Grazie Mauri, one of Chef Mauri’s outlets, is celebrating its second year anniversary and in conjunction with the celebration, Grazie Mauri is currently having 50 per cent discounts on all its pasta and pizza.

According to Chef Mauri, the seafood pasta, Pizza Hawaiana, lamb shank and chocolate pudding are the most favourable dishes in the restaurant.

The discount promotion will be running until May 28.

Meanwhile, for those who want to chill out and have a good time either with business counterparts or simply spend an afternoon with friends, Grazie Mauri is also promoting their “High-Tea Happy Hours”.

With any drinks ordered from their menu, patrons can also enjoy a free cake. The flavours include black forest, carrot cake, mocha, chocolate, pavlova, mango mousse and many more.

For those who want to spend quality time with families, Grazie Mauri is also offering its Sunday lunch, which is available from 12-4pm with $12.50 for adults and $6.99 for children aged between five and 11 years old.

Children below four years are entitled for a free lunch and ice cream treat. Patrons may either choose from chicken, beef or lamb to satisfy their appetite.

Chef Mauri is also giving away food vouchers for anyone who could correctly answer the quizzes currently running on Chef Mauri’s Facebook page.

“When I first made Chef Mauri’s Facebook, we initially had 1,000 followers and have gradually increased to 9,000 followers,” said Chef Mauri.

Villa Mauri and Prego Mauri are also having their Express Lunch, which is available from 12pm until 3pm at $9.90 with free soft drinks (applicable only at Villa Mauri) and free salad or soup at Prego Mauri in Kuala Belait.

For the next few months. guest chef Moreno will be serving his specialties of Italian, Mexican and Spanish dishes such as Duck Ragout served with home-made ribbon pasta, Snapper-Fillet bathed in a Provencal sauce with roasted capsicum and potatoes, and Chicken Breast dipped with cheese, spinach, mushrooms and mashed potatoes. Chef Moreno will also impress with his command of putonghua having lived in China for 10 years, and he is also picking up Indonesian, having married his wife Anita a year ago.

There’s a new kid on the block and its called modesto bistro & grill. Located at Abraco Building in Batu Besurat (right next to Shabulicious & Neometro Furniture) the place is quite huge with a well appointed interior. I quite liked the ID and logo design. The chef is Indonesian and formerly worked in the kitchens of Shangrila Hotel Jakarta.

Part of his repertoire includes such classics like prawn salad, shrimp bisque, steak, lamb cutlets, and grilled salmon. Prices are quite reasonable for this market segment, i.e. young, working professionals and families having a special night out. Give them a call on 2332000 for reservations.

When the British Foreign Secretary was in Brunei for the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting last month, William Hague requested a meeting with Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Haji Awang Abu Bakar bin Haji Apong, Minister of Education, to underline the importance he attached to the “education partnership” between the UK and Brunei. The Ministers took the opportunity to launch the BUBA Awards – a new competition for schools in Brunei.

BUBA stands for the British Universities’ Brunei Association, which brings together forty eight (48) British universities and colleges committed to developing their relationship with Brunei. In response to the Brunei government’s focus on economic diversification, the knowledge economy and research, and the emergence in Brunei of strong partners for British universities, BUBA aspires to a more strategic role. BUBA’s members seek to involve Bruneian academics and institutions in their own research networks. The “BUBA Awards” are intended to advertise that opportunity amongst future generations of Bruneian researchers; and to reinforce the habit of collaboration between the UK and Brunei, strengthening the research base in both countries.

On Friday 27 April the Ministers signed a letter of invitation, addressed by BUBA to the Brunei schools that offer A Level/IB Colleges in Brunei, in terms agreed between BUBA and the Brunei Ministry of Education and strongly supported by the participating schools and colleges. These letters have been sent to all the schools and colleges taking part. Under the scheme, each school will present a “BUBA Award” to the student or students who produce the best short essay on the subject of “Brunei and the Knowledge Economy” and who link their work with research going on at a British university. The eight award winners will receive prizes provided by BUBA, and go forward to a competition at the national level for an overall Award winner.

The British High Commission has also announced an extension – until Friday 29 June 2012 – of the deadline for submitting entries to its Digital Scrapbook Competition, so entrants have a chance to reflect in their submissions events connected with the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen and the run-up to the Olympic Games. High Commissioner Rob Fenn said: “We have already received some strong contenders. I have written to all who met the original deadline. Their achievements will be recognised. But there is so much going on in the UK this summer that we have decided to broaden the scope of our competition, which has become a wonderful way to harness the talents of Brunei’s creative community. With British history in-the-making, this is our chance to witness events through Bruneian eyes”.

