1 PULSE

For the students, by the students Pulse PTES’s Bilingual Newsletter!

Issue # 2 2018 MINGGU ORIENTASI DAN SAMBUTAN HARI KEBANGSAAN 2018 Kata Mutiara Oleh Amal Nazirah binti Tahir, AE 11 Pemuliharaan Alam Sekitar Tanggungjawab Semua

Principal: Cikgu Haji Jafri bin Haji Suhaili ADMINISTRATION Office: 2671660 Fax: 2671665 Official Website: http:// www.ptesengkurong.com

L6 Kursus Orientasi PP 1 & 2 & Hari Kebangsaan Kumpulan koir PTES ketika menyanyi Lagu Kebangsaan

Pada hari Isnin 26hb Februari 2018, bersamaan dengan 10 Jamadilakhir 1439H merupa- TEP SYC PP 3 - 5 kan hari pertama kemasukan pelajar-pelajar enam bawah di Pusat Tingkatan Enam Sengkurong. Tahniah dan syabas! Sebelum memeulakan sesi pengajian di pusat ini, The Great Debate PP 6 & 7 para pelajar enam bawah mengikuti minggu orientasi yang berlangsung selama 3 hari.

TamanMahkota P 4 Antara objektif minggu orientasi dilaksanakan supaya para pelajar dapat menyesuaikan diri di pusat tingkatan enam dan mengetahui serba sedikit tentang latar belakang pusat ini. Pada hari pertama minggu orientasi tersebut diadakan majlis pendaftaran dan kema- sukan para pelajar enam bawah. Majlis dimulakan dengan nyanyian lagu kebangsaa, Vision : lagu rasmi dan lagu famili PTES oleh kumpulan koir. Pada hari Isnin 26hb Februari 2018, bersamaan dengan 10 Jamadilakhir 1439H merupa- To Enhance Teaching and Learn- kan hari pertama kemasukan pelajar-pelajar enam bawah di Pusat Tingkatan Enam ing For Individual Excellence Sengkurong. Tahniah dan syabas! Sebelum memeulakan sesi pengajian di pusat ini, Mission: para pelajar enam bawah mengikuti minggu orientasi yang berlangsung selama 3 hari.

To provide the opportunity for all Antara objektif minggu orientasi dilaksanakan supaya para pelajar dapat menyesuaikan students to realise their potential diri di pusat tingkatan enam dan mengetahui serba sedikit tentang latar belakang pusat and become better citizens. ini. Pada hari pertama minggu orientasi tersebut diadakan majlis pendaftaran dan kema-

KURSUS ORIENTASI DAN MAJLIS HARI KEBANGSAAN

Sukan para pelajar enam bawah. Majlis dimulakan dengan nyanyian lagu kebangsaa, lagu rasmi dan lagu famili PTES oleh kumpulan koir.

Pengetua PTES iaitu Cikgu Haji Jafri bin Hj Suhaili dalam ucapan beliau mengucapkan setinggi- tinggi tahniah atas kemasukan para pelajar. Di samping itu, Cikgu Haji Jafri bin Hj Suhaili juga mengharapkan para pelajar supaya sentiasa focus dalam pembelajaran kerana terdapat perbezaan yang besar antara pembelajaran di sekolah menengah dan di pusat tingkatan enam.Selain itu, tuan pengetua juga menyeru agar semua pelajar dapat menjadikan Pusat Tingkatan Enam Sengkurong se- bagai batu loncatan kecemerlangan pada masa hadapan.

Penuntut Enam Bawah ketika Majlis Hari Kebangsaan

Selepas majlis pendaftaran selesai, terdapat pelbagai aktiviti yang dilaksanakan bagi para pelajar enam bawah, antaranya sesi bayaran yuran, melawat beberapa tempat di pusat ini seperti makmal sains, perpustakaan dan sebagainya.

Pada sebelah petang, aktiviti ‘ice-breaking’ diadakan yang bertujuan untuk sesi suai kenal. Para pelajar juga berkesempatan mendengar beberapa taklimat mengenai peraturan-peraturan keselamatan PTES, hal-ehwal akademik dan juga hal yang berkaitan dengan disiplin para pelajar.

