The Prisons Department at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) held a Tahlil and recitation of Surah Yaasiin for Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam and Al-Marhumah Duli Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit binti Al-Marhum Pengiran Bendahara Pengiran Anak Abdul Rahman, the late parents of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and for His Majesty’s late son Al-Marhum His Royal Highness Prince Haji ‘Abdul ‘Azim yesterday at the Royal Mausoleum in conjunction with the Prisons Department’s 69th anniversary.
Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman was present along with permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretary at the MoHA, Director of Prisons Department, senior officers, officers and staff.
The recitation of Surah Yaasiin was led by religious teacher of Maraburong Prisons (phase 1) Md Azmi bin Haji Ahmad.
Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman with other officers during the tahlil. PHOTO: AZLAN OTHMAN
As part of Baiduri Capital’s efforts to keep its clients up to date on the latest developments in the global market, a seminar titled ‘AI in Investment Management – Gaining an Edge’ was held at the Baiduri Community Space, Baiduri Bank Headquarters on Tuesday.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prevalent and has shown to possess the potential to bring about significant changes in education, medicine, arts and even politics.
Focussing on the impact of AI in the financial industry, some 90 guests attended the seminar that featured an expert from Baiduri Capital’s fund partners – Lion Global Investors and looked at the possibility of AI being trusted to make sound and effective investment decisions or manage multi-million-dollar portfolios.
Ong Ai Ling from Lion Global Investors shared how they have incorporated the benefits of AI and Machine Learning into managing selected investment portfolios including the LionGlobal Disruptive Innovation Fund (GDIF).
The fund is an all-equity portfolio that invests in global companies that are currently well-positioned to gain long term benefits from the growth potential of disruptors – companies that change the traditional way an industry operates, especially in new and effective ways.
The speaker is also the Head of Artificial Intelligence of Investments (AIOI) and Portfolio Manager for the LionGlobal Disruptive Innovation Fund (GDIF), with nearly two decades of experience in managing Asia-Pacific and global equity investments.
ABOVE & BELOW: General Manager of Baiduri Capital Brian Wong speaks at the event; and mingles with attendees. PHOTOS: BAIDURI CAPITAL
Emphasising the increasing positive use of AI in the banking and financial industry, earlier this month Baiduri Bank also announced its agreement with finbots.ai, a Singapore headquartered B2B SaaS FinTech, to modernise the Bank’s credit risk management using AI. This will enable the Bank to develop and deploy new credit risk scorecards faster and more cost effectively, at scale.
With this move, Baiduri Bank will be the first bank in Brunei to migrate to an AI-led credit risk management solution. The pivot to finbots.ai is part of Baiduri Bank’s strategic investments in business transformation journey and leveraging technology to elevate operating efficiencies, analytics capabilities, and customer experience.
In his welcoming remarks, General Manager of Baiduri Capital Brian Wong emphasised how AI has impacted several industries, as well as how major economies are keeping a close eye on further developments in AI, and how these global factors affect the investors locally.
He said, “Recently the topic of AI, more specifically about the use of artificially intelligent chatbot ChatGPT, was even brought up in various instances at the National Business Conference 2023 about how Brunei can best incorporate digitalisation into the economy, businesses, cities and societies to become a Smart Nation.
“The rate of how AI has been used is extremely quick, and its applications almost endless. It begs the question, what if AI were able to help us with important investment decisions and generate consistent returns for our retirement portfolio?”
The National Business Conference 2023, held on February 2, brought together key stakeholders in the Brunei economy to discuss economic diversification, growth and the digitalisation and sustainability agenda. The aim of the conference was to discuss how the public and private sector can collaborate to advance a sustainable digital economy and work towards achieving Brunei Vision 2035.
The topic of AI was brought up during a keynote address by Minister of Transport and Infocommunications Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Shamhary bin Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mustapha, as well as in a panel discussion attended by Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (Economy) Dato Seri Paduka Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid, on Brunei as a Smart Nation.
The seminar ended with a question-and-answer session between the speaker and the audience.
CEDEÑO, HONDURAS (AFP) – The coastline of Cedeno, a fishing village in southern Honduras, looks like it was hit by an earthquake. Houses, businesses and clubs stand in ruins. Forsaken.
But it was not a quake. Nor a tsunami. A much slower, but equally destructive force is at work in Cedeno and other villages on the Pacific Gulf of Fonseca: sea level rise.
The creeping ocean has claimed ever more of the protective mangrove forest off Cedeno’s coast, and claws away at the land with increasingly violent sea surges.
