BELANSUNGKAWA

Presiden dan seluruh warga Parti Pembangunan Bangsa (NDP) ingin merakamkan ucapan takziah yang mendalam kepada keluarga dan seluruh rakyat Sarawak atas pemergian Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Adenan bin Satem, Ketua Menteri Sarawak yang telah kembali kerahmatullah pada 11 Januari 2017.

Presiden dan seluruh warga NDP turut bersedih dan terkejut dengan kehilangan besar seorang pemimpin pribumi yang berwibawa dan sangat dikasihi oleh semua lapisan rakyat Sarawak.

Myanmar’s Rohingya plight faces jihadist hijacking

Author: Iftekharul Bashar, NTU

On 9 October 2016, 200 armed attackers from the Aqa Mul Mujahidin — an organisation with links to the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) — carried out a surprise attack on Myanmar’s police at the Maungdaw border, killing 9 police officers. The attackers were from Myanmar’s northern Rakhine (Arakan) State. They seized weapons, ammunition, bayonets and magazines. According to the Myanmar government, the attackers received funding and support from foreign terrorist organisations.

Since the attacks in October, heavy-handed counter-insurgency campaigns have begun and reports have emerged of serious human rights abuses. Myanmar soldiers have been accused of killing Rohingyas and burning their villages, but the government has denied these allegations. The state media has put the death toll at almost 100 people, although advocacy groups claim that more have been killed. More than 20,000 Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in the past two months.

The Rohingyas are denied citizenship and viewed by the Myanmar government as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Tens of thousands of internally displaced Rohingyas, following ethnic violence in 2012, live in decrepit camps where travel is restricted. Following regional and international protests, an emergency ASEAN meeting was held in early December to discuss the crisis.

The plight of the Rohingya minority has attracted the attention of regional and international extremist and terrorist groups.

The so-called Islamic State (IS) has expressed its intention to target Myanmar via Bangladesh. In the fourteenth issue of its propaganda magazine Dabiq, a Bangladeshi jihadist called on others to join him to help the oppressed Rohingyas. Aung San Suu Kyi was also singled out by IS as a possible target in a ‘kill list’ sent to Malaysian police in August. In November 2016, Indonesian police thwarted an attempt by a local pro-IS extremist group to carry out a bombing attack on the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta.

If IS were to firmly establish a foothold in Bangladesh, it would not be difficult for the group to expand its operations into Myanmar. The porous border between Bangladesh and Myanmar provides suitable terrain for insurgent operations. Should IS declare a new wilayat in South Asia, it is likely to include Myanmar’s Rakhine State. IS may capitalise on its contacts with the Bangladeshi militant group known as Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which already has a pro-IS faction.

Al Qaeda has also shown interest in the Rohingya issue. Al Qaeda’s South Asia chapter, Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), listed Myanmar as one of its key targets in 2014. Abu Zar al-Burmi, a key Pakistani Taliban leader of Burmese origin, condemned Myanmar’s new government for failing to protect Rohingyas and called for armed jihad. A new AQIS magazine released in September 2016, Al Balagh, also urged Muslims to join their fight against oppression. Through its Bangladeshi affiliate, the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Al Qaeda has provided training and support for the Rohingya militants and maintained ties with RSO. More recently, on 10 December 2016 al-Qaeda’s Bengali media platform (known as Titumir Media) has released a video in Bengali calling for taking revenge of the persecution of the Arakan Muslims through an armed struggle.

In cyberspace, regional online extremists have sought to capitalise on the issue, pledging their support through profile pictures with the IS flag and the hashtag ‘Pray for P_A_R_I_S’ which refers to the conflict areas of Palestine, Africa, Rohingya areas, Iraq and Syria. Online extremists in Indonesia have expressed a desire to mount ‘jihad’ on behalf of the Rohingyas and made reference to their hopes of bringing the ‘mujahidin’ (jihadi fighters) into Myanmar. These online jihadist flare-ups suggest that the Rohingya issue is being hijacked by global jihadism.

