Enriching d select few and burdening the RAKYAT

Motorists has expressed outrage at the new ruling on the car registration plates. The new plates would have an aluminium coated face and would have smaller dimensions. It is okay if this new rule is for new cars or for car owners who wished to change to the new format. However, exisiting car owners some of whom have just spent $35-60 for plates are upset that they have to spend more money again to have their plates replaced. Some questions raised were 

1. Why only two companies are permitted to do this? Shouldn't any company who wished to do this business be allowed to do so?
2. Why can't car already registered be allowed to keep the old format? This format has no problem for decades.
3. What is the reason behind changing to a new format?
                                                       

LTD Urges Motorists To Abide By Regulation
 Written by Azlan Othman Saturday, 22 May 2010 08:21

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Land Transport Department will enforce the Vehicle Registration Plate 'Identification Marks' 2008 Act and Regulation under the Road Traffic Act, Chapter 68.

The Act is enforced this month (May) but the old vehicle registration plates can still be used till the end of 2010. The newplates have small letters and numbers while their surface is embossed using materials made from aluminium.

To ensure that the measurements are in line with the Act and Regulation, the department has appointed two local companies as suppliers and manufacturers of the new vehicle registration plates.

They are Syarikat Bayu Ilham Motor Sdn Bhd located at No 6, Spg 80-45, Jln Gadong, Kg Pengkalan Gadong and Hock Motor Company located at at No 19, Spg 21, Km 3, Jln Gadong.

LTD will keep the public informed of any new companies appointed as suppliers. Effective 2011, enforcement officers from LTD and the Royal Brunei Police Force will take action against owners of vehicles that fail to abide by the regulation.

The fine for non-compliance is not more than $1,000 for the first offence and not more than $2,000 for the second offence or imprisonment of not more than three months. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
                                                       

Can someone please post full particulars of the 'Act and Regulation' so that we may better understand and appreciate it.

One thing I do not understand is why make this particular law retroactive. And why the need to appoint specific dealers or manufacturers, and only two at that?!?

LTD may set the standard, but it should be left to the consumers to comply with specific parameters, as have been practised throughout the years as with our current number plates.

Or, is this LTD's idea of encouraging and promoting new SME's by so generously giving a huge windfall of changing the whole nation's vehicle registration plates to only these two firms?

Let's see what happens over the coming days on what this senseless implementation results in.

Just a few days ago, we saw Customs imposing new unreasonable conditions in imported goods in another thread. Now we have the LTD making two companies very rich potentially...

Brunei Yakin!
                                                       
This reminds me of the scandals in Malaysia with the AP permits given to certain connected people. These AP's were as good as cash. Now these 2 companies stands to make a lot of money from the plates and at the same gives the public a headache due to the long queue and not to forget the money. One would be suspicious enough on what is going on here. ACB might want to look into this.

It was not too long ago that LTD wanted to changed the law on commercial vehicles to shorten its life. That would only benefit the car dealers and not the general public.
LTD also introduced their e-govt system which instead of speeding the process would slow processes down.
                                                       
Imagine there are about 200,000 cars out there and the new plates cost about $30 a set. That'd mean $6m of potential revenue to be shared between the two very lucky companies. This is just from the existing cars. There will be more from new cars. All these are guaranteed revenues.

I do hope our ACB would look into this peculiar arrangement which is UNFAIR to other companies and also to public at large (due to the inconveniences that it causes).

What is so difficult to appoint some more vendors? If they can do the arrangement with 2 vendors I don't see any problem if they extend it to others as well.  I believe the others would be willing to accomodate and comply as long as the instructions are clear.
                                                       
Yes, they should give to more vendors. On top of that, they should NOT make the current plates already installed  illegal. It should be phased out. Only new cars need to use the new format.
                                                       
welcome to our COUGH IT UP campaign.
                                                       
The only reason i can see why they did this is to ensure standards are kept. Otherwise you will have various style license plates like we have now, but they dont know which dealers to blame.

But then if their regulations and criteria is clear and understood, i dont see any problem to open it up to any dealers to install the new license plates. The advantage of opening it up is that market price will go down due to competition and faster turnaround.