Pada hari Rabu, 28hb Februari merupakan hari terakhir minggu orientasi bagi penuntut enam bawah.Minggu orientasi diakhiri dengan sambutan Hari Kebangsaan Negara Darussalam yang ke-34 bertempat di Multi Purpose Hall PTES. Sambutan hari kebangsaan di pusat ini sangat meriah dengan menyaksikan persembahan lagu patriotik yang di nyanyikan oleh kelab koir PTES. Selain itu, warga PTES juga dihidangkan dengan tayangan video mengenai sambutan hari kebangsaan di negara ini. yang disediakan oleh Ak Muhd Nur Afiq Izzudin Bin Pg Abdul Muji Yahya.

Hari terakhir minggu orientasi pelajar-pelajar enam bawah ialah taklimat teknik pembelajaran yang dianjurkan oleh pensyarah- pensyarah Jabatan Bahasa Inggeris. Selain itu, semua pelajar enam bawah juga diberikan peluang untuk menyaksikan promosi aktivi- ti-akitiviti ko-kurikulum yang ditwarakan kepada mereka.

Bagi pihak PTES, semoga pelajar-pelajar enam bawah akan berjaya dalam pembelajaran dan menjadi insan yang berwawasan demi mencapai hasrat Negara Brunei Darussalam.

2 STEP SYC

Siti Rafidah binti Haji Ayob, AE1

If I told you that I had visited 14 different countries in the space of seven days, would you believe me?

The Singapore Technologies Endowment Programme (STEP) Sunburst Youth Camp (SYC) is an annual programme organised by Singapore with the main aim of ‘Engaging Youth Beyond Borders’. STEP- SYC provides annual opportunities for youths of various countries to learn about different cultures across Asia and serves as a good platform for fostering a good understanding and friend- ship amongst those who are selected to take part. A total of 14 countries, including ASEAN member countries, China, India, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea participated in last year’s event to commemorate STEP’s 20th Anniversary. This, is when I learnt about and ‘visited’ 14 different countries in a week, and was able to ‘visit’ these countries in our near neighbour, Singapore.

Including myself, there were a total of eight participants from different sixth form institutions, accompanied by a chaperone, who embarked on this exciting journey to Singapore from 3rd December 2017 – 9th December 2017. Before leaving Brunei, a series of training days were conducted, including a one-day course at OBBD, and also some fitness training at Tasek Lama.

It felt surreal when we landed in Singapore. The long-awaited day had finally arrived! The feeling among us was one of excitement but, at the same time, we felt a little jittery as we didn’t know what to expect. We were extremely delighted, though, when we were given the opportunity to tour Singapore. Accompanied by our Country Group Leaders, we visited Plaza Singapura, Gardens by the Bay as well as Marina Bay Sands.

At the hotel we discovered that we each had to share a decent-sized hotel room with 2-3 participants from other countries. This was nerve-wracking because initially, we didn’t know the nationalities or personalities of those who would be our roommates for the week. I was happy that my roommates were a bunch of friendly and open-minded people! Our initial awkwardness on meeting each other for the first time soon disappeared and the room became full of joy and laughter. I remember giving Ji Hyeon, my Korean roommate, a packet of 3 in 1. She was instantly in love with the drink, and expressed her disappointment that Korea was miss- ing out on such a wonderful beverage.

Team Brunei was separated into different activity groups (AGs). Initially, it was challenging as we had to step out of our comfort zones to build new friendships, communicate with youths from different countries and be good ambassadors for our own country. It wasn’t easy, especially with the language presenting a barrier for some of the participants. However, despite our differences, every- one was very accepting and welcoming.

On Day 1, we went to the Singapore Sports Hub for ice-breaking and team bonding activities. In the afternoon, we took part in an amazing race – known as the Sunburst Discovery Challenge – which involved roaming around Singapore to gain more of an insight into the host country, while completing given tasks with our AGs.