A group that has recently emerged is Harakah al-Yaqin, or the Movement of Certainty, which is said to consist of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh who crossed the border into northern Rakhine State. Videos of the group first surfaced on the internet in October 2016. The men spoke in a mixture of Bengali, Arakanese and Arabic and were armed with AK-47s. They called on foreign Rohingyas and jihadists to join them in northern Rakhine State to resist Myanmar’s forces. The existence of Harakah al-Yaqin may lead to an escalation of conflict in the region between the Rohingyas and Myanmar’s armed forces.

The RSO, who have been blamed by the Myanmar government for recent violent attacks, is a little-known militant group with an active regional and international presence. Based in Karachi, its members also operate in countries in the Middle East, Bangladesh and India. A significant faction of RSO has close operational ties with fundamentalist extremist and terrorist groups, namely Laskar-e-Taiba in Pakistan, Indian Mujahideen in India and JMB in Bangladesh. Some of the RSO’s leaders received combat training in Pakistan and are active along the Bangladesh–Myanmar border.

Active networks of IS, as well as AQIS, currently pose a threat to Myanmar’s security. A festering Rohingya crisis will create opportunities for exploitation by regional and international terror groups. Myanmar must develop a robust counter-terrorism strategy and beef up its counter-terrorism intelligence to enable authorities to prevent future attacks.

It will also have to bring the Rohingya community on board as strategic partners to alert authorities of terrorist or insurgent activities and to facilitate conflict resolution. Myanmar must begin to manage relations between the Buddhists and Muslims in the country. The government must urgently address the plight of this impoverished minority as they struggle to fulfil their basic needs.


Sumber - East Asia Forum

Waspada anasir anti keamanan, ancaman siber

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 1 Jan – Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam bertitah mengingatkan rakyat agar berwaspada dengan anasir-anasir anti keamanan dan ketenteraman tidak pernah lupa untuk mengeruhkan keadaan.

“Keamanan adalah penting, kerana tanpa keamanan, pembangunan tidak akan dapat dilaksanakan. Oleh itu, rukun keamanan, mustahaklah dipelihara dan diamalkan iaitu memegang kuat ajaran agama, mematuhi undang-undang serta hidup dalam keadaan harmoni dan bersatu padu. Inilah rahsia keamanan itu.

“Mereka tidak pernah sealiran tujuan dengan kita. Kerana itu kita perlu berhati-hati terhadap mereka itu. Ini adalah tanggungjawab besar semua pihak, terutama, siapa yang secara khusus ada berkaitan dengan keselamatan,” titah Baginda Sempena Menyambut Awal Tahun Baru Masihi 2017 yang disiarkan secara langsung menerusi RTB malam tadi.

Baginda bertitah, usaha-usaha juga perlu diambil untuk menghadapi ancaman yang datangnya daripada dunia siber dan media sosial, termasuk juga untuk memperkukuh lagi perkongsian strategik dengan institusi-institusi keselamatan siber antarabangsa.

Dari sudut ekonomi, titah Baginda, dunia kita masih saja mengalami keadaan ekonomi yang tidak menentu. Namun kita bersyukur dengan langkah-langkah pembaharuan yang diambil serta pendekatan ‘whole-of-nation’, maka dapatlah kita menyaksikan peningkatan kedudukan negara dalam ‘ease of doing business’, sebagaimana laporan oleh Bank Dunia.

Baginda Sultan ketika berkenan mengurniakan titah Sempena
Menyambut Awal Tahun Baru Masihi 2017 di Istana Nurul Iman

“Pencapaian ini terhasil daripada komitmen dan kerjasama erat di antara agensi-agensi kerajaan dan lain-lain pihak yang berkepentingan. Namun kita tidak wajar untuk cepat berpuas hati, tetapi sebaliknya perlu lebih aktif dan lebih tinggi semangat pada meningkatkan lagi pencapaian tersebut,” titah Baginda lagi.