Maybe they have not thought it out thoroughly.
                                                       
Just because the LTD has set new standards for registration plates, why should the policy be retroactive?

Why not phase out the current plates as suggested by some? As and when our vehicle come of age and are due for physical inspections, then we install the new plates. That way, there is no need for all of us to incur unnecessary expense just because of a new ruling.

Fyi, the new plates cost $38.00 and these two appointed exclusive dealers are out of stock.
                                                       
NO WASTAGE.. isn't this what we are aiming?!

anyone out there thinks the license plate is RECYCLE-ABLE?!

forgotten about GO GREEN so quickly?!
                                                       
CP,
Ensure what standards are kept? We had standards of various approved format. That has worked well for us for decades!!! So why the sudden change? and what was wrong with the old approved formats?
Actually, I think the old size are more visible from afar. I.e. better for the police
                                                       
dc,

You're raising a  very good point there. Yeah, what should we all do with our exisitng car plates after we replaced them huh? It'll be a huge waste as there are hundreds of thousands of them.

Maybe what we should do is to dump the plates at LTD...as a symbol of our "appreciation" for out-of-no-where-change and-can't-seem-to-see-the-whole-point-why-the-plates-needed-to-be-changed... 
                                                       
cp,

What? The "standards" can only be achieved by appointing 2 shops only kah? If 10, 40, 50 cannot kah?

If that's the position of LTD, that must be a very lame excuse and outrightly insulting to other shops who're also in the business for a long time. What do these 2 companies possibly possess that others  don't? What is so special about them that others had to be left out counting their losses (on existing stocks, equipment, labour and future business)? What level of quality and compliance do these companies have that others cannot match? 

I think this is one of the worst decisions ever made.......   
                                                       
1. We have been hearing this all over again, There are also only two(2) companies awarded a license to import second hand cars, Bayu Ilham is one of them and Bengkel Kereta Berakas  is the other. Now we have Hock Motor and Bayu Ilham to do the car registration plate. There must be something fishy going on here. Common ACB there is a case for you there if you dare enough. 

The coffee shop talk was that the Bengkel Kereta Berakas and Bayu Ilham would sell BND$2,000 for each import car permit. MIPR and LTD provide them with the license and in turn they would sell them to who ever could afford it. They get the money for not doing anything. What I heard was that there were a few companies who are very serious of doing these business and are applying for the license unfortunately they were turned down by the MIPR.       

I would like to hear from MIPR and LTD on this issue.

2. We are a democratic country as what had been proclaim. I guessed in that contact the rakyat should have every right to be involved not only in the discussion but the decision making process in any government undertakings that would have affected their livelihood. As far as I could remember or aware of, in all cases, the Government would never involved the participation of the rakyat in any of their undertakings even that have bearing on their livelihood. So the Government attitude is simple, you take it or leave it. You do not have a say.  This is our Brunei style of democracy.
                                                       
Fyi...
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei
                                                  

http://www.borneobulletin.com.bn/wed/may26p3.htm

Baffled by licence plate law

LTD has made it a requirement for all registered cars to switch to new license plates, with smaller font. Frankly, I do not see the need for replacing the car plates.

All the while we have been using these large number plates, and the large font is better as it can be seen from far.

Replacing the number plates will not benefit the general public.

It will cost around B$35 for each car, and on average Bruneian families have two cars, so the average will be B$70 for each family.

What is the purpose of spending money to replace the existing plates, which are still fit for use?

As I see it, this replacement will only benefit those companies authorised to make the license plates.

Therefore, I suggest that new license plates be required for only the new cars with longer registration numbers (BAA#### etc).

Other cars should be given the option of keeping the old licence plates or switching to the new plates.

- Vroom Vroom
                                               
  
http://www.borneobulletin.com.bn/wed/may26p1.htm
 LTD must also consider other road safety issues

The enforcement of the Vehicle Registration Plate 'Identification Marks' 2008 Act and Regulation taught me one thing, that the shape and size of our car licence plate is of pivotal importance and probably has a great influence on the speed and the way we drive.