Team Brunei before leaving for Singapore with Siti Rafidah pictured third from right

3 STEP SYC

Day 2 began with the Camp Challenge at Sembawang Campsite. I had to prepare myself mentally and physically for this venture involving activities that I had never done before. On this day I learnt the importance of listening carefully to in- structions, to always think out of the box in order to find solu- tions and to always try to push yourself beyond your limits be- cause, otherwise, you will never know your maximum potential. Furthermore, the activities provided a good test of our time- management skills as we were under pressure to complete them within a given time limit. These activities taught us that with teamwork, communication and patience everything is possible as long as you know how to compromise and listen to each oth- er.

In the evening, we gathered around a campfire and, before it was lit, we listened to a speech from Professor Leo Tan. His speech was very motivating and this extract is a personal fa- vourite:

“Always start with dreams. Believe in yourselves; believe in what you want to do, what you want to achieve in your lives. Today as you went through the different activities, you realised you were also trying to overcome some of your personal fears. Fear of heights, fear of the unknown; but that is what life is all about. And the best part about it is, you are not alone. You are given the camaraderie of your fellow campmates, in whom you learn to trust.” – Professor Leo Tan, Campfire Speech 2017. Siti Rafidah with her Korean roommate

I never in my life thought that I would ever set foot in the National University of Singapore (NUS), so I was beyond ecstatic when I heard that we were going to visit this prestigious, beautiful University! It was Day 3 when we visited NUS. Dr. Tan Lai Yong, a local professor at NUS, gave us a lecture during which we learnt a little more about leadership skills. He told us that a good leader is one who is always thankful and is always amiable towards those who possess little while lending them a voice. Furthermore, he taught us that the most important trait of a leader is to be a good listener. Dr. Tan explained the importance of humbling yourself in the pres- ence of those who don’t have very much and hearing their voices, of empowering them to educate themselves and, through this pro- cess, learning something from them. As Day 4 came to a close, we became aware that it was almost time for us to board our flight back to Brunei. By this time, we could- n’t help but feel sad about having to leave Singapore. We weren’t quite ready to leave our new friends behind – the people with whom we had bonded and shared experiences with for four days and from whom we had learnt a lot. Day 5 was our final day in Singapore and the highlight of the entire programme. All the activities on this day took place in the ban- quet hall of the Swissotel Merchant Court.

In the morning, there was a country showcase presentation. Each country had a booth where they could present something that would give visitors a flavour of their respective countries. Team Brunei decided to showcase the traditional karing and kuih basah. Ming and I were the ones who did the presentation for the Brunei booth. We gave visitors a lot of detailed information about Brunei before proceeding to the main showcase. We had different types of kuih karing such as , , sapit and cincin on show which we had brought specially to Singapore, so that our foreign friends could have a taste. We gathered from the many appreciative noises made by the visitors that the kuih cincin was the most popular delicacy and the majority of the people who stopped by at our booth asked for the recipe. Team Brunei also seized this opportunity to visit the other 14 booths, simultaneously gaining new information and interacting with the overseas participants. We also took numerous pictures which will serve to keep alive the happy memories of our time in Singapore for many years to come.

4 STEP SYC

The STEP 20th Anniversary Dinner was held in the evening. The banquet hall was filled with the SYC participants and invited guests such as STEP alumni. Each country had four minutes in which to perform on stage. Team Brunei Darussalam performed the tradi- tional aduk-aduk dance. Dancing has never been my forte so being able to dance the aduk-aduk in sync without making any mistakes in front of a large audience, made me realise that we are actually capable of achieving more than we think we can if we are willing to give new activities a chance! And during the short time the dinner lasted we managed to gain a better understanding of the different cultures that we had been exposed to and which showed us how unique each country is.