Seperti yang berlaku di mana-mana, jelas Baginda, kita juga mempelawa pelabur-pelabur langsung asing untuk melabur di negara ini.

“Pada setakat ini alhamdulillah, beberapa Pelaburan Langsung Asing (FDI) telah pun mula bertapak di negara ini, manakala pelbagai program dan inisiatif juga ada dirancang dan dilaksanakan bagi membantu golongan peniaga dan pengusaha tempatan, terutama pengusaha kecil dan sederhana atau MSME. Ini adalah satu harapan, bahawa ekonomi negara sedang dipacu, untuk menjadikannya berdaya tahan,” titah Baginda.

Bertitah mengenai Perkhidmatan Awam di negara ini, Baginda ingin melihat ia terus meningkat dan produktif.

“Beta percaya masih banyak lagi yang boleh diperbaiki, terutama mengenai penerapan nilai-nilai utama dalam Perkhidmatan Awam. Beta mahu supaya jentera kerajaan kaya dengan disiplin dan kaya dengan amanah dalam menjalankan tugas, sebagai cara untuk kita meraih berkat dalam perkhidmatan,” titah Baginda.

Mengenai bidang pendidikan titah Baginda, “Usaha adalah sedang dibuat untuk memperluaskan saliran pendidikan, di samping mempertingkatkan kualiti bagi mencapai Wawasan Brunei 2035.

“Keutamaan ialah memperkasa kualiti guru untuk menjadikan mereka itu individu-individu pendidik yang berprestasi tinggi. Di arena antarabangsa, kita akan sentiasa memainkan peranan positif ke arah kesejahteraan dan keamanan serantau mahupun global.

“Secara jujur, kita mengharapkan supaya ASEAN akan terus kekal menjadi pertubuhan serantau yang sentiasa dihormati kerana prinsip-prinsipnya yang jelas untuk kebajikan.

“Pada tahun 2017 ini, kita akan merayakan ulang tahun ASEAN ke-50, adalah diharapkan supaya kerjasama yang baik akan terus berlangsung di antara negara-negara ahli ASEAN, demi untuk kepentingan Wawasan Komuniti ASEAN 2025,” titah Baginda.

Terdahulu Baginda bertitah, bersyukur ke hadrat Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala, kerana dengan izin-Nya jua, kita kini sedang melangkah ke ambang Tahun Baharu Masihi 2017.

Titah Baginda, kita akan me-ninggalkan Tahun 2016 dengan seribu kenangan, di antaranya ialah kenangan manis dapat menikmati keamanan dan kemakmuran di negara yang bertuah ini.

Maka untuk itu titah Baginda, marilah kita sama-sama merafakkan syukur serta doa, semoga keadaan yang seperti ini akan dapat pula dinikmati dalam tahun 2017.


Sumber - Media Permata

Brunei bakal miliki bursa saham

Oleh Azlan Othman

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 30 Dis – Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) sudah menyiapkan draf peraturan awal bagi Bursa Saham Brunei, melengkapkan fungsi sistem dan keperluan teknikal sebuah bursa saham.

Program latihan relevan untuk kesedaran mengenai bursa saham juga sudah dipersiapkan, menurut pengatur selia kewangan itu dalam kenyataan dasarnya bagi separuh kedua 2016 yang dikeluarkan semalam.

“AMBD merupakan Ahli Jawatankuasa Pandu, Sekretariat dan Kumpulan Kerja bagi penubuhan Bursa Saham Brunei Darussalam. Kumpulan ini terdiri daripada tiga cabang iaitu Kumpulan Kerja bagi Peraturan dan Undang-undang (WGRR), Kumpulan Kerja bagi Operasi dan Infrastruktur (WGOI) dan Kumpulan Kerja bagi Promosi dan Pendidikan (WGPE),” menurut badan yang bertindak sebagai bank pusat negara itu.

