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Home THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020 8
Lyna Mohamad
The COVID 19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow
to businesses and economies globally. Among
its casualties is the hospitality industry - spanning
across airline and travel agencies to hotels and
tourism-related sectors - which has been brought to
its knees.
Association of Travel Agents Brunei Deputy
President Colonel (Rtd) Haji Zainal bin Haji Harun
said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak has
resulted in local travel agencies not securing any
business since March 2020.
Many travel agencies had to lay off staff and
close ofˆice to minimise overheads, while others
had to put the staff on unpaid leave indeˆinitely.
If the situation continues, they may be forced to
close down.
“We are happy that Brunei Darussalam has been
COVID 19 free for the last two months. However, we
still cannot say we are totally free from the pandemic
as our neighbours and the region are still registering
positive cases,” he said.
Colonel (Rtd) Haji Zainal foresees that the tourism
industry will be the last to recover as tourists will
need time to regain their conˆidence to travel.
“We are grateful to have assistance from the
government initiatives such as salary subsidies and
loan deferment. However, travel agents are really
suffering. Further assistance is needed to help
the sector recover from the pandemic,” a travel
operator said.
Worrying
times for
hospitality
industry
Anduki casts spotlight on
OKU talents
James Kon
Local ˆilmmaker Abdul Zainidi has completed ˆilming
the trailer for Anduki, a fairy tale story about two
best friends, and hopes to start ˆilming the movie by
the year end.
Speaking to the Bulletin, Abdul Zainidi said,
“Anduki is basically a story about two persons with
different abilities (OKUs) who are best friends. One
day, one of them is taken away by a legendary fairy
called Anduki, who is known to ‘take’ a child once a
year to a fairy tale dream world.”
The main characters are played by hearing-
impaired duo Siti Nur Ruzana and Ang Chian Lian.
The teaser, shot at the water village, was
completed recently after weeks of ˆilming.
Abdul Zainidi said, “I want this ˆilm to be a
means to promote and empower our special needs
children. I also hope to send out a message that
persons with different abilities can also be a part of
the art scene here.”
Touching on the challenges of making the
teaser, he said, “It is not easy to communicate in
and embrace sign language. By having both hearing
impaired persons in the ˆilm, people will be able
to see that they are more ‘visually’ present in our
society. It is important to unearth their creative
talents especially in ˆilm, dance, etc.”
Aside from Anduki , Abdul Zainidi has also
ˆinished ˆilming a four-minute short ˆilm Deterring
Darkness. He hopes to get local cinemas to screen
both short ˆilms in a special session for persons
with different abilities.
Abdul Zainidi with the Anduki actresses. PHOTO: JAMES KON