Inhabitants of Cedeno and other fishing villages on the Gulf of Fonseca – shared by Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua – are at the forefront of one of the more visible symptoms of climate change: sea level rise caused by melting glaciers and ice sheets.
“The sea is advancing,” said Telma Yadira Flores, a 40-year-old homemaker from Cedeno who lost her house in a storm surge last year and now lives in a rickety shack with her son and daughter-in-law. The sandy beach is their kitchen floor.
“If the sea comes again, we will have to move. We will have to see where,” Flores told AFP.
According to the NGO Coddeffagolf (Committee for the Defense and Development of the Flora and Fauna of the Gulf of Fonseca), the sea has advanced 105 metres into Cedeno, a settlement of some 7,000 people, in 17 years.
Children walk between boats in Cedeño, in the Pacific southern coast of Honduras. PHOTOS: AFPDebris from constructions destroyed by sea-level rise in CedeñoA man walks by mangroves affected by sea-level rise in Cedeño
Apart from numerous homes and small businesses, a marine laboratory, police headquarters and a park were also abandoned to the waves.
The Michel Hasbun primary school, which once served about 400 children, now stands empty.
“There was a football field, it was lost,” Sergio Espinal, a 75-year-old fisherman, told AFP, pointing to where it once stood.
“There were good restaurants, good hotels…” But no more.
The community also had to contend with dwindling fish numbers.
The mangroves whose roots act as nurseries and hunting grounds for crustaceans, shellfish and many other species that in turn serve as food for bigger animals, are under attack from sea levels rising too fast for them to adapt.
“Before there were schools of dolphins, there were sharks, swordfish… and now everything has been lost,” boat operator Luis Fernando Ortiz, 39, said as he pointed out the broken and abandoned mansion of a former president overlooking the idyllic turquoise waters.
The community’s hopes now rest on a Coddeffagolf project, still in the planning phase, to improve coastal surge protections and reforest the battered mangrove.
Earlier this month, United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres warned that global warming-induced sea level rise could force a mass exodus as people flee low-lying communities.
“The danger is especially acute for nearly 900 million people who live in coastal zones at low elevations – that’s one out of 10 people on Earth,” Guterres told the UN Security Council.
“Low-lying communities and entire countries could disappear forever,” he said.
Honduras is already a mayor source of United States (US)-bound undocumented migrants.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says sea levels rose by 15-25 centimetres between 1900 and 2018.
And if the world warms by just two degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era, those levels will rise again by 43 centimetres by the year 2100.
According to the IPCC, all mangrove forests could be lost in the next 100 years.
Mangroves not only sustain sea life but also help trap planet-warming carbon dioxide and protect coastlines from storms and surges.
Central America’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts “are some of the most endangered on the planet with regard to mangroves, as approximately 40 per cent of present species are threatened with extinction”, according to the IPCC.
This week, leaders of government, the private sector, civil society and academics will gather in Panama for the “Our Ocean” conference to discuss how to save under-pressure marine resources.
The Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (FABD) inked a sponsorship agreement with Leesin Group of Companies to sponsor Purion Ionized Water for the Brunei Super League 2023 at the lecture theatre of Football Association of Brunei Darussalam House yesterday.
FABD President Pengiran bin Haji Matusin Pengiran Haji Matasan signed on behalf of the association with Secretary General Mohammad Shahnon bin Haji Mohammad Salleh. Inking for Leesin Group of Companies were Director Isaac Meng Yang and Sales Manager Ronald Lee.
Pengiran Haji Matusin said, “Yesterday we held a Football Forum and in our efforts to further develop football in the country, we definitely need the support and cooperation of all stakeholders.
“Today, FABD received sponsorship from Purion Water.
President of Football Association of Brunei Darussalam Pengiran Haji Matusin bin Pengiran Haji Matasan and Leesin Group of Companies Director Isaac Meng Yang with the sponsorship agreement at the signing. PHOTO: JAMES KON
“The sponsorship will bring many benefits to FABD and national squad as well as other events that we host.”
He added, ”We are very grateful for the sponsorship and generosity. We hope that more business entities will also come forward to provide generous sponsorship to help develop football to the highest level.”
Meanwhile, Isaac Meng Yang said, “I hope that 2023 will have a record breaking performance for the Brunei team.
“I am very happy that Purion is the new official hydration provider for FABD.
“Purion was born during the COVID-19 pandemic and is in its third year now. Our aim from establishment was to provide the best quality hydration solution to all, not just providing water.”