“WGRR sudah menyiapkan draf pertama peraturan bursa saham, termasuk peraturan penyenaraian khususnya berkaitan dengan syarikat perdagangan disenaraikan yang memerlukan ia ditetapkan dan disosialisasikan kepada pihak berkepentingan sebaik mungkin sebelum pelancaran bursa itu,” menurut kenyataan dasar itu.

WGOI juga sudah melengkapkan keperluan tender bagi system baru bursa saham termasuk sistem fungsi dan keperluan teknikal.

Dalam pada itu, WGPE juga sudah menyiapkan program latihan relevan bagi menyemai kesedaran mengenai bursa saham.

Dalam Ogos tahun ini, AMBD mengumumkan bahawa bursa saham akan siap sebaik sahaja infrastrukturnya termasuk peraturan dan sistem relevan dan juga sumber-sumbernya lengkap.

“Sama seperti projek skala besar kebangsaan lain, projek bursa saham juga memerlukan bukan sahaja perancangan terperinci malah pelaksanaan yang sempurna dalam usaha mendapatkan keputusan positif yang kekal dan memastikan daya maju dan kemapanannya, menurutnya.

Aspirasi penubuhannya adalah untuk mempunyai ciri-ciri Bursa Saham Brunei Darussalam yang unik kepada negara. Secara asasnya, visi bursa saham adalah mudah dalam terma rekaan namun mempunyai peraturan komprehensif berdasarkan standard dan amalan terbaik antarabangsa, bagi memenuhi produk pelaburan pelbagai. Semua syarikat berpeluang untuk disenaraikan, dengan syarat mereka dapat mematuhi peraturan penyenaraian bursa saham.

Selain itu, objektif teras bursa saham adalah untuk memenuhi keperluan pelabur Islam. Sukuk, menjadi satu daripada saham biasa yang mematuhi syariah, mungkin antara yang disenaraikan dalam bursa saham itu.

Pelancaran bursa saham di Negara Brunei Darussalam dijangka memacu pertumbuhan ekonomi dan perkembangan perniagaan yang membolehkan laluan alternatif pembiayaan kepada perniagaan usahawan tempatan.

Malah, pasaran saham juga akan membolehkan Brunei Darussalam menyertai bursa-bursa saham ASEAN.

Perkembangan pasaran saham negara bukan sahaja mampu memudahkan pengintegrasian serantau, malah meluaskan platform pasaran modal negara dan memacu peluang pelaburan asing lebih besar dan juga sejajar dengan strategi negara untuk mempelbagaikan ekonominya daripada hanya bergantung kepada industri minyak dan gas.


Sumber - Media Permata

Malaysia resolving red tape on land travel to Brunei border

PM says Brunei and Malaysia have set up a technical committee to resolve bureaucracy issues involving land travel to the Brunei border.

MIRI: Bureaucratic formalities involving land travel between Malaysia and Brunei will be resolved soon, says Prime Minister Najib Razak.

He said the Brunei government had in principle agreed to resolve the issue of bureaucracy along the common border with Malaysia and had set up a technical committee for the purpose.

“The technical committee is looking into facilitating land journeys without the need for passport checks,” he told reporters after launching eight packages of the Pan Borneo Highway for Sarawak, costing a total of RM12.5 billion, here today.

“This matter is being studied and we should be getting a final decision soon,” he added.

Najib said at present, Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak and the people of Brunei had to go through eight Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complexes.

He said this resulted in the passports of those frequently commuting between Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei, to be stamped as many as 16 times.

When asked about the construction of the five-kilometre Batang Lupar Bridge, Najib confirmed that the federal government was currently in discussions with the Sarawak government over the matter.

The bridge is slated to be built in 2018 as the cost of construction is to be shared by both governments.

“It is expected to cost RM1 billion, and when completed, will be the longest bridge in South East Asia,” he said.