So much so that the authorities have had a 'brilliant' idea of enforcing a standard size and dimension for it and at the same time to spice it up, slap in huge fines for those who do not conform to it.

Sorry to say, such a move is a bit disheartening. After complaints and complaints made public on noisy cars and motorcycles, 'smoking' vehicles, the inconsiderate 'boy racers', the confusion of vehicle modifications and not forgetting those super bright HID lights which blind most of us drivers at night, the respective authority finally has come bearing down on us, and decided that the size of the vehicle license plates is more important than all that is mentioned above.

Where is prioritisation in this matter?

What are the reasons for this? Why is it so important that a special law has to be brought in for this?

I am not the only one questioning this. I'm sure others share the same query. I did try asking but got fed up with all the weird explanations and stories.

Can anyone from the department enlighten me on the reasons?

The public is also asking, why not renew or revamp the laws governing car modifications to make it more applicable with current period?

Or even stricter laws to curb accidents which we see every day. But no, they have decided that a licence plate is even more important.

And even worse, appoint just two companies to make these plates.

Two companies to do the licence plates of 200,000 plus vehicles on the road.

Pure Genius I say!

Those in KB and Temburong will have to come down to BSB and if they are lucky to beat the growing queue, come back four days later to pick up these super important plates.

And at the same time, what you have done has cut off the other smaller entrepreneurs who have been making a living from making vehicle license plates.

Again, a standing ovation for that I must say.

So please Land Transport Department, do consider other major issues that are affecting our road safety.

Straighten out the priority areas and not trivial issues.

- Anwar, Beribi
                                                       
Let us all wait and see what LTD got to say to the two "Opinion Letters" (as quoted above)?
                                                       
I have just weighed one of my old plastic number plates. A single plate with two letters and four digits weighs around 200 gm.

How many cars do we have registered in LTD? If we estimate that a set of two plates weigh 400 gms and multiply by the number of already registered cars, what do we get?...
                                                       
JAG,

You have a point there. The among of discarded licence plates due to this new law would amount to a substantial amount of non-biodegradable plastic waste that would probably end up in Sungai Akar. Perhaps environmental considerations should be given when setting up laws.
                                                       
and we still go ahead with this law?! whatever inspired our tiny GREAT mind.. 
                                                       
Just imagine that such a $175,000 prized vehicle is truly on offer to anyone who, without being told by anyone and is also not among the ones who made the decisions regarding the new-plates-rule, can come up with the correct answer and thus win a GT-R.

The fact is, no one will except the writer who has figured it out out of being investigatively skilled.

If that is considered as a show of talent or ability from anyone among the public, the result is abject failure on the part of the public.

Well?  Anyone?  Just post your answer.!
                                                       
  
http://www.bt.com.bn/letters-editor/2010/05/29/why-force-people-new-plate


Why force people for new plate?

Saturday, May 29, 2010
DEAR Editor,

I am really concerned by this new resizing of vehicle licence plates and I can see I'm not alone, what with the sheer numbers of letters and comments in the media. Fine, the Land Transport Department wants to resize our license plates and standardise this, but why does it have to be applied immediately to everyone?

Has the government not heard of 'phasing out'? Begin this by a complete halt of production of old size plates, ensuring all new cars registered have the new sized ones. The old plates will then be phased out as cars are written off or when plates have to be changed. The numbers are getting smaller, not bigger, so it isn't a case of not able to read the plates.

This regulation where 300,000 cars have seven months to get new plates is ridiculous. Has the Ministry of Communications thought about the environmental impact of this?

Where will these 300,000 pairs of licence plates end up? In a landfill or will it be recycled?

Have they also bothered to think about the people that simply cannot afford to spend money on getting new license plates?

This new regulation is FORCING people to spend money and I think that is unlawful. When the new driving license comes out are we going to be FORCED to change and pay for that too when our licenses are still valid?

Avid Driver

Muara
************************************************************************************
 If this writer is right, in that we have 300,000 vehicles already registered and still active on the roads, we have one HUGE and SERIOUS problem!!!