A second session of the Halaqah Syariah prayer guidance held in conjunction with Israk Mikraj celebration was held at selected mosques nationwide.
The halaqah was organised by the Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College (KUPU SB) through Faculty of Syariah.
Last Tuesday, the halaqah was carried out at Kampong Belimbing Mosque in Subok with Ra’es of KUPU SB, Dr Haji Adanan bin Haji Basar delivering a talk; and at Sufri Bolkiah Mosque in Kampong Perpindahan Berakas with Faculty of Education’s Dean, Professor Madya Dr Muhd Zahiri bin Awang Mat. The talk at Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque in Kampung Bolkiah A was delivered by Assistant Professor from Faculty of Usuluddin, Dr Haji Matussein bin Haji Jumat.
The talk at Royal Brunei Police Force’s Surau in Gadong was delivered by Director of the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Understanding Research Centre, Haji Mohd Azmi bin Haji Omar.
The halaqah sessions aimed to enhance the level of understanding on the obligation in performing the five-time prayers, refine the solat fardhu according to Mazhab Syafi’e, and strengthen piety among the muslim community.
The halaqah will continue tomorrow at Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque in Brunei-Muara District, Kampong Birau Mosque in Tutong District, Kampong Sungai Liang Mosque in Belait District, Kampong Belais and Kampong Puni Mosque in Temburong District.
ABOVE & BELOW: Professor Madya Dr Zahiri delivers his talk at the Sufri Bolkiah Mosque; and Ra’es of Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College (KUPU SB) Dr Haji Adanan bin Haji Basar facilitates the halaqah at Kampong Belimbing Mosque. PHOTOS: KUPU SB
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP) – South Korea’s president yesterday called Japan “a partner that shares the same universal values” and renewed hopes to repair ties frayed over Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Since taking office in May last year, President Yoon Suk-yeol has been pushing to mend the historical grievance with Japan and boost a Seoul-Tokyo-Washington security cooperation to better cope with increasing North Korean nuclear threats.
In a televised speech marking the 1919 uprising against the Japanese colonisers, Yoon urged his people to remember what he called “patriotic martyrs who gave their all for our country’s freedom and independence during the dark days”. But he avoided mentioning any specific colonial wrongdoing as he explained why greater cooperation with Japan is needed.
“Now, a century after the March First Independence Movement, Japan has transformed from a militaristic aggressor of the past into a partner that shares the same universal values with us and cooperate on issues of security, economy and global agendas,” Yoon said.
“In particular, the trilateral cooperation among the Republic of Korea, the United States (US) and Japan has become more important than ever to overcome the serious nuclear threats posed by North Korea and global polycrisis,” Yoon said.
A professor at Ewha University in Seoul Leif-Eric Easley, said Yoon’s address “offers hopeful signs not only for Seoul’s relations with Tokyo, but also for South Korea’s role in the world”.
“Emphasising shared values is much more than rhetoric if backed up by a foreign policy that deepens trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan while increasing contributions to global efforts, such as supporting Ukraine, strengthening supply chains, and countering climate change,” Easley said.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee. PHOTO: AP
MEXICO CITY (AFP) – American electric car maker Tesla will invest about USD5 billion in a massive new factory in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
The move, which has yet to be confirmed by Tesla, would be a major boost to Mexico’s hopes of benefiting from United States (US) companies choosing nearby countries over Asia for their manufacturing operations.
“We brought to Mexico an investment of more or less USD5 billion for the construction of the largest electric vehicle plant in the world,” undersecretary for multilateral affairs and human rights Martha Delgado said in a video posted on Twitter.
“I’m going to Austin, Texas, to witness the announcement @Telsa CEO @elonmusk will make about their investments in 2023,” she added in a text accompanying a video from the Mexico City airport.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that Tesla was going to open a plant in Monterrey, northern Mexico, about 200 kilometres from the US border.
The factory was expected to be “very big” and would bring “a considerable investment and many jobs”, he said.
Lopez Obrador said Tesla would give more details today, including addressing the problem of water scarcity in Monterrey, an industrial powerhouse home to transnational firms.
In discussions with Elon Musk, the Tesla chief “was very receptive, understanding our concerns”, with measures expected to include the use of recycled water, the president said.
Mexico declared a drought emergency in July last year and authorities in parts of the country, including Monterrey, were forced to ration water use due to depleted reservoirs.
