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ASEAN envoy for Myanmar crisis arrives on first mission

AP – Cambodia’s foreign minister arrived yesterday in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw on his mission as a special regional envoy seeking to facilitate peacemaking in the fellow Southeast Asian nation, which was plunged into an extended violent political crisis after the army seized power last year.

Prak Sokhonn is representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which last April reached a five-point consensus on Myanmar. It called for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties.

The ruling military council of Myanmar, which is one of ASEAN’s 10 member states, has delayed implementation of its plan, even as the country has slipped into a situation that United Nations (UN) experts have characterised as a civil war. Neither the military nor its opponents have suggested mutually acceptable compromises that could stem the violence, much less resolve the political impasse over ruling the country.

Soon after their arrival for their three-day visit, Prak Sokhonn and his party, including ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi, held a meeting with Myanmar’s leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other top officials, during which they discussed implementation of the five-point plan, conditions for providing humanitarian assistance and cooperation with ASEAN, said a statement from Myanmar’s Information Ministry.

The statement, which described the meeting as a “first step”, said Min Aung Hlaing also presented his government’s versions of the events leading to the army’s takeover and the violence that followed it.

Myanmar State Administration Council Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing shakes hands with Cambodian Foreign Minister and ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar Prak Sokhonn during a meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. PHOTO: AP

Myanmar’s reluctance to implement the actions urged in the consensus has caused a split among the members of ASEAN, which has ostracised Myanmar by blocking its leaders from attending major meetings of the regional grouping. Min Aung Hlaing was not invited to last October’s virtual meeting of ASEAN leaders because of the disagreement.

That rebuke was issued shortly after Myanmar declined to let an ASEAN special envoy meet with its ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the military took power in February 2021.

The army ousted Suu Kyi’s elected government and then cracked down on the widespread protests against its action. After security forces unleashed lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, some opponents of military rule took up arms.

A statement issued last Friday by Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry said Prak Sokhonn’s first visit as ASEAN’s special envoy “will be aimed at creating a favourable condition leading to the end of violence as well as the utmost restraint by all parties”, along with distributing humanitarian assistance and encouraging political consultation or dialogue among all concerned parties.

Prak Sakhonn became the ASEAN special envoy after Cambodia took over as this year’s chair for the regional grouping.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed interest in engaging more closely with Myanmar’s generals and in January this year became the first head of government to pay an official visit to Myanmar since the army seized power. In February, however, he expressed pessimism that the crisis there can be resolved anytime soon.

Oil jumps as EU mulls Russian ban, Saudi refinery output hit

CNA – Oil prices jumped USD3 yesterday, with Brent above USD110 a barrel, as European Union (EU) nations consider joining the United States (US) in a Russian oil embargo, while a weekend attack on Saudi oil facilities caused jitters.

Brent crude futures climbed USD3.44, or 3.2 per cent, to USD111.37 a barrel by 4.43am, adding to a 1.2 per cent rise last Friday.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose USD3.54, or 3.4 per cent, to USD108.24, extending a 1.7 per cent jump last Friday.

Prices moved higher ahead of talks this week between EU governments and US President Joe Biden for a series of summits that aim to harden the West’s response to Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

EU governments will consider whether to impose an oil embargo on Russia.

Early yesterday, Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said there was no chance the country’s forces would surrender in the besieged eastern port city of Mariupol.

With little sign of the conflict easing, the focus returned to whether the market would be able to replace Russian barrels hit by sanctions.

The Phillips 66 Company’s Los Angeles Refinery. PHOTO: CNA

“A Houthi attack on a Saudi energy terminal, warnings of a structural shortfall in production from OPEC, and a potential EU oil embargo on Russia have seen oil prices jump in Asia,” OANDA’s senior analyst Jeffrey Halley said in a note.

“Even if the Ukraine war ends tomorrow, the world will face a structural energy deficit, thanks to Russian sanctions.”