It was truly a pleasure to meet so many amazing people from 14 different countries and to learn something about their cultures in a single location where we were as one, regardless of our backgrounds. Even though it only lasted a week, this camp will definitely have an everlasting impact on my life. The outcome and memories from this STEP – SYC will always be embedded in my heart. Last but not least, I would like to thank the PTES Administration for nominating me and giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Siti Rafidah (front row, third from right) flying the flag for Brunei at the STEP 20th anniversary dinner

5 PTES BADGERS NEARLY SET UP A FAMOUS VICTORY

Pulse cultural correspondent

A trio of PTES students walked away from the recent Great Debate competition as surprise runners-up after their participation in the competition was in doubt until virtually the last minute.

Not receiving the information regarding the event until two weeks before the Great Debate was due to commence the team, made up of Jessilyn Teh Jing Ying of AE 1, AE 2 student Geraldine Ting, and Ak Muhammad Rulzaimi bin Pg Hj Ramlee of AE 13, felt that they would not be able to do themselves justice in such a short space of time against teams of debaters from other schools who had been preparing since November last year, and thus opted to sit this verbal jousting out.

However, after a bit of gentle persuasion, they finally agreed to fly the flag for PTES and see how far they could go in a competition organised jointly the Co-Curriculum Education Department at the Ministry of Education and the British High Commission of Brunei Darussalam with the following aims:

 To support the Ministry of Education’s push to cultivate an innovative and creative culture of learning

 To empower, educate and provide a platform to help students to be open-minded and to develop communication and critical thinking skills that can be useful in their university life and future careers

 To give recognition to participating students that exhibit excellent performances in their research and communication skills

The first two days of the contest took place in the PTES Lecture Theatre and witnessed a multitude of coherent arguments and clever turns of phrase as speakers from the different teams tried to sway the judges in their fa- vour.

In the preliminary round, PTES faced Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan and were the opposition team, attacking the motion This House be- lieves the Commonwealth has done a good job to date working to sustaina- bly manage ecosystems, preserve en- vironments, and produce renewable energy.

As the opposition, PTES had the ad- vantage of being able to hear their opponents open the debate with their Action From the preliminary round with Geraldine Ting (left) getting her point across first speaker. Although the points put forward were valid, the delivery was far from fluent and these hesitations served to give the trio from PTES the confidence that they could at least match, if not surpass, anything the proposition could throw at them. PTES Second speaker Ak Muhammad Rulzaimi was instrumental in exposing the weaknesses in the arguments of their op- ponents and was duly adjudged to be the best speaker for this debate.

With one victory under their belts, PTES entered the next round against Sayyidina Ali Secondary School with a new-found confi- dence and in the knowledge that a second win would guarantee themselves a place in the semi-final.

As in their first debate, PTES were the opposition but this time attempting to refute the motion This House believes the Common- wealth has not sufficiently strengthened and supported the ambitions of young entrepreneurs in Commonwealth regions.

Throughout the course of the debate, the PTES Badgers were quick to find flaws in the arguments presented by their opposite num- bers and, on this occasion, third speaker Jessilyn Teh Jing Ying came into her own. Her arguments were presented with such convic- tion that the judges could do nothing else but vote her best speaker and at the same time come to a unanimous decision in favour of the hosts. 6 PTES BADGERS NEARLY SET UP A FAMOUS VICTORY

So now, PTES were one step away from the final and the chance to show off their linguistic talents on a much bigger stage. Standing in their way was the team from the Hassanal Bolkiah Boys' Arabic Secondary School.

Being the proposition team on this occasion, PTES had to defend the motion This House Believes the Commonwealth has failed to effectively empower girls and women and promote equal rights for women across the world. And they defended it in style, with a series of telling examples which their opponents were unable to counter convincingly enough to prevent the panel of judg- es from deciding in PTES’ favour once again.

The final took place on Thursday 8th February in the Dewan Raya at the Radio Telivisyen Brunei studios in Bandar Seri Begawan. Guest of Honour on the day was the Honourable Dayang Nadia Lee Siew Hoon binti Abdullah, the Permanent Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Education.

Following the recital of the Surah, His Excellency Richard Lindsay, the British High Commissioner to Brunei, gave a short speech during which he spoke of the aims of the competition and of the importance of developing critical thinking skills among students at sixth form level in order to prepare them for the demands of university education.

