BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Fifteen Bruneians were among the 130 individuals recognised for their professional achievements at the 14th Global Congress & Conferment ceremony on Wednesday.
Certificates and medallions were awarded to 130 doctor fellows, senior fellows, fellows, senior members and members in various disciplines ranging from architecture, education, entrepreneurship, management to artisans who fulfilled the criteria under the Royal Institution Singapore.
Royal Institution is a global professional, multidisciplinary membership and accreditating organisation of more than 300 royal institutions of various disciplines and profession.
Among those conferred with the Doctor Fellows under the Royal Institute of Architects was Legislative Council member, YB Siti Rozaimeriyanty DSLJ Hj Abd Rahman.
The LegCo member in her speech said there is a need to look into our preparedness for our future developments in terms of the imminent changes brought by Industrial Revolution 4.0
“Along with the industry 4.0 advancement, the demand for digitally skilled and trained people will increase as the digital economy evolves. These talents and skills need to be enhanced to enable our people to adapt,” she said.
She added that in education, transformations of mindset in students are needed and the fundamental basics of the new skills have to be taught and understood by the students.
“Marketability and employability are very important to measure our success and effectiveness through our human capital development,” she added.
Sharing the same sentiments was CEO of Yayasan, Norhaizamdin Abdullah who called for the need to change mindsets as well as leveraging on the best practices and experience of others.
Conferred as Doctor Fellows under the Royal Institute of Education, Norhaizamdin have 32 years experience working with the Brunei government under the education field and spent three years working as Brunei representative at the SEAMEO Secretariat Bangkok, before taking up his post as the CEO of Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah School.
“We must change our mindset, we are not [just] teaching students… we are teaching the students to learn to become whatever they want to be,” he said.
“We need to prepare for the future… don’t be stagnant. How can we improve? [By] networking and learning from others,” he added.
The ceremony also recognised the skills and mastery of three glass artisans from Brunei’s sole glass-making company, Mahkota Crystal.
Hj Najri Hj Saban and Razali Hj Emran were both conferred as Senior Members at the ceremony for their artisan skills in glass blowing.
Both have been working with Mahkota Crystal for 18 years — Hj Najri as production graphic designer and Razali as production supervisor. The duo are part of a three-member team of master craftsmen. Another craftsman, Noor Azlin Hj Garip was unable to attend due to health reasons.
Hj Najri said the recognition that they received showed that the skills of Brunei’s artisans are recognised globally, something that many have taken for granted.
He added that their skills helped showcase Brunei’s uniqueness to the world, with many of their works featuring the flora and fauna of Brunei being presented as gifts to corporations as well as leaders of governments.
“We will improve our skills and knowledge, and hopefully with that we would be able to step up production,” he said. On average, they are able to produce 30 glass pieces a day.