Over the weekend, attacks by Yemen Houthi group caused a temporary drop in output at a Saudi Aramco refinery joint venture in Yanbu, feeding concern in a jittery oil products market, where Russia is a key supplier and global inventories are at multiple-year lows.

The latest report from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, together called OPEC+, showed some producers are still falling short of their agreed supply quotas.

OPEC+ missed its production target by over one million barrels per day (bpd) in February, sources told media, under their pact to boost output by 400,000 bpd each month as they wind back sharp cuts made in 2020.

The two OPEC countries with the capacity to instantly raise output, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have so far resisted calls from major consuming nations to step up production faster to help drive down oil prices.

US energy firms are also struggling to keep the number of active oil rigs up, despite strong prices.

The poor supply outlook and high prices prompted the International Energy Agency (IEA) to outline ways on Friday to cut oil use by 2.7 million bpd within four months, from car-pooling to lower speed limits and cheaper public transport.

Fritz shrugs off injury to see off Nadal at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, UNITED STATES (AFP) – Taylor Fritz’s stubborn streak stood him in good stead yesterday as the American worked through a painful ankle injury in time to see off Spanish great Rafael Nadal in the ATP Indian Wells Masters final.

Hours earlier it looked like the 24-year-old American ranked 20th in the world wouldn’t be able to take the court for what would turn out to be the greatest win of his career. But after treatment to numb the pain and against the advice of several in his camp, Fritz found himself celebrating a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) triumph over the 21-time Grand Slam champion.

“In the end, I am glad I made this decision,” Fritz said. “We’ll see how it is tomorrow. I have an MRI tomorrow.”

He acknowledged that his participation in next week’s Miami Masters is now “questionable”.

But he’s not sorry he’s so “incredibly stubborn.”

The 24-year-old Californian said that’s part of what helped him recover in time for Wimbledon last year after he departed Roland Garros in a wheelchair then underwent surgery to repair damage in his right knee.

Taylor Fritz and Rafael Nadal hold their first and second place trophies after the men’s singles finals at the BNP Paribas Open. PHOTO: AP

“I think I’m an extremely stubborn person,” he said of his ability to shake off injury. “I also think I have a very high pain tolerance and not a lot of regard for potentially damaging myself worse if I think there’s a chance I can get on the court and play.

“It’s probably a lot of not-so-good things that get me on the court,” added Fritz, who also kept playing in Toronto last year when he was “seeing fuzzy and almost blacking out.”

He had plenty of incentive to tough it out yesterday, with a chance to play one of the game’s greats at a tournament he attended with his father as a child growing up in Southern California.

The reward was a first Masters 1000 title that made him the first American to win at the elite level since John Isner won in Miami in 2018. “My dad brought me here as a kid,” Fritz said.

“He told me that I was going to win this tournament one day when I was a little kid.

“He was just really, really proud of me,” Fritz said of his emotional post-match talk with his parents. “And it’s really tough to get a compliment out of him.”

While Fritz’s ankle injury may keep him out of Miami, he believes his Indian Wells win is a step toward his current goal of reaching the top 10.

“This obviously helps a lot,” he said. “Obviously I’d love to go way higher than that and achieve way more than that.”

Tunisia train collision injures 95

TUNIS (AFP) – A head-on collision between two passenger trains injured 95 people yesterday morning in the south of the Tunisian capital, emergency services said.

“The injured were taken to hospitals and there were no deaths,” civil defence spokesman Moez Triaa told AFP, adding that only one of the trains was carrying passengers.

Most of the injured were suffering from fractures and bruises, none of them life-threatening, he said.

Many were in shock, he added, saying around 15 ambulances had been dispatched to treat the wounded or take them to hospital.

The incident happened at 9.30am local time in the Jbel Jelloud area, on the approach to a terminus in central Tunis.

An AFP reporter at the site saw the front of one of the trains had caved in.

Tunisia’s ageing railway system has seen several deadly crashes in recent years.

At least five people were killed and more than 50 injured in late 2016 when a train slammed into a public bus before dawn near the site of yesterday’s crash.

