is $0.48 per litre, regular $0.55 per litre and diesel $0.67 per litre;
- Gasoline remains the highest in petroleum products used as in 2007 with over 250 million litres; in 2006 it was more than 300 million litres;
- Brunei’s price for gasoline is the lowest priced in the region per litre at a rate of $0.53 per litre as well as diesel at $0.31 per litre.

Please conserve energy.

Energy-saving is the new Brunei lifestyle

…said the Yang Berhormat Minister of Energy. Yes I agree, 100 percent. The minister has cautioned Bruneians that time to act is NOW and that we should be ready to face the time when reliance on hydracarbon resources as income can no longer be continued.

According to the local paper, the e-Savings marathon held last Saturday for 12 hours starting from 9 a.m. revealed that Bruneians consumed more energy; at approximately 5,337 MW of electricity used that day with an increase of about 107MW from readings taken from the same period of time on April 19 which was an initial run of the marathon.

Today, the paper reported that officials cited the main reason for the increase was due to the hot weather on that day and that a number of events happened in the evening, like the final of ASTRO’s Akademi Fantasia so families stayed indoor to watch it. [Saturday was indeed very hot, at 33◦C]

Some members of the general public have come up with ideas on conserving energy such as cycling to work, reducing the use of electrical appliances and car-pooling which are all a good start. I was thinking more to using hydro or wind power to generate electricity due to Brunei’s climate condition. This is yet to be studied I know.

Book your wedding venue now

Gone were the days when there would be a ‘gotong-royong’ or working together, extending hands for a Malay wedding (bad) even if the host is not related to you but are just neighbours. Almost gone would be erected tents in your garden and your neighbour’s and this means no more hot and sweaty wedding to go to (good). Business would be good as well as Bruneians love weddings and there is no week of the month without a wedding invitation. And the sad thing would be you would be inviting less people as you tried to limit the number of guests to fit in the wedding venue (bad).

You don’t have to think about the mess after the wedding (good) but you may be wasting food where there would be left-overs (bad) and Islam forbids wastage. You would be spending more on the decorations (good for the bride and groom) and you would be spending less on invitation cards as you have limited guests (good and bad).

Yes I am talking about the trend of Malay wedding at the moment – holding your wedding at a public venue and not your own home. Only yesterday I attended one, which was for a close relative, held at one of the popular wedding venues among Bruneians now.

As I was sitting next to the grandma of the bride yesterday, making conversation with the old but witty lady, she said something that struck me. She asked, ‘Does anyone hold wedding at their homes nowadays?’ I tried to answer politely by saying that there are others who still do but this is the trend, referring to the wedding venue. She quickly quipped ‘Ah, the change of time and I should adapt myself with the change!’

As long as you can afford to pay for a wedding venue, why not isn’t it? The most popular is no doubt, the Rizqun International Hotel in Gadong and I heard that you have to book for a year in advance! Wow. Another popular choice for a well-to-do is the JP Polo Club in Jerudong but this is also popular with other corporate functions so I guess, book a year in advance too. The pressure of marriage preparations, and this is just one of them.