It was a good first day in Brunei, seeing that so much has changed! The airport is much more well furnished, with further renovations going on, and there is a fantastic hotel just 10mins away from the airport called Times Hotel (Established just 3 years ago)!
At the hotel, there were many familiar stalls like Each a Cup and even Pasta Mania, and some other Makan and shopping palces near-by.
But of course, we went to none of those! Haha Why go to these places, when you can have a good taste of authentic local food at the Tamu Selera Pasamalam! Crab, Big Fish, Calamari, Prawns and more at just $70 for a meal that fed 8 people (And still had left overs for take away)!
Nonetheless, what I appreciated the most is of course the company of Fatin, Khai and their volunteers! We had a good mix of casual conversations, but I also managed to learn plenty about the youths in Brunei, and the state of the people's mentality on their personal motivations to achieve and the civic movement there.
It was interesting to find out that due to the huge amount of welfare given by the government to the people, many youths have grown to become complacent and expects the government to continuously provide indefinitely, often expecting that opportunities will be provided to them without them needing to work hard for it. Coupled with no requirement of compulsory social service (Unlike in Singapore), most youths are generally disengaged from civic movements, and does not have the inner drive to achieve and give back to society.
As such, it has been observed that the youths have been passionately conversing about change and progress, but not many actually have the drive and enterprising spirit to turn ideas into reality.
Nonetheless, after a short interaction with the youths, some of them showed true passion for what Green Brunei stands for, and their vision to empower youths with the positive motivation to do good for themselves and the society! As such, similar to what Green Brunei's believes, I think that if given a push in the right direction and also a stronger emphasis in action-oriented initiatives, more youths in Brunei should be willing to step-up, and become a positive contributor to their society!
I just pray that I would be of good service to them tomorrow, and hopefully I too can help motivate one or two youths towards the possibility of leaving a legacy for their country!
At the hotel, there were many familiar stalls like Each a Cup and even Pasta Mania, and some other Makan and shopping palces near-by.
But of course, we went to none of those! Haha Why go to these places, when you can have a good taste of authentic local food at the Tamu Selera Pasamalam! Crab, Big Fish, Calamari, Prawns and more at just $70 for a meal that fed 8 people (And still had left overs for take away)!
Nonetheless, what I appreciated the most is of course the company of Fatin, Khai and their volunteers! We had a good mix of casual conversations, but I also managed to learn plenty about the youths in Brunei, and the state of the people's mentality on their personal motivations to achieve and the civic movement there.
It was interesting to find out that due to the huge amount of welfare given by the government to the people, many youths have grown to become complacent and expects the government to continuously provide indefinitely, often expecting that opportunities will be provided to them without them needing to work hard for it. Coupled with no requirement of compulsory social service (Unlike in Singapore), most youths are generally disengaged from civic movements, and does not have the inner drive to achieve and give back to society.
As such, it has been observed that the youths have been passionately conversing about change and progress, but not many actually have the drive and enterprising spirit to turn ideas into reality.
Nonetheless, after a short interaction with the youths, some of them showed true passion for what Green Brunei stands for, and their vision to empower youths with the positive motivation to do good for themselves and the society! As such, similar to what Green Brunei's believes, I think that if given a push in the right direction and also a stronger emphasis in action-oriented initiatives, more youths in Brunei should be willing to step-up, and become a positive contributor to their society!
I just pray that I would be of good service to them tomorrow, and hopefully I too can help motivate one or two youths towards the possibility of leaving a legacy for their country!
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