The previous year, the North African country experienced one of its worst railway disasters, with 18 people killed when a train hit a lorry and derailed at a level crossing south of the capital because of signals failure.

Police inspect the damage to one of the locomotives in a train collision in the Jbel Jelloud area in the south of Tunisia’s capital Tunis. PHOTO: AFP

Keeping it spinning for future generations

Fadhil Yunus

With emerging and modern sports such as e-sports much talked about given its potential and influence, gasing on the other hand is widely known to be one of the traditional sports steeped in tradition and synonymous with the Bruneian way of life.

The sport – also known as top spinning – last appeared in the domestic scene in October 2019 when Pulau Si-Kumbang emerged winners of the Pangkah Regu Top Spin Championship.

In September that year, Jerudong ‘C’ emerged champions of the Pangkah Regu event in the Top Spin Championship Finals held in conjunction with the 73rd birthday celebration of 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.

The game has come under threat especially with the emergence of e-sports gaining widespread interest among the new generation in the country.

However, the tradition of gasing should be preserved through efforts to educate and raise awareness to the younger generation.

It is a sport which can be played by all segments of the community whether individually or as a group.

Despite the age-old tradition spanning decades, it is rarely seen as a sport of choice for the latest generation.

This September 2018 file photo shows Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin trying his hand at top spinning, locally known as ‘gasing’. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF CULTURE, YOUTH AND SPORTS

The purpose of the game is to spin the traditional item on its vertical axis while balancing the tip.

In the olden days, gasing was typically played during paddy harvesting season and often contested in villages.

The individual holding the longest time with the gasing being spun is declared the winner.

The existence of the sport must be maintained as one of the cultural sports which possess an artistic value.

Such challenges faced by the sport in the country include the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of manufacturers.

Under the auspices of the Brunei Darussalam National Top Spin Association (PERGAB), it is hoped that solutions can be reached and subsequently contribute to the preservation of the sport.

PERGAB, established on December 9, 1987, is an organisation responsible for elevating the local game whether at the national, regional or international level.

In other words, the association is viewed as the backbone of promoting and advocating the sport in the country.

PERGAB President Dato Paduka Haji Puasa bin Orang Kaya Seri Pahlawan Tudin once said that gasing must be preserved where there will be interest and remain in relevance.

The country’s most recent achievements in the international scene was being crowned champions in the Top Spin Championship in conjunction with the Labuan Tourism Sports Carnival in October 2019.

The tournament featured participants from Sarawak, Singapore, Sabah, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and the Federal Territory of Labuan.

The common events being held in the country include traditional gasing, gasing borneo disiut, gasing borneo gurau ditanah, gasing pangkah banyak uri, gasing lunjong and gasing ubah suai di tunggol.

As certain techniques are necessary for gasing players to learn, efforts to protect and provide exposure especially to the newer generation must be increased and such issue should not concern PERGAB only.

The sport has been tailored to modern times as the rope used in the game is now made with nylon or other similar source measuring three to five metres long compared to tree bark during the olden days.

In terms of preparing the facilities for the sport, the Department of Youth and Sports has prepared a venue such as the Top Spin Court of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex.

The involvement of young people in the sport is hoped to continue the legacy of the game amid the technology era and the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the slowdown of the sport.

The convenient approach is to elevate the art of the traditional game so that future generations will not look cynically towards the game which should be inherited from our ancestors.

Burkina’s ‘Opera Village’

OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) – With its imposing, angular proportions made out of clay, laterite and other local building materials, the Opera Village cultural and educational project, designed by Burkina Faso-born architect Francis Kere, blends into the landscape.

It overlooks Laongo, a rural community not far from Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, and is the sort of groundbreaking design that helped Kere scoop architecture’s most prestigious award, the Pritzker Prize, this week.

In so doing, the 56 year-old, who holds dual Burkina and German nationality, became the first African to win the honour in its more than 40-year history.