The debate then began, with PTES back in their familiar role as the opposition and seeking to expose the frailty of the motion This House believes the Commonwealth cannot significantly influence and set the shape and pace of global trade policy against Sayyidina Ali Secondary School (SMSA) from Kuala Belait.

Despite a valiant verbal tussle with their adversaries, the PTES line of argument was on this occasion not strong enough to win the day.

Nevertheless, the team must be congratulated on their fine performance as their second-place finish was proof of that old adage You will never know what you can do until you try.

From L to R: Jessilyn Teh Jing Ying, Geraldine Ting and Ak Muhammad Rulzaimi nearly set up a victory in the final

7 FROM YOUR MPPS

PTES LAUNCHES NEW CCA ATTIRE Regular readers of Pulse may remember our report (Pulse #6, 2017) of last year which announced that PTES stu- dents might soon be seen sporting some new CCA attire. In this edition, we are pleased to report that this change has indeed come about and lower sixth students can now be seen on Wednesdays sporting some very fetching t- shirts. While the reasons for the change are widely known – the old t-shirts were rather old fashioned and, because they weren’t very distinctive, this led to them being mistaken for those of other groups totally unconnected with PTES – it is perhaps pertinent to both name and credit those students behind this move to create a more up-to-date and trendy atmosphere at PTES. The main man is our very own Yang Di-Pertua Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar, Muhammad Alaf bin Hj Redawan who headed the whole project to introduce the new CCA apparel. He played a pivotal role in recruiting the talent need- ed for the success of the project and carried out most of the discussions with lecturers in order to obtain feedback concerning the idea. Muhd Aziz Azizi bin Mat Dayang who is Head of the MPP Sports Bureau is also to be commended for his part in designing the new CCA t-shirts. Four other students submitted their designs for the new attire, but it was Muhd Aziz Azizi’s design that the MPPs finally voted for. The last student to be credited for his sterling work is Naib Yang Di-Pertua Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar, Ak Muhd Rulzaimi bin Pg Hj Ramlee who, in his capacity as a member of the ICT Bureau, was responsible for all the digital graphic work related to the designing of the new t-shirts. Of course, the idea of introducing the new CCA attire could not have been implemented without the backing of the Principal, Haji Jafri bin Haji Suhaili who was in fact the first to see that the old design failed to give PTES any real sense of identity. Our thanks go to him, therefore, for suggesting the idea of changing the design and for giv- ing the MPPs concerned his full encouragement and support every step of the way.

The new CCA attire has helped give PTES a sense of identity

8 KATIMAHAR AGRIPARK ALLOWS STUDENTS TO UNWIND

Pulse TNT correspondent A group of six Travel and Tourism students – Nur Umairah Imanina binti Salleh, AE 4; Nurafayurina binti Kassim, AE 4; Mo- hammad Haikal Haziq bin Abdullah, AE 4; Ak Muhammad Aqil Asyraaf bin Pg Haji Masswadi, AE 5; Nurul Izzati binti Hj Abd Aziz, AE 6 and Nur Azyyati binti Mohamed Abdullah, AE7 – were the organisers of a recent trip to the Katimahar Agripark in Kampung Katimahar.

Forming an integral part of their AS TNT Paper 2 course work the outing, which was promoted at last year’s Travel and Tourism Fair and took place on 26th November 2017, attracted four PTES teachers (Cikgu Hjh Siti Ainun Jariah binti Hj Mohd Ja’afar, Cikgu Muhammed Nabawee bin Hj Ahmed, Cikgu Pg Muhd Mukmin Abd Latif bin Pg Hj Hamzah and Cikgu Hj Md Noor Hadi bin Hj Md Nasir), three teachers from other schools, and sixteen students all eager to unwind after their examinations. The pro- gramme of activities for the one-day event included exploring the area on ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles), crocodile spotting as well as taking a closer look at the local flora and fauna, so there was plenty to stop the student participants from reflecting on how well or how badly they thought they had performed in their AS examinations.

