Azlan Othman
Shell Country Chair in Brunei Darussalam and Managing Director of Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) Agnete Johnsgaard-Lewis reiterated BSP’s unwavering commitment to nurture local talents, develop people with a broad range of capabilities and skills and ultimately contribute to the aspirations of Brunei Vision 2035 – providing a robust and high-quality talent pipeline for the company, the energy industry and the nation.
She said this during a contract signing ceremony for seven students under the Brunei Shell Joint Venture (BSJV) Scholarship scheme at the Indera Samudra Grand Hall of The Empire Brunei yesterday. The BSJV companies awarding the scholarship are BSP, Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd (BLNG) and Brunei Shell Marketing Company Sdn Bhd (BSM).
The scholars will pursue higher education in local universities such as Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB). Minister of Education Datin Seri Setia Dr Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh attended.
As Bruneians and as future leaders of the BSJV companies, Agnete reminded the students to continue to learn, re-learn and upskill themselves to remain relevant and be “future-proof” especially in this ever-changing environment.
“Master your field, take pride in your work and focus on developing yourself professionally and personally to be ‘future-proof’, agile and ready to take on any challenges that may come your way,” she said.
BSP Human Resources Director and Chair of the event, Hajah Zainab MA Omar echoed the need for the students to be agile and ready to take on any challenges that they may face.
“This is in line with His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s titah during the 34th UBD Convocation ceremony, where His Majesty called for graduates to be ‘future-proof and employable,” Hajah Zainab added.
“Earlier this year BSP embarked on its #BSPBersatu journey, a long-term strategy to continue sustainably-powering the Sultanate. The biggest enabler for BSP to realise the #BSPBersatu strategy is the company’s greatest asset – its people, Orang Kitani. BSP takes immense pride in its diverse and highly-skilled BSP professionals who demonstrate commercial acumen, technical expertise and pride in executing quality work to “future-proof BSP.”
The event also saw the presentation of the First Class Achiever 2021/2022 awards to 10 students presented by Datin Seri Setia Dr Hajah Romaizah.
Three recipients have already joined the companies as professionals while others will begin this month.
In an interview with the Bulletin, BSP scholar pursuing Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering at UTB Muhammad Afeef Riyadhuddin bin Muhammad Azharuddin said he chose the course to pursue his passion and love for physics.
“I would certainly want to choose an engineering course that will be in high demand in Brunei Darussalam. I also grew up in a family of engineers, so when it was time to apply to universities both locally and abroad, I sought their advice and decided that Mechanical Engineering would be best suited for me.”
Meanwhile Valerie Chong Sei Qi, BSM scholar studying Business (Economics) at UBD, said she chose BSJV Scholarship as it is in line with her passion to pursue her studies in Economics.
The opportunity also allows her to forge a career path with the BSJV companies.
“I am determined to perform my best to be a valuable asset to the company and provide support to contribute to the economy and also assist to better the lives of the people around us,” she added.
Meanwhile, Nur Absarina binti Mohammad Yusran, a BLNG scholar pursuing Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering at UTB said the scholarship was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to secure a job in one of the most successful and largest companies in Brunei Darussalam.
The BSJV Scholarship scheme first introduced 50 years ago, has awarded over 830 scholarships. Through this scheme, young Bruneians have been able to pursue higher education locally and abroad, returning to be further developed as highly-skilled BSJV professionals and ready to contribute to the Brunei’s economy.