He added that once the bridge was completed, Sarawak would have two highways which would benefit the people living along the coastline and interior of the state.

Najib also said the bridge would be part of the Sarawak coastal highway while the Pan Borneo Highway would connect those living in the interior areas.


Sumber - Free Malaysia Today

Burmese Troops Are ‘Squarely Responsible’ for Torching Rohingya Muslim Villages: Rights Group

Feliz Solomon

Some 21,000 Rohingya have fled across the border into Bangladesh with harrowing stories

The Burmese army has burned down more than 1,500 homes and other buildings in a systematic pattern of destruction targeting the country’s stateless Rohingya Muslims, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a statement released Tuesday, the watchdog said it had collected satellite images and interviews with refugees that directly implicate the army, which has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing and instead blamed suspected Rohingya jihadists, claiming that they have been torching their own communities.

“The Burma government and military’s barrage of unsubstantiated claims that the Rohingya are burning down their own villages have now finally been exposed as the fraud that we suspected all along,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for HRW, tells TIME.

“Rather than continue this game of denials, the Burmese government should allow access to urgently needed humanitarian assistance, and permit U.N. investigators and the media into these areas to investigate how this human rights disaster has come about, and who needs to be held responsible,” he adds.

Armed military troops and police force travel in trucks through Maungdaw, in Rakhine state, on Oct. 14, 2016,
following a government announcement that terrorist groups were behind a series of attacks on security posts

The accusation is the latest of mounting claims that the Burmese army has carried out a disproportionate response to a deadly attack on security forces attributed to Muslim insurgents.

The Oct. 9 attack on three border security posts by a group of Rohingya militants who call themselves Harakah al-Yaqin triggered a military lockdown on the northern part of Arakan state, also called Rakhine, which lies along Burma’s western border near Bangladesh. Humanitarian aid has been suspended in the area and journalists have been barred as the Burmese army carries out what it calls “clearance operations.”

An estimated 21,000 civilians have since fled across the border into Bangladesh, where they have sought shelter in severely under-resourced refugee camps. Those who fled tell harrowing stories of being terrorized by the armed forces; one Rohingya woman told TIME that she watched her son being thrown into a fire and burned alive.

The U.N.’s human rights envoy for Burma, Yanghee Lee, has warned that evidence indicates the actions of Burmese security forces are “getting very close to what we would all agree are crimes against humanity.”

HRW says its collection of pictures and testimony reveal four new developments: the number of buildings destroyed is higher than previously thought at more than 1,500; the timing and locations of the alleged incidents of arson point to a path taken by troops as they advanced west across the area; the timing and nature of the arson attacks suggest that they were carried out as reprisal; and some of the images show Burmese troops present at the site of at least one major fire.

The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority numbering about 1.1 million, and are viewed as one of the world’s most persecuted peoples. They have seen their rights erode rapidly since communal riots in 2012 displaced more than 100,000 and ushered in a state of religious apartheid. Tens of thousands have fled to neighboring countries; those who remained are largely denied freedom of movement and access to basic services.

The crisis on Burma’s western border has put pressure on Burma’s de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was swept to power by a landslide election win last year. Her party, the National League for Democracy, took power in April, the country’s first civilian government following nearly six decades of military dictatorship.

Suu Kyi’s failure to rein in the armed forces as they carried out counterterrorism operations in Arakan state has led some to question how much authority she actually has.


Sumber - TIME

Deepest Oil Cuts in World’s Top Market Didn’t Need OPEC Deal

by Perry Williams and Sharon Cho

• Production from China expected to fall by 200,000 b/d in 2017
• China cut more than level agreed by non-OPEC, excluding Russia

Malaysia and Brunei are doing their bit for the global pact to rebalance oil markets, but the biggest production cuts in Asia are coming from a country that didn’t sign up.

