Uniformed Participants Put On Great Show For Get-Together

By:  Izah Azahari & Danial Norjidi

Bandar Seri Begawan: The final get-together ceremony (in the Brunei-Muara District) for His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's 67^th birthday celebration was held yesterday in the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

It saw a great number of uniformed personnel as well as representatives from various organisations and associations together as one on the field of Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar 'Ali Saifuddien in full patriotic flavour as they took part in the morning's event.

The, Borneo Bulletin had the opportunity to interview a few of the supervising teachers and the heads of uniformed personnel at the field.

Among those that the Bulletin had the opportunity to interview was Pengiran Khairel Putra bin Pengiran Ahmad, a Supervising Teacher for the Awang Semaun Secondary School Police Csdets, who said that a total of 100 Police Cadets students from 12 schools in the Brunei-Muara District were involved in the event.

"The students from Awang Semaun Secondary School Police Cadets, for example, are all from the senior class who have had extensive training in marching so all I had to do was just refresh their memories and take them through their phases so that when they come here all they have to do is just to follow orders because they would already know every movement that they have to make," he explained.

Pg Khairel Putra later added that the cadets would only need three sessions to practise, as they are different from other students in that they have already learned the basics of marching in unison, so all that was left to do was to fine-tune their synchronised movements.

"Despite the rain that poured down, the Police Cadets managed to stay in formation to show their high discipline as Police Cadets are trained to be," he said.

Also among the uniformed personnel involved in yesterday's festive celebration were the Army Cadets.

Major Fadzley, the Commanding Officer of the Army Cadets, told the Bulletin that the cadets had been split into three groups, with one group responsible for flag-carrying, while another took part in activities on the stage, and another was present for the 'Menjunjung Ziarah'  ceremony.

The cadets, who hail from various local educational institutions, were aged between 16 and 21 years.

In preparations for the event, the cadets took part in various training activities, including coordination with the organisers as well as at Rimba Camp.

Major Fadzley confirmed that the cadets were proud to be a part of the procession, and added, "All of them are students who took part in clubs at various colleges related to youth cadets.

"This is a way for them to become Bruneian citizens who are not only excellent in their studies, but also in self-discipline as well as to learn more about their future careers and so forth."

Also on the field were 100 personnel from the Brunei-Muara Red Crescent Division headed by Director Hj Md Suhaimi bin Hj Ibrahim, who stated that this year, they covered three areas - the first part was the performance, and then the get-together as well as patrolling around the field to take care of the public present at the event.

"We participate in this event yearly where the personnel from the Brunei-Muara Red Crescent Division are made up of students from various educational institutions in the BruneiMuara District, along with some volunteers.

"This year, we can see that there is less of a crowd compared to the previous years. As for the heavy rain and strong winds that we experienced earlier, we are grateful that there were no injuries," said Hj Md Suhaimi.

Meanwhile, among the uniformed associations that also did not miss out on the opportunity to take part in this year's celebration was the Girl Guides Association, headed by Chief Commissioner Hjh Siti Hafsah binti Hj Abdul Halim, with 200 Brownies and Girl Guides from various primary and secondary schools in the Brunei-Muara District as well as the Girl Guides Association's Administrative Committee members.

This year the Girl Guides Association was invited by the Co-Curriculum Department to perform the national anthem and the sovereign cheers along with other uniformed personnel and representatives of various organisations and associations.

 - Borneo Bulletin Online. Monday September 30th, 2013.