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THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER IN BRUNEI DARUSSALAM, SABAH AND SARAWAK B$1.00 | RM3.50 FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2020 VOL.24 | NO.257
LIFESTYLE 13
Finding solace in baking
and cooking
FEATURES 20
Community engagement is key to
check virus
WORLD 25
Japan puzzled by outbreak on
cruise ship
HOME 5
China supports Brunei’s •ight against
virus with donations
Number of cases
Number of deaths
Recovered cases
Brunei Darussalam
COVID-19 STATISTICS
As of 23 April 2020
138
1
119
Muslims in Brunei will begin the Ramadhan
dawn-to dusk fast on April 25, the Brunei
Islamic Religious Council (MUIB) announced.
Minister of Religious Affairs Pehin Udana
Khatib Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang
Badaruddin bin Pengarah Dato Paduka Haji
Awang Othman in his capacity as President of
MUIB announced the date for the beginning
of the fast with the consent of His Majesty
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin
Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar
‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan
and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
The announcement was aired over Radio
Television Brunei (RTB) last night.
The bid to spot this year’s new moon of
Ramadhan was carried out by judges from the
Syariah Court with of‘icials from the Ministry
of Religious Affairs (MoRA), State Mufti’s Of‘ice
and Survey Department. The hilal (crescent) of
the new moon was not sighted as con‘irmed
by of‘icials who were present at the DST Tower
and Bukit Agok, Jerudong and Tanjung Batu,
PekanMuara in the Brunei-Muara District; Bukit
Ambog in the Tutong District; and Bukit Lumut
in the Belait District.
Continue to Page 3
Ramadhan starts tomorrow
Deputy Minister of Development Dato Seri Paduka Ar Haji Marzuke bin Haji Mohsin monitors the
moonsighting event at the DST Tower. PHOTO: AZIZ IDRIS
Aziz Idris
Brunei Darussalam has taken the third place in
Southeast Asia, seventh in the Asia-Paci‘ic and
38th place globally in the recent Global Talent
Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2020.
The Sultanate scored 52.17 per cent
for overall talent competitiveness scoring
reaching 25th place globally in Vocational and
Technical Skills pillar with a score of 62.04 per
Brunei ranks third in Southeast Asia for talent competitiveness
Azlan Othman cent; 33rd place globally with 61.72 per cent in
the pillars of Enable, 37 th place in Attract pillar
(59.25 per cent), and 55 th place in Retain (54.27
per cent) .
Singapore topped the list in Southeast Asia
and Asia-Paci‘ic for the seventh consecutive
year. The city-state scored 78.48 per cent for
overall talent competitiveness, coming in
‘irst worldwide in the pillars of Enable (91.17
per cent), Attract (88.61 per cent), and Global
Knowledge Skills (71.19 per cent).
Malaysia rose up two spots from 28th to 26th
globally, while Thailand dropped one spot to
67th, and Indonesia moved up two spots from
67th place to 65th place.
Ove r a l l , t he t op 10 mos t t a l en t -
competitive nations in Southeast Asia and
Asia-Paci‘ic are Singapore, Australia, New
Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and
Brunei Darussalam.
Continue to Page 3
TheMinistry of Health (MoH) has announced
anupdate to theGuideline forMassGathering
yesterday. It provides guidance on events
that are and aren’t permitted as well as the
precautionary measures that should be
taken by the public.
The guidelines include events such
MoH updates guidelines for mass gathering
Azlan Othman as personal and family events, wedding
registrations and solemnisation, meetings,
conferences, training courses and job
interviews as well as recreational activities in
the open area. As such, the previously issued
guideline will no longer be used for reference
and will be replaced by the guidelines dated
April 23.
Continue to Page 4
Anyone who does not provide full cooperation
or give false and confusing statements for
contact tracing can be charged under the
Infectious Disease Act. Anyone who carries
out threatening acts such as purposely
coughing in the face of the Ministry of Health’s
(MoH) staff during contact tracing can also be
brought to court to face charges.
The warning came from Minister of Health
Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji
Jaafar during the daily press conference for
the latest updates on the COVID£19 outbreak
at MoH’s Al-‘A‘iah Hall.
The Minister of Health when asked
about the importance of contact tracing
during the COVID£19 outbreak said,
“Alhamdulillah, we have ‘lattened the curve
for a while now although there being one or
two isolated cases.”
Continue to Page 3
Don’t lie or threaten
officials during contact
tracing: Minister
James Kon