Asked, in an interview, to explain the rationale for choosing the Katimahar Agripark as their destination, group spokesperson Nur Umairah Imanina binti Salleh stated that convenience was one of the determining factors: ‘We picked the location because it is only eight minutes away from school. Hence, it is a destination that is easy to reach,’ she told a Pulse reporter.

However, reflecting on how well the trip went, Nur Umairah was quick to point out that convenience alone was not enough to make the day the success it was. Instead, it was a combination of convenience and the type of activities organised: ‘We figured that hiring ATVs for the day would be a relaxing way for the students to interact with nature and to forget the stress of their re- cent examinations,’ she was quoted as saying.

The participants, though, were not the only ones to benefit as the organisers also gained from the whole experience. ‘Organising this event has helped us shape ourselves as individuals: We had the chance to develop our self-confidence, teamwork and leader- ship skills. In addition, we succeeded in obtaining more of an insight into what Travel and Tourism is truly about and were able to experience what it is like to run your own business. And, lastly, we found skills in ourselves that we never knew we had such as numeracy, marketing and organisational skills,’ Nur Umairah stated at the end of the interview.

After planning for the trip for nearly three months to ensure that there would be no injuries and that nobody would end up inside the stomach of one of the crocodiles, the TNT students felt justifiably relieved to have completed this part of their course and now, all that remains, is for them to write a report about the event and they will be well on their way to getting a good grade in the TNT A Level examination.

Visiting Katimahar Agripark on ATVs provided a relaxing way for participants to interact with nature

9 TURISMO SHOW THEIR TRUE COLOURS

Ak Md Hafiiz Haziq bin Pg Md Noorhasni, AE 8

The Ecolour Race, which was an activity organised by a group of five Travel and Tourism students going by the name of Turis- mo, went ahead as scheduled on 18th February, 2018.

Promotion for this event began at last year’s Travel and Tourism Fair and the persuasive sales pitch given by the members of Turismo (Md Nizam bin Durahim, the Team Leader/President; Marketing Manager, Ak Md Hafiiz Haziq bin Pg Md Noorhasni; Siti Nurhidayah binti Abdullah Husaini, the Secretary and Marketing Assistant; Vice President, Fatima Az-Zahra binti Haji Ridu- an and Nur Sabrina binti Suhaili, the Treasurer) succeeded in attracting 18 participants, all eager to enjoy some rare time out from their studies. 3 Travel and Tourism teachers (Cikgu Hjh Siti Ainun Jari- ah bte Hj Mohd Ja’afar, Cikgu Mu- hammed Nabawee bin Hj Ahmed and Cikgu Pg Muhd Mukmin Abd Latif bin Pg Hj Hamzah) also went along

In keeping with the combined themes of ecology and colour, the Berakas Forest Reserve was chosen as the venue for the event and the 18 participants were divided into 3 teams – Red Chili Peppers, Skyblue and Green Nature – as well as given coloured headbands to match the colour of the groups they were in.

The day-long programme of fun and games began at the campsite at 8 o’clock. The teams took part in three mini activities which were the Dizzy Throw, Ping Pong Hell and the One Mind Game.

Once these activities had finished, the participants were then asked to move to the beach for the How Far Participants enjoyed a colourful day out Can You Reach game and a giant tic-tac-toe game.

Following this, both the organisers and the participants had a two-hour break for lunch. This consisted of sweet and sour chicken, mixed vegetables and boiled eggs. And, to round things off, there was ice cream for .

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the participants went to the biodiversity park for the final activity of the day which was called Pho- to Hunt. The groups were given a list of trees to find and had to take a photograph of each tree on the list as proof to show that they had found them.

Once all these activities had been completed, the organisers were able to announce that Red Chili Peppers had won the team com- petition, with Green Nature and Skyblue in second and third places respectively.

Although this was a team competition, the day was not just about winning and losing. Instead, it aimed to encourage the partici- pants to reflect on how to conserve nature in a fun way and, with a range of activities designed to ensure that the participants had to cooperate with one another, this provided them with good training in how to become team players. For some members of the groups, the activities even provided them with a good opportunity to enhance their leadership skills.

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