Built on 20 hectares of a granite plateau, the Opera Village is shaped like a spiral, with 26 buildings housing workshops, a health centre, guest houses and a school.

Eventually, at its centre will be a performance venue and covered exhibition area with 700 seats.

Built in the early 2010s with the aim of combining art, education and ecology, the project was the brainchild of late German theatre director and filmmaker Christoph Schlingensief.

Kere was hailed by the Pritzker’s sponsors last Tuesday for designs that are “sustainable to the earth and its inhabitants – in lands of extreme scarcity”.

ABOVE & BELOW: A view of the terrace of the Balasoko restaurant in Mali National Park; and the entrance to the Mali National Park, designed by architect Diebedo Francis Kere. PHOTOS: AFP

An aerial view of the Village-Opera school, in Laongo
A child stands next to his bicycle at the Village-Opera school

His Opera Village used local construction materials, such as clay, laterite, granite and wood to allow it to withstand the extreme heat of the region, the site’s administrator Motandi Ouoba said.

“These are local materials that the architect found on site: blocks of compressed earth, bricks taken from the site, paving stones made from granite,” he said.

Kere “starts with the simplest material, which we commonly share… which our parents used, and he makes something noble out of it,” he added.

“It’s the earth, it’s all that’s around us, when he brings them together, he brings to life something that is magnificent.”

It also blends well with local vegetation, contributing to a sense of harmony.

The immense roofs overhang the walls and ventilation keeps the temperature in the rooms down, even when it’s more than 40 degrees Celsius outside.

Kere ensured that “our buildings are bioclimatic, with a double ceiling and openings to dissipate hot air”, Ouoba said.

The health centre’s consultation and treatment rooms have dozens of long windows that slide upwards.

“With so many openings, patients feel less isolated by hospitalisation. They have a view of the landscape,” doctor Issa Ouedraogo said.

The stylish classrooms filled with daylight are a far cry from the makeshift decor of many of the schools in Burkina Faso, a country battling an insurgency since 2015 that swept in from neighbouring Mali.

“The architecture of the buildings changes everything. We are in perfect classrooms because it is very hot here and not everyone can afford fans or air conditioning,” said headmaster Abdoulaye Ouedraogo, who is also an actor and playwright.

Six classrooms can accommodate 181 pupils – and there’s a separate space for music, dance, theatre, plastic arts, photography and audiovisual lessons.

Opera Village also serves as a creative residency site for artists, according to Ouoba.

“It reminds us that we can get something beautiful and functional from local materials,” he said.

With its unique architecture, the centre attracts around 2,500 visitors every year.

Ouoba hopes that international recognition of Francis Kere will help maintain the curiosity of visitors.

“This very prestigious prize is the pride of everyone, especially in these times when Burkinabe news is dominated by terrorist attacks.”

Embassy holds virtual Nowruz celebration

Lyna Mohamad

The Embassy of Iran in Brunei Darussalam hosted a virtual celebration for Nowruz in the presence of the Ambassador of Iran to Brunei Darussalam Homeira Rigi Zirouki yesterday.

Permanent Secretary (Administration, Finance and Estate) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Pengiran Mohammad Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud was the guest of honour. Guests from Iran and Brunei Darussalam and members of the diplomatic corps
also attended.

The event featured three Iranian music groups who performed Nowruz music, while Iranian intellectual Dr Pourdana presented on the introduction of Nowruz.

The ambassador said Nowruz day coincided with the first day of 1401 AH and the beginning of the 15th solar century as well as the beginning of spring – the season of growth and renewal in Iran and geographically beyond.

Nowruz is a day when there is no difference between the tribes and it is a link and a symbol of national capital, the ambassador said, adding that the United Nations (UN) adopted a resolution at its headquarters in New York in 2010 designating March 21 as “the International Day of Nowruz and the Culture of World Peace”.

“The Nowruz holiday is one of the longest holidays in Iran at 13 days. Much like Hari Raya in Brunei, people hold open houses for visits and wear new clothes.”

