Seventh issue . July - September 2012 - Universiti Brunei Darussalam

4DiscoverFEATUREDiscoverFEATURE5Pesta Konvo opened by HRH the Crown PrinceUniversiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) held theConvocation Festival 2012, commonly referredto as Pesta Konvo from 5 September to 28October. The Pesta Konvo was officiated at theCore Residential College, UBD on 5 September2012 by His Royal Highness Prince (Dr.) Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni Kebawah Duli Yang MahaMulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji HassanalBolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the CrownPrince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’sOffice, Pro-Chancellor UBD. His Royal Highnessconsented to view the Arts Installation Exhibitionwhich was curated by Dr. Chris Woo, a lecturerin the Professional Communication and Mediaprogramme. The exhibition displayed artwork byUBD students including a 6-metre wide domedinfrastructure located outside of the CoreResidential College.Pesta Konvo is an annual event held in conjunctionwith UBD’s Convocation Ceremony to celebratethe success of the university’s graduates.This year’s Pesta Konvo marked UBD’s 24thConvocation Ceremony and carried the theme“Ke Arah Kesempurnaan Insan” (Perfecting theIndividual). This theme emphasized UBD’s rolein producing graduates that are holistic andcompetitively marketable, through initiatives suchas the Excellence in the Professional Arena, theExcellence in Education and the Holistic Excellenceinitiatives.A number of activities were lined up for thePesta Konvo, including an Al-Qur’an recitationceremony, an interfaculty Memorizationcompetition, interfaculty sports, an Islamic Poetrycompetition, and several UBD FM events. Activitieswere open to the public in order to strengthen thebond between the university and the community.The finale of the Pesta Konvo will be the 2nd UBDConvo Run, a fundraising event, to be held on 4November 2012.Inaugural Launch of The Brunei-US EnglishLanguage Enrichment Project For ASEANby Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade andU.S. Secretary of StateHis Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, theMinister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Negara BruneiDarussalam, and Her Excellency Mrs. Hillary RodhamClinton, Secretary of State of the United States ofAmerica, visited Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) on7 September 2012 to inaugurate the launch of theBrunei-U.S. English Language Enrichment Project forASEAN.The Brunei-U.S. English Language Enrichment Projectfor ASEAN is a project which will run for a period offive years and will involve Brunei Darussalam, theUnited States and all the countries of ASEAN. It aimsto strengthen ASEAN as an institution and also theindividual member states by developing the Englishlanguage and associated skills of key personnel inthe countries concerned. In addition, it will helpfoster other important educational and cultural linksbetween the two countries and the countries ofASEAN.UBD, which has already implemented dynamicnew approaches in its undergraduate programmes,has been chosen as the executive agency for theproject on the Bruneian side. On the American side,the renowned East-West Center (EWC) in Hawai’i hasbeen chosen to collaborate on the project.The aims of the project are to raise the levels ofEnglish of the participants, to raise awareness andappreciation of the rich cultural diversity of thepeoples of ASEAN, and to support greater integrationin ASEAN as the organisation moves towards theopen ASEAN Community envisaged for 2015.