The Digital Scrapbook Competition is open to all Bruneian students – past and present – who have something to say about the UK education experience (including, in this extended version of the competition, about the impact on campus life of the Diamond  Jubilee and Olympic year). Send us a short video clip (maximum 3 minutes) which captures the essence of your experience in the UK.

To take part, start collecting images (e.g. activities organised by your local Brunei Student Society or events you have taken part in), sound bites (perhaps of other Bruneians’ feelings about life on campus), weave them together in any way you wish that helps us see British education through your eyes, and upload them onto your online video account (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo). Feel free (but not obliged) to include plans you have made to mark the Diamond Jubilee or to be part of the Olympic Games this summer.

Submit your entry and stand a chance to win an iPhone 4s, an iPad, an iPod Touch, an iPod Nano and an iPod shuffle! The prizes won’t go to the most “professional” production, but rather to the film which most powerfully conveys a personal experience of education in the UK.

CEO and Founder of Global Poverty Project, Hugh Evans, has long been an admired leader in poverty eradication, especially in eliminating the vicious circle of poverty in places of supreme vulnerability in the Sub-Saharan African continent.

The-founder of the Oakwood Foundation began in youth and social entrepreneurship in his early teens and was instantly awestruck by the extreme nature of poverty in Manila. “How do I see myself living in suburban Melbourne compared with the extreme poverty in Manila? The roles could have easily been reversed,” he said.

By the age of 15, he packed his bags, traded the comfort of living in Australia with India after convincing his parents that he wanted to make a change.

Hugh Evans has been greatly influential in spurring thousands of youths in Australia and potentially millions around the world to join the cause and even got the likes of Bono on stage for Australia’s historic Making Poverty History Concert in 2006. He was awarded the Young Australian of the Year in 2004 and Junior Chambers Young Person of the World in 2005.

That concert and his journey had ultimately sparked national interest to recognize that youth movement could help eradicate and alleviate extreme poverty.

Peer education has also helped resolve difficulties among the younger generation in South Africa highlighting the impact of the Global Poverty Project, which Hugh Evans also co-founded. Some people lives’ have changed for the better but one must change their own selves before changing the lives of others.

He has also attracted the likes of Hugh Jackman to be the Global Advisor and an advocate of the Live Below the Line campaign, which challenges people to spend $1.50 for five days to better understand the challenges of extreme poverty.

“Polio is a crippling disease in poverty-stricken nations and it perpetuates a vicious cycle,” he said. Polio, he continued, can cause lifestyle burdens.

Hugh Evans delivered a lecture entitled “Youth and Social Entrepreneurship: An Australian Experience” at the residence of Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, Mark Sawers.

Among those in attendance were the Acting Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Datin Paduka Hjh Adina binti Hj Othman, senior officials, youth leaders, diplomats, NGO representatives as well as youths and business representatives.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin. All pictures courtesy of SnrPablo.

Over the last few years, much effort has been put into the promotion of rice farming in Brunei Darussalam in order to ensure our food security in the coming years. Through the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, the very first Bruneian rice, Beras Padi Laila, was developed. It was a good start but much still needs to be done to meet the long term goal. It is heartening to note that we are leveraging on our neighbours’ considerable expertise gained from their long history of rice farming instead of re-inventing the wheel.

One of the neighbours which has lent a helping hand is Singapore, via its homegrown SunLand Agri-Tech, which has been assisting the government since 2009 in the development of hybrid rice strains. A key difference here is that SunLand is not selling the Sultanate the high-yield rice seeds; rather, it is training the country to develop the variety itself. This collaboration was finally sealed with the signing of a contract between the government and Sunland yesterday.

I always like the way the Singapore High Commissioner, Joseph Koh summarizes things so I thought I’d share his take on the signing with you:

Three options to increase domestic rice production

• First: Award a contract to a foreign team to plant hybrid rice in Brunei, and you buy it from them – no real independence.
• Second: Buy the seeds from a foreign source each season, and you grow the rice yourselves – more local value-add, but still depends on outside for seeds.
• Third: Develop the seeds yourselves, develop new varieties, own the intellectual property rights, and become totally independent.
• Using an analogy, if you are a fish lover, you can buy a fish from a fisherman, or you can buy a fishing rod to catch the fish yourself, or you can learn to build a net and harvest more than three times the fish caught by the ordinary fishermen.

Capacity building

• Taken together, the 5 contracts signed today represent a total package of technology transfer so that Brunei can learn how to make and operate that “miracle net”.
• It is not an ordinary commercial deal to purchase seeds; it is an investment in capacity building.
• In that sense, today, MIPR and Sunland have planted the “Seeds of a New Tomorrow“.
• These “seeds” will blossom with a new crop of Bruneian farmers who will (a) master the techniques of scientific farming, (b) more than triple their normal output, and (c) help Brunei to move closer to its goal of self-sufficiency in rice production.