Assuming that the average weight of a set of two number plates per vehicle at 400 grams, then 300,000 vehicles will make 120,000 kilograms of 'old' plates...

That means 120 tons of potential garbage (made of plastic or whatever materials the 'old' plates were made from) that is toxic to the environment to dispose of!!!

Will JASTRE please stand up and tell the public what will be done to ensure the safe disposal of this particular garbage?

Or like someone suggested in one of the blogsites, can we leave all these to be discarded plates at the Land Transport Department's doorsteps?!?

I am very sure ALL of us are very "YAKIN" at the sensibility and ability of our various gomen departments to think things through and actually come up with good policies and demand "CERTIFICATION" on public compliance to gomen directives...

We had to comply by producing - 

1)  "Certificate" of origin...
2)  "Certificate" of halalness...
3)  "Certificate" of conformity in plate sizes...
                                                       
If there are 300,000 cars out there, how many pairs of licence plates will need to be made and installed PER DAY so that by January 2011 all cars would have the new ones????????

Answer: 1428 pairs

Is this possible???

From what I read in the Media Permata yesterday, one of the 2 appointed shops say that they can make and install one pair in 30 MINUTES. 

So, 1 hours would be 2 pairs. If they work 10 hours per day they would be able to do 20 pairs. Assuming they have 10 staff doing it concurrently, they would be able to do 200 pairs per day. If the other shop also have similar capacity, they both can only do 400 pairs per day. So what about the other 1028 pairs????

One wonders how LTD came up with Jan 2011 dateline????
                                                       
I also read that LTD would add more 5 vendors and may extend the dateline.

So can 7 shops do 1428 pairs per day? 
                                                       
Here goes, some people with power dictating the people to pay for some "not urgent" stuff to make 2 parties a million dollars a month.

This sounds familiar and similar modus operandi in the "burning of money" in fireworks, but it has been approved in bigger scale than malaysian or singapore could allow.

The "burning of money" our religious leaders cannot analyse the bad effects, but only focussed on cigarettes smoking bad effects.

Now, the printing of easy money by sacrificing the blood sweat and tears of the rakyat.

Please new leaders, don't let the rakyat get a chance to say their prayers for the "ZALIMS"

Apakah Undang Undang Kita Lembik???

Masaalah sebenar dalam krisis ini adalah sikap.

Kita mempunyai undang-undang yang bagus dalam perlembagaan. Kita
mempunyai sistem pemerintahan yang unggul. Tetapi, individu yang melaksanakan sistem tersebut adalah individu yang kurang bijak. "Good game, bad player". Kalau semua pihak menjalankan tanggungjawab dan amanah masing-masing dengan ketinggian moral dan etika, ini tidak menjadi masalah.

Penguatkuasaan undang-undang adalah sangat penting. Hari ini, undang-undang tidak ditakuti, tidak dihormati. Yang ditakuti hanyalah Polis,Kaum Elit, dan sebagainya. Mereka tetap akan buat salah sekiranya tiada Polis, inilah sikap kita. Kejatuhan moral.

Perlu diingat Negeri kita hari ini, adalah hasil kerja tangan orang yang terdahulu yang benar benar bersemangat Nasionalisme. Usah berbangga dengan idea dan perancangan sahaja,kita harus bersyukur kita mempunyai mereka.

Walaubagaimanapun, setiap undang undang yang diperkenalkan, pasti mempunyai kebaikan dan keburukan yang perlu dinilai dalam jangka masa panjang dengan mengambil kira segala faktor berangkai mahupun tidak tanpa mengabaikan "key player". Keputusan yang memberi kebaikan yang lebih harus diberi penekanan.