Ambassador of Iran to Brunei Darussalam Homeira Rigi Zirouki, Permanent Secretary (Administration, Finance and Estate) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Pengiran Mohd Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud and attendees at the virtual Nowruz celebration. PHOTO: LYNA MOHAMAD

PSG thrashed at Monaco as Mbappe frustrated

MONACO (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were beaten 3-0 at Monaco early yesterday after a Wissam Ben Yedder double strike, as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were both booked in a feisty Ligue 1 encounter.

PSG remain 12 points clear of second-placed Marseille at the top after the fourth league defeat of the season for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, who have been shaken since being dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Monaco captain Ben Yedder is now Ligue 1’s top scorer with 17 goals after his 25th-minute tap-in from a rebound, and an 84th-minute penalty.

Ben Yedder also helped in the build-up for German striker Kevin Volland’s goal for Monaco, making it 2-0 on 68 minutes in what was the real turning point of the game as PSG began to chase.

Mbappe and Neymar started for PSG and had a string of opportunities as the visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, but Lionel Messi was absent with the flu.

Paris Saint-Germain’s forward Kylian Mbappe challenged by Monaco’s players during their Ligue 1 football match. PHOTO: AFP

Mbappe said the bitterness of the Champions League defeat earlier this month was still felt at the club.

“We could win 8-0 and nobody would care, they’d just be thinking about the Champions League,” he said.

“We need to remain professional, think of our families,” said Mbappe, who was full of praise for his old club.

“They are a great team, who were playing in European competition,” said the 23-year-old.

PSG captain Marquinhos described the defeat as a wake-up call.

“If we carry on like that the title will be in danger. We have been warned,” he said.

“We came here to win and have fun, but that was a catastrophe.”

PSG coach Pochettino said it was time his players picked themselves up.

“On a sporting level, that was shameful. We have to get over the disappointment of being eliminated from the Champions League,” the Argentine said.

Monaco’s Belgian coach Philippe Clement can also thank his goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel, who made important saves from Mbappe, Neymar and Achraf Hakimi.

Marseille defeated Champions League-chasing rivals Nice 2-1 at the Velodrome to reclaim second from Rennes, who hammered Metz 6-1 earlier in the day.

Arkadiusz Milik converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time and substitute Cedric Bakambu added a second on 89 minutes, with Mario Lemina grabbing a consolation goal for Nice.

“It feels good. We had revenge on our minds knowing that they knocked us out of the French Cup,” said Marseille defender William Saliba.

Vietnam reports over 131K new COVID-19 cases, over eight million in total

HANOI (XINHUA) – Vietnam reported 131,713 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, down 9,438 cases from Sunday, according to its Ministry of Health (MoH).

The new infections, logged in 63 localities nationwide, included 131,709 domestically transmitted and four imported.

Vietnamese capital Hanoi remained the epidemic hotspot with 17,916 cases yesterday, followed by central Nghe An province with 5,403 cases, and northern Phu Tho province with 5,348 cases.

The infections brought the total tally to 8,089,761, with 41,949 deaths. Nationwide, 4,282,668 COVID-19 patients, or 53 per cent of the infections, have recovered.

More than 201.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country, including 184.8 million shots on people aged 18 and above, said the ministry.

Vietnam has gone through four coronavirus waves of increasing scale, complication, and infectivity. As of yesterday, it has registered nearly 8.1 million locally transmitted COVID-19 cases since the start of the current wave in April 2021, said the Health Ministry.

A woman walking along a street in Hanoi, Vietnam. PHOTO: AFP

‘CODA’ gains Oscar momentum with top prize at PGA Awards

Andrew Dalton

LOS ANGELES (AP) – CODA won the top prize at Saturday night’s Producers Guild Awards (PGA), giving momentum to the possibility that the small film could have a big night at the Oscars.