China, the world’s fifth-biggest producer last year, has reduced output by about 300,000 barrels a day this year, more than the combined cuts announced Saturday by non-OPEC countries, excluding Russia, as part of a deal coordinated with the producer group. The decline is expected to continue next year, with Chinese production shrinking as much as 200,000 barrels a day, according to consultant Energy Aspects Ltd.

“We’re seeing a natural decline in China oil production as fields are very mature and depletion rates are high,” said Virendra Chauhan, a Singapore-based oil analyst at industry consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. “The price level we had in last 12 to 18 months has incentivized imports over spending on domestic production.”

China’s output slumped as state-owned firms shut wells at mature fields that are too expensive to operate amid last year’s price crash. Production during the first 10 months of the year averaged about 4 million barrels a day, down about 7 percent from the same period last year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics data.

Malaysia and Brunei were the only Asian nations in the group of producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that agreed to cut output by a combined 558,000 barrels a day starting Jan. 1. The region will use 32.88 million barrels a day of oil this year, accounting for more than a third of global consumption, according to data from the International Energy Agency. Daily demand is forecast to expand to 33.7 million barrels in 2017.

The deal, hammered out over the weekend in Vienna, is the first pact between the group and non-members in 15 years. While all individual country cuts are unclear, the non-OPEC reduction excluding Russia’s 300,000 barrels a day, as well as announced figures from Mexico, Oman and Azerbaijan, totals 83,000 barrels a day.

Morgan Stanley estimates Malaysia will reduce output by 20,000 barrels a day, while Brunei will lose 4,000 barrels a day. Both countries were celebrating holidays Monday and nobody responded to e-mails seeking comment sent to Brunei’s Energy and Industry Department, as well as Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy and state-run oil and gas company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd.

Oil prices surged as trading resumed Monday, rising as much as 6.6 percent in London to the highest intraday level since July 2015. Brent crude has climbed more than 20 percent since OPEC announced on Nov. 30 that it would cut production for the first time in eight years and was at $56.54 a barrel at 7:04 a.m. in New York.

“If all of these cuts are realized in the market, we could see prices potentially rise beyond $65 by May when the next OPEC meeting is convened,” said Sushant Gupta, director of Asia Pacific refining at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. in Singapore.

Output from Brunei, a country with a population of fewer than 500,000 people on the island of Borneo, peaked at 261,000 barrels a day in 1979, while Malaysia reached as high as 776,000 barrels a day in 2004, according to BP data. Wood Mackenzie estimates Brunei will pump 142,000 barrels a day this year and Malaysia at 664,000 barrels a day.

While the individual cuts are small, the combined reduction by OPEC and non-OPEC reductions could flip the oil market balance into deficit next year, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. The current surplus will slip into a 800,000 barrel a day deficit by the first half of 2017, Bernstein’s Neil Beveridge wrote in a research note Monday.


Sumber - Bloomberg

Fast-track federalism, Duterte urges Congress

By: Leila B. Salaverria

President Duterte asked Congress to fast-track moves to put in place a federal system of government in the country, stressing that this was the key to bringing peace in conflict-ridden Mindanao.

Mr. Duterte said he wants the federal system put in place during his term, given the trust placed on him by people from Mindanao.

He also reiterated his promise that he would step down even before his term ends to pave the way for this new system, but it must also have a strong President.

He said he had told Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez to put in place the federal system in two to three years.  Overhauling the system of government would require charter change.

“I told them, Bebot [Alvarez’ nickname], hurry it up. I told them if you finish it in two or three years, I will step down as President. You can have my word,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao local governance summit in Davao City.

The ball has to start rolling now, he added, because “the Moro people will not wait for another term of a President.”

“I am not an indispensable factor in this island. But what I’m saying … maybe not really golden but the most appropriate opportunity at this time of our generation, in our lives now, will be now,” he said.

He later said should he die before this is completed, it would be difficult to convince the people to back the idea.