Usah menyalahkan pihak orang ramai, apabila undang undang kurang dipatuhi, walau telah di kuatkuasa…mungkin ada sebab sebab yang tertentu kenapa ia nya ta di endahkan atau dipedulikan

Fikir Fikir kan lah sejenak….tepuk dada tanya selera…

"MAKAN MALAM TUJUH" TRADISI KADAYAN

Etnik Kadayan mengadakan "makan malam tujuh" pada setiap bulan Ramadhan. Mungkin etnik lain tidak mempunyai tradisi mengadakan "makan malam tujuh"seperti yang dilakukan oleh etnik Kadayan ini. "Makan Malam Tujuh" merupakan salah satu tradisi etnik Kadayan yang berunsur keagamaan, yang diamalkan oleh generasi terdahulu hingga ke hari ini, iaitu mempunyai unsur yang hampir sama seperti "kenduri arwah" yang diamalkan oleh sesetengah etnik lain yang beragama Islam di kepulauan Borneo ini.Etnik Kadayan selalu nya mengadaakan "Makan Malam Tujuh" ini dengan beramai ramai saperti mengadakan "kenduri arwah."

Pada zaman dahulu "malam tujuh" diadakan pada "malam tujuh likur", iaitu pada malam 27 Ramadhan. Bagaimanapun, "malam tujuh" boleh dadakan pada salah satu malam dalam tujuh malam terakhir setiap bulan Ramadhan. "Makan Malam Tujuh" diadakan pada akhir bulan Ramadhan mungkin ada kaitannya dengan sebuah Hadis yang mengatakan bahawa Nabi Muhammad S.A.W. berkata, Malam Qadar itu ialah dalam tujuh hari terakhir bulan Ramadhan. Dalam sebuah Hadis yang lain, Nabi berkata Lailatul Qadar itu adalah dalam sepuluh malam terakhir.

Tarikh "makan malam tujuh" biasanya ditentukan melalui perbincangan di kalangan golongan tua dengan diketuai oleh seorang yang berpengaruh dan berpengalaman. Walaupun orang yang mengetuai itu bukannya pemimpin politik atau pemimpin yang dilantik oleh kerajaan, tetapi beliau sentiasa dihormati dan dipercayai oleh penduduk kampung. Pemimpin kampung disegani dan dihormati pada ketika itu bukannya atas dasar surat pelantikannya secara rasmi tetapi lebih kepada kewibawaan yang beliau tunjukkan. Secara sendirinya potensi untuk menjadi pemimpin itu menyerlah apabila seseorang itu jujur, amanah, boleh dipercayai serta berilmu pengetahuan dari segi adat resam dan hal ehwal keagamaan.

Beberapa hari sebelum "malam tujuh" penduduk kampung sudah mula membuat persiapan. Suri rumah atau wanita pergi membeli-belah untuk pelbagai keperluan "malam tujuh" seperti makanan dan minuman. Antara keperluan yang mereka beli ialah bawang, asam garam, gula, kopi, teh, minyak masak, rempah kari, roti dan sebagainya. Beras tidak payah dibeli kerana penduduk kampung masing-masing menanam padi secara kecil-kecilan untuk sara diri. Ayam kampung, ikan dan sesetengah sayur-sayuran juga boleh dikatakan tidak payah dibeli. Ayam mereka ternak sendiri, ikan mereka tangkap di laut dan di sungai, lokan (sejenis kerang) mereka kutip sendiri di kawasan paya bakau berhampiran, umbut kelapa boleh dijadikan sayur dan santan kelapa yang mereka perah adalah hasil dari kelapa yang mereka tanam sendiri. Kadang-kala daging pun tidak payah dibeli jika kaum lelaki yang berburu ke hutan pada malam sebelum "makan malam tujuh' mendapat rusa (payau), kijang atau pelanduk untuk dijadikan lauk.

Walaupun pada masa itu keadaan ekonomi penduduk kampung tidaklah seberapa sangat kalau dibanding dengan hari ini, tetapi mereka sanggup mengadakan majlis yang semata-mata bergantung kepada sumbangan ikhlas masing-masing. Ini menunjukkan adanya semangat bekerjasama dan bermuafakat di kalangan penduduk kampung. Begitulah budaya yang mereka amalkan sejak zaman berzaman.

