James Kon
Women’s achievements in Brunei Darussalam were recognised during an event organised by the Embassy of Timor-Leste in Brunei Darussalam on Friday.
The event, held in conjunction with International Women’s Day, was hosted by the spouse of the Ambassador of Timor-Leste to Brunei Darussalam Ana Guterres.
Permanent Secretary (Community and Culture) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Hajah Nor Ashikin binti Haji Johari was the guest of honour.
A seminar themed ‘Breaking the Bias’ was delivered by four prominent speakers. They were former finance minister of Timor-Leste Fernanda Borges, former ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to Timor-Leste Norazlianah binti Ibrahim, Assistant Professor at Universiti Teknologi Brunei and President of the Brunei Reading and Literacy Association (ReLA) Dr Malai Zeiti binti Sheikh Abdul Hamid, and consultant ophthalmologist at the Ministry of Health and Jerudong Park Medical Centre and President of Brunei Ophthalmology Society Dr Helena Hurairah.
The seminar was moderated by SEAMEO Voctech Management Specialist Dr Jaya Priah Kasinathan.
Ambassador of the Philippines to Brunei Darussalam Marian Jocelyn R Tirol-Ignacio and Ambassador Designate of the United States of America to Brunei Darussalam Caryn R McClelland also attended.
The guest of honour and speakers were presented with the traditional hand woven textile from Timor-Leste called Tais, used to create clothing for ceremonies and festivals and is recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Other activities included a special cake-cutting session, video viewing of the official International Women’s Day music video and tasting culinary refreshments from Timor-Leste.
Female spouses of heads of missions from Indonesia, United Kingdom, Turkey, Malaysia and Australia as well as the president of the International Women’s Club, executive members of ReLA, general manager and director of Radisson Hotel were also present.