The story of three adult family members who are deaf and a fourth who is not and seeks a singing career beat out bigger contenders including The Power of the Dog, Dune and West Side Story to take an award that – more often than not – goes on to win the Academy Award for best picture.

“This movie has been an amazing ride, it was such a special one to make, there was so much love and so much heart put into it,” said Fabrice Gianfermi as he accepted the award with his CODA co-producers Philippe Rousselet and Patrick Wachsberger at the 33rd PGA Awards.

An American Sign Language translator, who had been off to one side of the stage throughout the night’s speeches, stood front and centre during the CODA acceptance and another stood in front of the stage to translate for the three actors from the film who are deaf: Troy Kotsur, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant.

CODA, an acronym for ‘children of deaf adults’, is nominated for three Oscars at the March 27 ceremony, including best adapted screenplay for writer-director Sian Heder and best supporting actor for Kotsur, who is expected by most to become the first actor who is deaf since Matlin in 1987 to win an Oscar.

ABOVE & BELOW: Rita Moreno accepts the Stanley Kramer Award at the 33rd annual Producers Guild Awards; and the Producing team and cast of ‘CODA’ accept the Darryl F Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. PHOTOS: AP

ABOVE & BELOW: Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer accept the award for outstanding producer of animated theatrical motion pictures for ‘Encanto’; and Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, George Lucas and Mellody Hobson arrive at the 33rd annual Producers Guild Awards

After it won best ensemble at last month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards it began to appear CODA could get real consideration for best picture. The odds may be getting better. The top PGA award winner has gone on to win the top Oscar in three of the past four years and 10 of the past 13. Academy Award voting closes today.

The PGA Awards, an untelevised show from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles honouring producers of film and television, is as much like a company awards banquet as a typical awards show, with no speeches cut short for time.

“Producing some is really hard,” said Issa Rae, producer of Insecure and A Black Lady Sketch Show as she accepted the guild’s Visionary Award.

Ninety-year-old Rita Moreno, star of the both the 1961 and 2021 versions of West Side Story, accepted the guild’s Stanley Kramer Award, which honours someone who has combined a career of artistry and activism.

“This business has taken tenacity and hard work,” Moreno said. “Advocating for issues of social justice for the last 60 years, it’s been exhausting, exhilarating and life-giving.”

Moreno said the night itself was both joyful and exhausting after taking the stage at 11pm local time, nearly three hours into the show.

“I was really getting tired,” she said. “My buttocks are a bit sore.”

George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, stewards of the Star Wars universe and producers of many other notable motion pictures, were honoured for their careers with the PGA’s Milestone Award.

Presenter Steven Spielberg, whose films have produced by both Lucas and Kennedy, called them “two titans” who are “still just like kids playing in a sandbox”.

Lucas acknowledged that his favourite achievement may not be the most popular among his peers, including the one who introduced him last Saturday.

“The thing I’m the most proud of is digital cinema. That was something that I worked on for 20 years. Spent many many millions of dollars to make it happen,” Lucas said. “Some still don’t believe in it. Where’s Steven?”

Spielberg, standing in the wings, acted out the operation of a traditional film camera, to laughs from the crowd.

“But we’re all friends,” Lucas said.

Summer of Soul won the PGA’s documentary film category and Encanto won the award for animated movies. Both are also nominated for Oscars.

In the PGA’s television categories, awards went to the producers of Succession, Mare of Easttown and Ted Lasso.

Greg Berlanti, producer of shows including Dawson’s Creek and several series from the DC comic universe, was given the guild’s Norman Lear Award.

Outgoing co-presidents of the guild Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher were tearful as they expressed joy that they could finally see their gathered peers in person after two years during which the pandemic forced the show to go virtual.

They praised their fellow producers for keeping the industry alive during their tough tenure.

“Hollywood loves a comeback story,” Fisher said, “and boy, yours is one for the ages.”

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Borneo Bulletin is the leading English daily in the country. It was first published by Brunei Press. Today, Borneo Bulletin has become the foremost source of information on local and foreign affairs, and the region’s business news.

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