Pada zaman dahulu "makan malam tujuh" diadakan di rumah rumah atau di taatak kerana tidak ada masjid/surau atau balai raya di kampung itu untuk tempat mengadakan majlis tersebut. Salah seorang daripada penduduk kampung yang berpengalaman, berpengaruh dan dihormati diberi kepercayaan untuk mengetuai "malam tujuh" yang biasanya diadakan di rumah beliau sendiri atau di Taratak yang selalu ada di bina oleh penduduk di kampong Kadayan. Beberapa hari sebelum "malam tujuh" diadakan, seluruh masyarakat kampung bergotong royong mendirikan taatak (teratak) atau sejenis pondok tidak berdinding ataupun cuma berdinding separuh sebagai tempat berehat, berteduh, menyediakan pelbagai bahan-bahan keperluan, meletak pinggan mangkuk dan sebagainya. Taatak itu juga dijadikan tempat makan semasa "malam tujuh" sekiranya ruang dalam rumah tidak dapat menampung tetamu yang hadir.

Sejak awal-awal pagi lagi penduduk kampung sudah mula berkumpul untuk membuat pelbagai persiapan "malam tujuh". Masing-masing mereka melaksanakan tugas tanpa diarah sambil bertukar-tukar pendapat dan pengetahuan antara satu sama lain. Mereka yang berpengalaman biasanya mengetuai dan memberi tunjuk ajar kepada generasi yang lebih muda. Bagi yang kurang berpengalaman pula, mereka melaksanakan kerja-kerja ringan seperti menyusun kuih-muih dan menyususn pinggan-mangkok. Kaum lelaki memasak nasi, bubur dan sebagainya di kawasan halaman rumah. Kanak-kanak riuh-rendah berkeliaran, berkejar-kejaran sesama mereka, di kawasan berhampiran.

Pada sebelah petang mereka balik ke rumah masing-masing untuk bersalin pakaian. Sebelum meninggalkan rumah untuk berkumpul dan berbuka puasa bersama-sama di tempat "makan malam tujuh", mereka menyalakan pelita atau ugan (obor yang diperbuat daripada buluh) di kawasan rumah dan jalan menuju ke rumah. Ada mereka yang menyalakan damar atau ketulan getah dalam tempurung kelapa sebagai lampu. Ini semuanya bergantung kepada kemampuan dan kemahuan masing-masing. Apa yang penting, kawasan rumah dan jalan menuju ke rumah mereka diterangi oleh cahaya pada malam tersebut. Ada cerita yang mengatakan, mereka memasang lampu bertujuan supaya roh datuk nenek mereka yang berada di alam kubur senang mengunjungi rumah anak cucu mereka. Arwah datuk nenek mereka yang sudah meninggal dikatakan turut sama menghadiri "malam tujuh". Bagaimanapun, ini berdasarkan cerita-cerita yang kurang jelas tentang kepercayaan orang pada zaman dahulu.

Sebelum masa berbuka puasa, penduduk kampung berkumpul di tempat "makan malam tujuh" diadakan dan jemputan dari kampung-kampung berdekatan datang berduyun-duyun untuk berbuka puasa bersama-sama pada malam itu. Semasa berbuka puasa, para tetamu dihidangkan dengan pelbagai juadah seperti kuih-muih, bubur kacang hijau, bubur mee kuning yang mereka panggil "bubuu laksa" atau bubuu sibujang mandi(di perbuat dari tepung beras dan di bentuk kan saperti bebola ikan) dan sebagainya. Kemudian diikuti pula dengan hidangan nasi. Pada malam itu diadakan juga bacaan doa selamat, doa arwah, tahlil dan khatam al-Quran. Sebagai penutup majlis, jamuan ringan dihidangkan.