The Sungai Teraban Association (SUTERA) celebrated the success of local chefs Noreen binti Awang Sapri and Rohana binti Mahmud at the recently held Malaysian Culinary World Cup 2023 (MCWC23).
Noreen was placed second in the competition against 600 chefs from around the world.
Meanwhile, Rohana, selected by the Malaysia Culinary Association to be one of the competition’s judges, had previously won two silver medals in an international competition in 2019.
The two chefs received certificates and shared their experiences with attendees at a celebration held at The Language and Literature Bureau Library in Kampong Pandan in the Belait District on Monday.
SUTERA’s advisor Ramli bin Haji Chi in his speech on behalf of SUTERA president Kadir bin Haji Bujang said, “What makes us most proud of is Chef Noreen and Chef Rohana’s courage and confidence.
“Not only in competing against other equally skilled chefs but also to be a part of the Guinness World Record for the largest cooking competition,” he added.
Ramli also added that the association will support the chefs in their endeavours while providing opportunities for more youth to follow in the chef’s footsteps with plans to form a culinary kitchen in the district.
Rohana binti Mahmud and Noreen binti Awang Sapri receive certificates from Head of the Language and Literature Bureau Library in Kampong Pandan, Nursarfina Syazwani binti Muhd Khairin. PHOTO: DANIEL LIM
BERNAMA – The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) has approved TESLA’s application to import battery electric vehicles (BEVs) into Malaysia.
In realising this objective, Tesla will establish a head office in Malaysia, introduce Tesla’s “experience centres”, service centres and establish its “Supercharger” network.
TESLA’s presence in Malaysia is expected to create skilled and better-paying job opportunities for workers in the BEV segment and increase the participation of local companies in the TESLA ecosystem, both domestically and globally.
“We are pleased by Tesla’s decision to establish its presence in the electric vehicle ecosystem in Malaysia.
“This demonstrates Tesla’s confidence in our economic fundamentals and conducive business environment,” its minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said in a statement.
He said even as major global brands decide to invest and re-invest in Malaysia, Miti and its agencies will continue to enhance efforts to improve the ease of doing business, while continuously profiling Malaysia as pro-trade, pro-industry and pro-investment.
“We will also strategically leverage on our established electrical and electronics ecosystem to make Malaysia the preferred investment destination for technology related to electric mobility,” he added.
AP – The devastating earthquakes that struck Turkiye and Syria have killed at least 50,000 people with many more injured, tens of thousands still missing and hundreds of thousands homeless, the United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Chief said on Tuesday.
Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council that three weeks after the magnitude 7.8-quake hit southern Turkiye and northern Syria, followed by strong aftershocks including on Monday, the scale of the disaster is now much clearer: At least 44,000 people have been killed in Turkiye and about 6,000 in Syria mainly in the rebel-held northwest.
The UN flash appeal for USD397.6 million to help Syrian quake victims is 42 per cent funded and the USD1 billion appeal for victims in Turkiye is just 7.4 per cent funded – and this only covers emergency needs for the next three months, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday.
Griffiths told the council meeting focussing on Syria that before the earthquakes 15.3 million people – 70 per cent of the country’s population – needed humanitarian assistance, and he said he saw during a post-quake visit that in harsh winter conditions entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed.
“Early assessments indicated five million people in Syria require basic shelter and non-food assistance,” the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs said.
A building destroyed in the recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria. PHOTO: AP
“In many areas, four to five families are packed into tents, with no special facilities for older people, people with chronic illnesses or those with disabilities.” In addition, Griffiths told council members that hundreds of buildings are at high risk of collapsing, thousands more may need to be demolished, the risk of disease is growing amid a pre-quake cholera outbreak, and the price of food and other essential items is climbing higher.
“Women and children face increased harassment, violence and risk of exploitation and the need for psychosocial support is great,” he said.
Griffiths said machines need to be imported to Syria to clear rubble, equipment is needed for makeshift hospitals, and tools are needed to restore access to drinking water.
“The UN is working to address unintended obstacles generated by sanctions and counterterrorism laws, including procurement hurdles and delays for materials to repair essential infrastructure, medical supplies, or security equipment for our operations,” he said.
As for Turkiye, the two very large earthquakes on February 6 “caused an estimated USD34.2 billion in direct physical damages”, the equivalent of four per cent of the country’s 2021 GDP, according to a World Bank rapid damage assessment report released on Monday.
The report said recovery and reconstruction costs will be much larger, potentially twice as large, and that GDP losses associated to economic disruptions will also add to the cost of the earthquakes.