He also assured the Moro people of Mindanao that his only desire was to give them their own territory.

He is not being controlled by any outside influence, he said.

“What you should understand from me, and believe me, what I want to happen is to give what is due to you, and that is semblance of your territory, your governance, and the happiness of the Moro people,” he said.

Mr. Duterte also said Mindanao has been suffering for decades because there seems to be no cohesive action on the part of the Moro people and the central government.

There have been several attempts to address the conflict in Mindanao, but these only proved to be divisive even among Moro groups, he added.

“I think the only acceptable arrangement as of today, this moment of our generation and of the lives of the Moro people is federalism. Other than that, there will be conflict,” he said.

The President also defended armed uprisings by Moro groups.

According to him, terrorism was not started by the people of Mindanao, but by the “colonialists” who “started the killing and the plunder of the land in Mindanao.”

“It’s just a reaction of a person who has been deprived of the most precious thing of Allah’s possessions and that is the land. What they refer to as Muslim rebellion or a Moro rampage is actually Moro nationalism, to put it correctly in the proper perspective,” he said.

He said the anger in the minds of the Moro was grounded in his nationalism, because his land was taken away from him.

“Just as you would call everybody here a Filipino nationalist who sticks to the interest of his own country,” he added.


Sumber - Inquirer News

Pusat pekerjaan Brunei ditubuhkan

Oleh Syahmi Hassan

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 27 Nov – Bagi mengurangkan kadar pengangguran di Negara Brunei Darussalam, Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei (Job Centre Brunei) akan ditubuhkan sebagai pengganti Agensi Pekerjaan Tempatan dan Pembangunan Tenaga Kerja (APTK) yang bakal ditempatkan di Kampung Beribi, Gadong, mulai Disember depan.

Penubuhan pusat berkenaan telah diumumkan oleh Menteri Tenaga dan Perindustrian di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Kolonel (B) Dato Seri Setia (Dr.) Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar semasa berucap pada Majlis Perasmian Pesta Kerjaya Brunei 2016 di BRIDEX, Jerudong, hari ini.

Yang Berhormat Pehin seterusnya menjelaskan, penubuhan pusat berkenaan merupakan tindakan dalam masa jangka pendek pihak kerajaan, di mana dengan adanya pusat tersebut, data-data yang berkaitan dengan peluang pekerjaan dan profil para pencari kerja yang telah dikumpulkan sebelum ini berserta maklumat yang baru adalah diselaraskan dalam pangkalan data Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei yang sedia ada.

Pusat itu akan menjadi ‘one-stop shop’, di mana ia akan menjadi tempat bagi pendaftaran para pencari kerja, mempamerkan pangkalan data kerja-kerja kosong dan juga membantu pencari-pencari kerja memperbaiki peluang mereka untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan.

Menurut beliau lagi, para pencari kerja yang tidak mempunyai komputer boleh mengunjungi pusat berkenaan untuk mendaftar kursus-kursus pembangunan kapasiti bagi meningkatkan kemahiran. Pusat tersebut juga boleh diakses 24 jam, tujuh hari seminggu melalui portal dalam talian.

Para pencari kerja bolehlah meneliti peluang-peluang kerja secara online serta mendaftar bagi program-program ‘upskilling’ untuk meningkatkan kemahiran dan kompetensi masing-masing.

Syarikat-syarikat juga dapat mengakses calon-calon pekerja melalui portal dalam talian berkenaan.

Dalam temu bual bersama media, Yang Berhormat Pehin telah menjelaskan bahawa pangkalan data berkenaan akan memadankan peluang pekerjaan yang paling dekat untuk pencari kerja dan pada masa yang sama juga Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei akan melihat pencari kerja secara menyeluruh.

Menurut beliau, pusat berkenaan akan dikendalikan di bawah Majlis Perancangan Tenaga Manusia.

