Paintball, one of few things that some Bruneians seek for in the midst of boredom during the weekend is now no longer possible. The authority has recently raided the paintball ground while a tournament was being conducted and confiscated equipment that costs more than $60,000. Yes it’s a huge amount and they won’t release it as an investigation is still being conducted. As far as I know, the gun, known as the marker, could not be modified at all that you could turn it into a lethal firearm. When a player is out of the game, he/she would be told to put on the barrel sock and lock the marker for safety purposes so that no accidental shot is made. Of course if you get shot you’ll experience bruises here and there, but no pain, no game!

The organizer of Brunei paintball suffers from massive losses from the confiscated items. I’m not blaming the government as a whole but the organizers itself, they know it’s illegal to operate it here and yet they’re opening it to the public like it’s legal to do so. Word of mouth travels quickly than FedEx as Brunei is a small country and the authority has a lot of spies everywhere. On the other hand, the government, what is the main purpose of them banning paintball in Brunei? Is it because the markers are considered as dangerous firearms? Or simply because they see paintball as a violent sport that could corrupt the youths mind? I’m just wondering, with a lot of things being banned around here, our youths may not experience the advancement of the society in today’s world and may be lacking behind one day. Soon, our future generations might be sociopaths as with not many things to do outdoor, one may just stay at home and be a couch potato!

Paintball involves teamwork, cooperation and concentration among each team member for which without them, a team would be incompetent against their opponent. When you’re a leader of a team, this will give you a responsibility to manage as you would devise a plan to where everyone should be stationed at once the game starts. Therefore, isn’t all these factors a vital contributor towards a youth success?

On the other hand, in today’s paper, it was stated that Brunei is ranked the third highest consumer per capita of electricity in Asia overtaking Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and China! A country with a small population but we utilize more electricity than countries that has a population of over a million people! Wow! Shouldn’t the government be more worried and concerned about this huge matter rather than picking on Paintball? Just let it go and legalize it, at least we could go out to play and not watch TV at home, which will consume electricity!

Labels: outdoor activity., paintball