The significance

• The contract is a living proof of MIPR’s commitment to raise the productivity of Bruneian farmers and the level of agricultural technology in Brunei.
• It is definitely good for Brunei since it would ensure a quantum leap in Brunei’s goal towards increasing domestic rice production.

Win this awesome book! All you need to do is subscribe to anakbrunei.org by entering your email address in the box on the column to the right as per the picture below. Winners will be announced on the weekend. Good luck folks!

The ‘Spirit of the Games’ Art Competition, organised by the British High Commission and the Brunei Art Forum, was launched on 11th April. The deadline for submission of entries, on 14th and 15th May, is fast approaching. For those art enthusiasts in the country, it is not too late to create a painting, sculpture or photography piece, in the theme of the seven London 2012 Olympic values, and British values, of determination, respect, courage, equality, friendship, excellence and inspiration. Entries should be handed in at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Library in the capital on either of the above dates between 10am-4pm.

In addition to winning some great IT prizes, winners of the competition will be invited to the British High Commission’s Queen’s Birthday Party on 12th June at the Empire Hotel, where the official announcement of the winners will be made. Just as London’s National Portrait Gallery is holding a ‘Road to 2012’ exhibition for London 2012, selected entries from the competition will be displayed at the Waterfront Art Gallery in Bandar in a similar exhibition called the ‘Spirit of the Games’. The exhibition will be open for public viewing from 15th June until 27th July, which coincides with the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. As official international sponsors of London 2012, McDonald’s will be giving away meal vouchers to winners and artists whose entries are selected for display.

The Acting High Commissioner, Ms Sunny Ahmed said “we hope that the Spirit of the Games Art Competition encourages Bruneians to pursue their interest in art. The UK supports art and design, especially in these modern times, where one can really make a career out of their passion. It is a matter of obtaining the right skills and techniques to hone one’s talents, and UK art and design schools provide a great platform to do this.”

Aspiring artists in Brunei, who are interested in mastering their skills in art or design, can look to the UK to attend schools and colleges that have great art and design programmes. UK-educated designers are in demand the world over and they have visualised and realised many of the most desired objects of the technological age. For example, London-born designer Jonathan Ive was hired by Apple, where he came up with the design for the iMac and is now the senior vice president of Industrial Design. Since 1996 he has been responsible for leading a design team widely regarded as one of the World’s best. Ive holds a Bachelor of Arts and an honorary doctorate from Newcastle Polytechnic, now known as Northumbria University. In 2003, he was named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London and awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry by The Royal Society of Arts. Other UK educational institutions well known for their art and design programmes include Oxford University, University College London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brunel, Lancaster, Loughborough and Kent. More information can be found by visiting the British Council web site www.britishcouncil.org, or by speaking to the British Council officer at the British High Commission in BSB.

The Spirit of the Games art competition is inspired by the London 2012 Olympics where the focus has not only been on sports but on art and culture as well, with the Cultural Olympiad taking place around the UK during the Olympics. It will be Britain’s biggest ever cultural festival and will offer an unforgettable summer of culture and the arts. From major premieres to local exhibitions, the London 2012 Festival will celebrate Britain’s artistic talent and showcase the best of cultures from around the globe, marking the UK out as one of the great cultural destinations.

The Olympic Park itself has state-of-the-art venues, and there is a wide range of imaginative and inspiring art and culture installations such as the ‘Run’ structure and the ‘Orbit,’ which stands 115 metres high. The Orbit is the tallest art structure in Britain, and offers stunning views over the Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park and across the whole of London.

An impressive programme of permanent art commissions have been integrated with the high-quality British architecture and engineering of the Olympic Park, ranging from bridges and underpasses designed by artists, to planting schemes, security fences and large-scale facades. The Art in the Park commissions and projects have been supported by a number of funders, including the Greater London Authority, Arts Council England, London Development Agency, and Forward Arts Foundation.

More information on the Spirit of the Games art Competition can be found at: www.bruneions.com, and by following the British High Commission and the Brunei Art Forum on Facebook.

Today’s post is brought to you by the folks at the Patent Registry Office (PRO). The PRO is an initiative of the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB), in support of the national innovation ecosystem in line with the BEDB’s mission to grow and diversify Brunei Darussalam’s economy by attracting investments and strengthening local businesses enabled through research and innovation.

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which can be a product or a process that gives a new technical solution to a problem. In exchange for a full disclosure of the invention, a patent provides protection to the owner of the invention for 20 years. This monopoly right will enable the inventor to prevent others from using, copying or making the invention without his consent in the country in which he has obtained patent protection.

