Some 100 Filipino students from various age groups based in Brunei Darussalam took to the stage as part of this year’s Filipino Language and Cultural Enrichment Programme (FLCEP) at the Philippine Embassy Chancery on September 10.
Themed ‘The Philippines as an Archipelagic and Maritime Nation’, this year’s programme from August 29 to September 10, coincided with Philippine National Heroes’ Day and Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month or MANA Mo, observed every September in the Philippines, to raise awareness on maritime and ocean preservation.
The programme adopted a blended learning approach combining virtual language, scriptwriting of the ancient FIlipino baybayin, and culture classes with face-to-face activities to provide a well-rounded experience to the participants. These included the introduction of traditional Filipino children’s games and nursery songs, weekend museum excursions to the Malay Technology Museum and the Brunei Darussalam Maritime Museum highlighting the rich maritime heritage of the Sultanate and its commonalities with the Philippines as a maritime nation, and a beach clean-up drive at the Berakas Forest Reserve in collaboration with AdvocaLAW, a Brunei-based youth environmental advocacy group, to help promote eco-sustainable practices and concern for sea conservation at an early age.
Formally launched in 2008, the FLCEP is annually hosted by the Philippine Embassy’s Sentro Rizal-Brunei in collaboration with the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to provide Filipino language and cultural immersion classes to the children of Filipino migrant workers in the Sultanate. It was co-organised with a group of Filipino volunteer teachers who helped develop the curricula and conduct classes during the school break.