Tugas menghidang makanan selalunya dilakukan oleh kaum remaja. Remaja lelaki menghidang di tempat lelaki dan remaja wanita menghidang di tempat wanita. Lalaki dan wanita menikmati jamuan di tempat yang berasingan. Kanak-kanak pula tidak diberikan sebarang tugas dan mereka dibiarkan bermain di kawasan rumah, tetapi dilarang bermain jauh-jauh di tempat-tempat gelap. Kanak-kanak diberitahu bahawa pada malam itu banyak "kait sanggul" berkeliaran. Apa yang dikatakan sebagai "kait sanggul" itu pun sebenarnya adalah sesuatu yang tidak jelas dan tidak seorang pun yang saya temui pernah melihat "kait sanggul". Mungkin ini hanya digambarkan bahawa ramai yang datang dari alam kubur dengan sanggul mereka berkait-kait untuk turut serta mengunjungi "makan malam tujuh". Mungkin juga ia hanya rekaan orang-orang terdahulu untuk menakutkan kanak-kanak supaya tidak berkeliaran jauh-jauh pada malam itu.

Walaupun "makan malam tujuh" mempunyai unsur keagamaan tetapi masih ada perkara-perkara penting yang kelihatannya terabai. Tempat solat fardhu maghrib dan isya tidak disediakan semasa "makan malam tujuh", dan ini menyebabkan ramai tetamu tidak menunaikan solat tepat pada waktu nya. Solat hanya lah di dirikan setelah mereka balik kerumah masing masing,sedangkan ia adalah perkara yang wajib di tunaikan dengan segera jika tiada halangan besar saperti sakit teruk atau uzur. Bagaimanapun, "makan malam tujuh" pada zaman sekarang agak berbeza daripada "makan malam tujuh" pada zaman dahulu. "Makan Malam Tujuh"bukan lagi diadakan di rumah orang perseorangan tetapi diadakan di masjid. Pada hari ini "malam tujuh" sudah diisikan dengan solat maghrib, isya dan tarawikh selain doa selamat, doa arwah, tahlil dan khatam al-Quran. Kewajipan agama semakin dititik beratkan. Selain itu, "malam tujuh" juga diadakan secara bergabung oleh kampung-kampung yang berhampiran.

Europe Want You

Why there are so many Brunei graduates making a living by working abroad especially EUROPE US or AUSTRALIA…From my personal observations and research, this is commonly because most of the GRADUATES offered with a very unattractive SALARY PACKAGES and level of salary offered are not based on their qualifications and expertise.

If the relevant authority are not looking at this issue seriously, we may soon suffered from "brain drain" and this will end up with lack of experts, talented and highly educated work force to administer the good governance.

I would like to share below severals REASONS and FINDINGS by Joe Freeman ( the co-founder of www.diyexpat.com)

Opportunities for Working in Europe are Expanding for Non-European Citizens

For non-European citizens, working in Europe has the reputation of being difficult. If you are not a European Union passport holder, goes the stereotype, local regulations shut you out of the market, so you shouldn’t even think about it.

That may have been true in the past, but not any more.

Many European governments have begun to change laws, and are beginning to encourage immigration for non-EU citizens with university degrees and skills that are in demand. There are several reasons, but the most commonly cited one is that Europe has long suffered from “brain drain.” In turn, this lack of experts and highly educated people is affecting economic growth and European governments want to change that.

Word has been slow in getting out, though. This may be because countries have been busy changing laws and engaging in internal debate without time for much else. The bottom line, though, is that the monolithic work permit is being replaced in many countries by a combination of residency permits with various levels of work permission and work permits with flexible conditions.

Having a basic idea of how the details work can help you to understand how governments in countries like the U.K., Belgium, France and Germany are trying to attract people, since they are all doing completely different things.

Sound like a conundrum? It’s not. We’ll look at a bit of theory and then some practical examples.

First, non-EU nationals do not have an automatic right to work (i.e. have permission to work) within the European Union. (European Union nationals do.) You can be given this right by local governments. The simplest, and most recognized form, is the work permit. It isn’t the only one, though. (Keep this in mind for later.)

Second, a residence visa/permit shows that you have the legal right to stay in a country. These permits are usually given for a certain purpose, such as being with your family, being with a partner/ spouse, studying, and so on. The permit can be issued with restrictions on it, for a limited or unlimited period of time, and may or may not carry work permission.

That may not sound like much, but in practice it can work for you.