Patents provide incentives to individuals by offering them recognition for their creativity and material reward for their marketable inventions. These incentives, in turn, encourage innovation and assure that the quality of human life is continuously enhanced. Patent protection means that the invention cannot be commercially made, used, distributed or sold without the patent owner’s consent. These patent rights are enforceable in court which has the authority to stop patent infringement. Similarly, a court can also declare a patent invalid upon a successful challenge by a third party.

A patent owner has the right to decide who may or may not use the patented invention for the period in which the invention is protected. The patent owner may give permission to or license other parties to use the invention on mutually agreed terms or sell the rights to the invention to someone else. The license fee rewards inventors for their creations and allows licensees to “commercialise” inventions so that consumers can benefit from them. Once a patent expires, the protection ends and the invention enters public domain, that is, the owner no longer holds exclusive rights to the invention and the invention can be commercially exploited by others.

A patent is granted by a national patent office. In Brunei Darussalam, the Patent Registry Office (PRO) at the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) is responsible for the registration of patents.

The first step in securing a patent is the filing of a patent application. The application system in Brunei Darussalam operates on a first-to-file basis, that is, the first person to file an application will have priority over others for the same invention. Patent protection is territorial and is only valid in the country that granted the patent. However, once Brunei Darussalam accedes to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), it would be possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing an ‘international’ patent application via the PCT route.

Patent application forms and other patenting procedures can be complicated as they are technical and legal documents. Therefore, it is very important for the patent application to be carefully drafted in order for it to be effective. Although not a requirement in Brunei Darussalam, an applicant should consider seeking the services of a patent agent for his application or a practicing advocate and solicitor (lawyer) to assist him in the prosecution of his patent application.

For more info please visit the PRO website at www.brunei-patents.com.bn

Food lovers are in for a treat as the Goldiana Cafe and Lounge at the Orchid Garden Hotel is currently having a Penang Hawker’s Food Promotion.

Goldiana Café and Lounge has been transformed to a ‘Hawker Style’ layout with seven stalls serving dishes ranging from Nasi Kandar to delicious Laksa and Nasi Lemak including the famous Char Kway Teow. After all, Penang is famously known as the ‘food paradise’ of Malaysia.

F&B Sales and Promotion Executive, Aztie, told the Bulletin that the Penang Hawker’s Food Promotion is one the most “popular” promotions the hotel has to offer.

“Our next and latest promotion will be the Singapore Food Promotion which we are planning to bring after the conclusion of the Penang Hawker’s Food promotion,” she said, adding that the Penang Hawker’s Food Promotion will end on May 12.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Seafood lovers! Its baaack! For the entire month of May, The Rizqun Coffee House is having its awesome Nelayan Night Food Promotion featuring assorted seafood which is displayed on a boat.

On offer are mussels, satak, crabs, prawns, sea bass, red snapper, kurisi, duai, bakulan, rumahan, stingray, squid, and lots more which are procured FRESH DAILY.

All you need to do is choose what you fancy and tell the chef how you want it cooked, e.g. steamed with soy sauce, masak lemak, rebus kuning, mango sauce, buttermilk, and even sambal menangis!

The promotion is available at $25 per adult and $12.50 per child. Except for Saturday and Sunday, every night is “Nelayan Night” till 10:30pm. For enquiries and reservations, call the Rizqun Coffeehouse at 2423000.

In conjunction with Telekom Brunei Berhad’s (TelBru) sixth anniversary, TelBru organised a Green Hunt challenge for its staff at the Berakas Recreational Park yesterday morning.

The event, which brought together over 150 staff of TelBru and its subsidiaries to take part in a treasure hunt filled with green challenges and riddles, saw participation from 30 teams with each team comprising three members.

The top five performing teams of the challenge won themselves a return flight package to Vietnam for each member, inclusive of accommodation and transportation.

According to IT Planning Manager of TelBru, Awang Hj Asli bin Hj Tengah, in his capacity as the Chairman of the TelBru Green Hunt, the outdoor activity was designed to raise environmental awareness among the TelBru community, provide opportunities for TelBru to build a strong green community support and be involved in green initiatives in addition to strengthening the spirit of teamwork by encouraging staff of all ages to participate in the activity, while enjoying the beauty of Brunei’s natural environment.

The guest of honour for the event was Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications, Awang Abdul Mutalib bin POKSS Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yusof who presented the top five teams with their prizes.

Also present at the event was Acting Chief Executive Officer of TelBru, Tuan Haji Sairul Rhymin bin Haji CA Mohamed as well as TelBru general managers and staff.

–Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin