There are different sights to poverty and it ranges from mild poverty to extreme poverty. Different people have different stories to tell about their life and when they say a picture tells a thousand words, i'm sure the picture above speaks out a thousand words in under five minutes. The location remains undisclosed and the purpose is just to share our experience with you readers out there about poverty we have encountered in Brunei. They were living in the poverty cycle almost all their life and it is tough for them to exit that lifecycle. People might wonder that giving them financial aid is a solution to this but unfortunately, it is far more complex than that. They are pledging to be helped but unfortunately most of their voices are unheard.

It's Fatin Muzini's birthday today and let me take this opportunity to wish her all the best in life, and to thank her for the wonderful dinner she has hosted a few nights ago. It was the first time that there are ground rules for her dinner, no t's, jeans, flip flops and anything sloppy but yes to bow ties. hahahh we would look like clowns with that. Anyway, it was a great night as I could not remember the last time the FBEPS sat in one table having dinner together. Thanks again Fatin.

Photo grabbed from Amir Reza's facebook

Who said you can't combine work and fun both at the same time?

Photo owned by www.milokutak.blogspot.com

I was about to take my H1N1 jab next week till I came across an article in the local newspaper which reads "A(H1N1) Vaccinations Suspended, Public Angered". Well, this ideally is not a good news and there is no official statement to why it was suspended which made it more doubtful whether or not I should get my jab.

It's cool when your stuff decided to bail out on you BUT the warranty is still valid. That way you could either repair it at zero cost, or even better to have it replaced with a new one. That sounds like a superb after-sales service to me. But it's not superb when the nearest store is a two-hour flight journey.

This watch of mine on the left still has a warranty validity of 1 year plus but there's no distributor of that specific brand here and it's making me cry big time. Ini macam saya banyak rugi ini. Siapa tau kadai di Brunei yang carry emporio armani? original ah, bukan yang kominis version haha.

Tennis is all about control and precision, and not to forget the direct contact with the scorching afternoon heat. It has been my new sport for the past two weeks, and so far I'm still in the process of learning the right techniques. Those championships played by world players made it look so easy slicing the ball with full power and at the same time have control over the ball, but that's a different story when it comes to beginners, full power without control means hitting a home run. Anyway, there's still plenty of time for practice.

Poverty project will have its pilot study tomorrow afternoon. I've briefed the team about the protocols earlier today and hopefully day 1 tomorrow will be as smooth as we intend it to be. Bring it onnn Area #1! I just hope that we don't stumble upon recipients with lavish lifestyle which would distort our sample size big time! kadang kadang kalau nasib inda baik, tejumpa orang 'miskin' pasal loan kereta tiga buah inda tebayar. c'mon lah, why like that one huhu.

Apologies for abandoning this site for quite a while. Let's talk about 'poverty in Brunei'. More than 4,000 Bruneians received their tithe from the government recently, that's a positive sign showing 4,000 of who was once poor, is no longer poor. But how about those who aren't Bruneians, living in the rural areas where they could not register themselves for welfare due to transportation problems, and the unlucky ones who are actually in need of attention but did not receive any? Can we still say that our country is free from poverty? From my point of view, no matter how hard we try to alleviate poverty completely, there will always be the unlucky few who are still trapped in the poverty life cycle.

I've embarked myself with six other undergrads into understanding the true meaning of poverty in Brunei. For this semester, we will be conducting primary data gathering by means of interviewing the relevant families. Our project has the support from one of the local banks in Brunei and we are grateful for that. Finding an organization that is willing to support us financially was never an easy task, and I'm thankful that I belong to a dedicated team working hard to make this project as smooth as it could possibly go, insyaAllah.

You might be wondering why am I suddenly embarking myself into the area of poverty. Well, i've seen TV shows portraying poor families and how they had to struggle to make ends meet, but what gave a direct impact to me was how I have witnessed all these things first hand. It really breaks one heart when you see an individual rely on a piece of bread for the whole day, when I on the other hand have a full course meal three times a day. A dollar to them is worth a few days to keep them from starvation.

So, I've once came across that the losses our government makes amounted to millions of dollars from the unpaid electricity bills. Yes, there are a portion of those irresponsible ones who delay their bill payments, but actually another portion of them are those from the poor who has to struggle day after day just to have food served for their children. A tough decision to be made, to cut the power or let the bills mountain up itself which will be another burden for them? Saying is not as easy as doing it. Try going to their houses and see for yourself how bad their situation is, then see if we have the strength to demand them to pay their outstanding bills. Cause i'm honestly too weak to do that.