Mengulas mengenai APTK, Yang Berhormat Pehin berkata bahawa agensi berkenaan telah dibubarkan dan Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei akan menguruskan semua urusan yang dibuat oleh APTK dahulu. Katanya lagi, pusat berkenaan akan beroperasi sepenuhnya pada Januari tahun depan.


Sumber- Media Permata

Brunei Darussalam tackles rise of non-communicable diseases

The rising incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is placing an increasing burden on Brunei Darussalam’s health care system and economy, though the government is stepping up efforts to improve the nation’s health.

NCDs have been the main cause of death in Brunei Darussalam for more than 30 years, with a shift away from traditional lifestyles and dietary patterns seen as the underlying cause, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

If unchecked, the increasing incidence of NCDs could put a strain on the country’s health care system, as well as affect social and economic growth.

“Without a change in our behaviour, the number of obese adults in the country is forecast to soar. This will prove devastating for the country and pose a real barrier towards our national development,” the MoH said in a statement in June.

Rising to the challenge

In response, the government has launched the Brunei Darussalam National Multisectoral Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs (BruMAP-NCD) 2013-18 – a broad programme to boost the prevention and treatment of NCDs – as part of the MoH’s Vision 2035, known as “Together Towards a Healthy Nation”.

The programmes aim to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by 18% by 2018, a goal that is in line with the global target of a 25% reduction by 2025.

Under the BruMAP-NCD’s five objectives – to reduce tobacco use, promote a balanced and healthy diet, increase physical activity, identify people at risk of NCDs and manage effectively, and improve the quality of care and outcome of NCDs management – health officials have laid out a number of more specific national targets.

For example, the government aims to curb tobacco consumption by 30% by 2018 and to make public places smoke-free by the end of this year.

In terms of diet, state agencies are targeting a 10% reduction in salt usage, encouraging more Bruneians to engage in regular exercise and mandating improved diets for children by regulating the products offered at school canteens, as well as implementing health programmes in the country’s workplaces.

Overall, these lifestyle changes aim to achieve a 1% reduction in the rate of increase of obesity and diabetes by 2018.

Meanwhile, measures to bolster treatment will include initiatives to identify people at risk of developing NCDs, provide support for the effective management of illnesses and ensure the availability of affordable technologies and generic medicines in both private and public health care facilities.

Risk of obesity

The need for such measures is crucial especially as the country is seeing an increase in obesity in its youth, which is leading to higher levels of NCDs in the adult population.

Obesity is reaching alarming levels among the country’s young people, with half of the nation’s children over the age of five either overweight or obese, according to a statement made by Awang Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi, minister of health, in mid-October.

“From 2008 to 2014, obesity among school children in Brunei Darussalam increased from 12% to 18%,” he said. “This means that obesity rises by 1% every year. If this issue is unresolved, every single child in Brunei could potentially be obese in the near future.”

As a result of this growing trend, health conditions normally seen in adults are occurring in children, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep disorders.

The increasing rate of excessive weight in childhood is also likely to contribute to obesity later in life, with the MoH showing that currently 62% of Bruneians are either overweight or obese. Furthermore, 30% of the total population suffer from high blood pressure, 12.4% from diabetes and 70% from above-average levels of cholesterol.

Measurable success

Although Brunei Darussalam still has a way to go to curtail NCDs, progress is already being made, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The WHO’s “NCDs Progress Monitor” released last year indicated that Brunei Darussalam had made the most strides out of all ASEAN countries in preventing and combatting NCDs. The country achieved 10 out of 18 indicators on the WHO’s index, such as smoke-free policies and health warnings to reduce tobacco usage, advertising bans and pricing policies to limit alcohol intake, drug therapy and counselling for high-risk individuals, and public awareness on diet and physical activity.

Brunei Darussalam scored higher than other countries in the region, such as Cambodia (3), Myanmar (2) and Laos (1), as well as slightly better than Singapore (9) and Malaysia (8).


Sumber - Oxford Business Group