NEWS
BCF and JAPEM collaborates in Housing Project
PRESS RELEASE
Bangar, Temburong, 2 July 2011 – Dayang Ong Ku Chai shed tears of joy today upon receiving her house key and certificate from the Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Datin Hjh Adina Othman marking the official handing over ceremony on completion of a brand new bungalow home in Kampong Labu Estit, Mukim Labu, Temburong under House Construction Project.
This project was initiated in collaboration between Brunei Chess Federation (BCF) and the Department of Community Development (JAPEM) in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, in which BCF had contributed $13,500 charity monies to fund the cost of the construction works. The cost of the project was estimated at BND$30,000.
This is the first time an NGO organization collaborated with the Department of Community Development Department (JAPEM), Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in assisting building of houses for the unfortunate families in Negara Brunei Darussalam.
The monies were raised last year in 2010 through a charity project called the Everest Trekking Amal initiated by BCF with the support of JAPEM.
The charity involved a trekking expedition in Nepal which commenced from April 23 until May 9 last year by a group of eight good men – who called themselves the “Everest Trekking Amal Expedition”. Led by Hj Zainal Abidin Ali, the journey started, after catching a small airplane from Kathmandu to Lukla airport in Khumbu-Everest region of Nepal. Little did the group know that the airport was ranked as the “most dangerous ” airport in the world.
The total journey – by foot only – lasted for 12 days, meandering through several Nepalese villages, and arriving at the pinnacle of the team’s destination – Everest Base Camp. Along the way, 3 of the team members had also climbed Mt Kalapattar (5,552m) and at the Base Camp itself, the team had organized a chess tournament, considered to be the highest-altitude chess tournament in the world.
The team had endured the harsh terrains, the extreme weather conditions, the hardships, and the disappointments of 2 team members who fell ill due to Acute Mountain Sickness and had to return to Kathmandu via helicopter – with strong characters and determination, team spirit and abundant sense of humour, and of course, of one’s faith and belief.
However, the feats of a few good men would not have been achievable, if not for the various supports from the government departments (JAPEM), newspapers (Borneo Bulletin, Brunei Times, etc), RTB, private holdings and companies in Brunei – but most important of all, the public and individuals who had donated for a just cause. And so, with JAPEM and BCF efforts, the first house has been completed.
The president of BCF, Hj Zainal, was very pleased with the outcome and said:
“Finally, the day has arrived for the first family to receive a house, brought on by a few good men, who ventured to the Everest Base Camp (Nepal) and raised the awareness of a whole nation; that is amongst us, Bruneians, there are still people who could not afford to live in a comfortable house; that is together, as Bruneians, we could achieve our dreams and the dreams of others.”
The house’s name in Temburong shall be RUMAH LUKLA in commemoration of the first village enroute to the Everest Base Camp.
(BCF)
Standard Chartered Bank Seeing is Believing Chess Event
30.05.2011
In a light and jovial setting, Standard Chartered Bank hosted a friendly chess competition between their staff and the visually impaired at
the Yayasan SHHB. The event was inaugurated by Ms. Lai Pei-Si, the CEO of SCB. In her opening speech, Ms. Lai highlighted SCB's Seeing is
Believing programme, designed to "help tackle avoidable blindness as well as help support the visually impaired".
The afternoon round began with SCB staff against their visually impaired opponents, most of whom were local players; the one exception was Mr. Alex Barrasso, the Deputy Chief of Mission for the US Embassy in Bandar. After the initial round, a few BCF players donned blindfolds in order to get a feel for playing chess without sight of the board. Needless to say, they found it rather challenging. Even FM Yee in his blindfold game with Jennifer Kang, Head of Corporate Affairs at SCB, managed to blunder two pieces, though he did win the game in the end.
The last game of the afternoon was between See Jun Wei and Mr. Barrasso. With See having the black pieces the game turned into a French Defence which went all the way into an endgame which was better for white. Eventually black made the last mistake and Jun Wei resigned the game.
The event was held in partnership with the Brunei Chess Federation, the National Association of the Blind and the Special Education Unit of the Ministry of Education.
Fourth-Sunday Blitz: May
22.05.2011
The fourth-Sunday blitz for the month of May was held at BCC and the top three finishers were:
- Md Aliuddin (7/9)
- Siti Nur Fatimah (6.5/9)
- FM Yee and Eko tied (6/9)
The tournament went smoothly except for a controversial draw-by-repetition in the eigth round in the game between FM Yee against Mr Yap. The ninth round was held up by a heated but amicable discussion between the players and the arbiter. In the eight round, Mr Eko was doing quite well against Emran but in the following position
played f4 exposing his king to check -- an illegal move immediately claimed by his opponent. Upon realising this Eko appeared quite stunned.
The absence of Hj Abu Nipah meant that he has dropped from 2nd to 7th in ranking and joined by Eko. Emran has moved up from 10th to 6th after this tournament. FM Yee has increased the gap from the pack of players in second and third by three points.