Let’s say that you are studying in Italy. You will be there for a year, at a local university. Your residency permit will say, well, that you are a student who is in Italy legally for one year. While that doesn’t sound too glorious, your card also carries with it the right for you to work. So, all of the gloom and doom that you read about it taking a year or more to obtain a work permit for a job in Italy….. it doesn’t apply to you!

(Do note, though, that you have to comply with whatever conditions are in place in your locality.
The right of work with a student permit in Italy is not unlimited, and your real purpose is to study, not work.)

Earlier in the article, I mentioned that European governments are trying to attract talented people from outside the EU. They’re doing this in a number of ways, but the most popular are eased work permits and Green Cards.

Eased work permits are a broad category but work very simply. If a company wants to hire you, they can. A government still issues a work permit, but suspends some of the requirements. For example, they do not require potential employers to prove that there is there is lack of suitable local candidates. Instead, the employer may simply have to show that your salary is above a certain level and that you are a talented/ highly-educated individual.

In other words, you can go work in a country under three conditions, namely that you have a job offer, acceptable university degree and a salary above a preset minimum. That’s it! Currently nine countries have some form of this permit, and another two are considering the idea.

Let’s look at a practical example.

Fred has an advanced degree from a state university in Georgia, and there is a company in Antwerp who would like to give him a job which has a salary of $50,000 per year. If all of the paperwork is OK, then these conditions may be enough for local authorities to issue all of the paperwork and Fred can be on the next plane to Brussels. Up the road in the Netherlands, though, Dutch authorities would say that this is not enough to qualify for their eased work permit, since they have different conditions.

Green Cards work differently. In fact, the name Green Card is a bit confusing since European countries, in fact, have no equivalent of the United States permanent residency permit. (The name comes from popular usage.)

European countries are instead using points-based immigration systems which resemble the ones used in Canada or Australia. In this process, an applicant is given points on the basis of criteria such as education, career sector and salary. Governments then set a minimum number of points for a successful application. If you score above that number and officials accept your proof, you can move!

One of the best features of the Green Card is that some countries allow you automatic and unlimited work permission. On the whole, programs fall into two basic categories- ones where you can apply yourself without a job, and ones where you need a job offer for the initial application. The U.K. has the oldest system, and another six countries have a program in place or considering doing so.

For more details on the U.K. program, see www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk. Another country which has a program is the Czech Republic, see their site at www.imigracecz.org for more information.

Again, a practical example helps clarify things.

Sally has a degree from a state university in Oregon, and pursued an MBA at the University of Virginia. She’s thinking about working in Europe, and finds the list of requirements for the United Kingdom. On the basis of her MBA and where she studied, she can qualify for a residency permit with working permission. She doesn’t even need a job beforehand! She does, though, need to fill out all of the paperwork correctly and get her visa before leaving for London. Sally may also need to show authorities that she has a job and is earning above a required minimum for authorities to issue her a renewal after two years. Still, no work permit required!

Keep in mind that the eased work permits depend on individual circumstances, whereas for the Green Cards you need to provide the right evidence to qualify. (Be sure that you use knowledgeable local legal help!)
Even with these legal hurdles, these changes represent a real change for talented and educated non-EU citizens who are already living and working in Europe or are thinking of making the move. Ten years ago, for example, work permits were thin on the ground for anyone not being transferred by a company… Not anymore.

Things are not standing still, and even bigger changes are in the works.

The European Union is undergoing a major reorganization, and powers are being transferred from the national level to the EU headquarters in Brussels. In some areas, the 27 individual national laws and policies are being replaced by one coordinated structure for the entirety of the EU. Immigration for talented and educated people from outside the European Union is one of the areas up for consideration. Officials have started a number of initiatives which promise further liberalization, not just for the U.K., France or Germany, but for the entire European Union. That, though, deserves another article.

Joe Freeman is the co-founder of www.diyexpat.com and the author of Joe Freeman is the co-founder of www.diyexpat.com and the author of Do It Yourself Expatriate, The Totally Ultimate Guide To Working in Europe for Non-EU Nationals, a comprehensive publication covering the ins and outs of legally working in Europe. Joe has lived in Europe since 1992 and can be contacted at saturnin@diyexpat.com.