This article appeared in the Brunei Times today. Here’s the “director’s cut” if you will heheh 
I’d like to express my thanks to all at FCO, BHC and British Council for all the help and support thus far!
It has been over a year but it feels like just yesterday that I applied for the Chevening Scholarship using the online application form. The thing I remember most vividly was writing the personal statement. This is what I wrote:
“As a new media & communications professional with a sociology background, I am immensely interested in the way new media and the internet have shaped profound changes in society. The way we interact with one another, be it at home, at work, or at a wider, global level, has changed with the advent of the internet and the web 2.0, and currently, the web 3.0 phenomenon. The changes are brought about at a speed unheard of before this time. Never before has an understanding of the internet and new media been more important.
In Brunei Darussalam, there is a current shortage of people with new media experience especially from a government perspective. The broadcasting portfolio, which includes new media, has recently been taken on by the Ministry of Communications, and although there may be plenty of experience in the traditional broadcasting space, I believe there is a dire need for help in the new media component of this portfolio.
By undergoing this MA course, I hope to be able to track and study these changes from a Bruneian perspective and help my country’s government and relevant agencies foresee what the trends will bring about and prepare ourselves more adequately for whatever changes these trends may bring about, particularly the negative ones. I intend to set up an Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society to advise the government accordingly.
In looking for a suitable course, I was drawn to University of Leicester’s MA in New Media and Society, particularly because of the title, which seemed very focused on my area of interest.”
Here’s what it says in the prospectus: “The MA New Media and Society course is a one-year full time taught course. It aims to provide students with a critical knowledge of the historical development and key paradigm shifts in the study of media, culture and communication and with a comprehensive grounding in the theories and research necessary for studying, analysing, and understanding media and communication processes in both national and global contexts. The course provides extensive training in communication research, methodology and theory.”
Fast forward to 20th September 2009, the last day of Ramadhan, after the final sungkai for Ramadhan this year, I was at the airport, bound for UK. To say this was a sad occasion is an understatement! Ushering in Aidil Fitri on a plane is something I have not done in a very long time.
At the airport before departure 
The 18 hour flight to London was an uneventful one broken only by a short equally uneventful stop in Dubai.
On arriving in London Heathrow, I was pleasantly surprised that there was a representative from the British Council waiting for me with a card bearing my name on it. He was there to make sure I collected my advance stipend from the right Travellex branch and to make sure I had transport to Leicester. After collecting the stipend, I then told the gentleman that I had a coach from the University waiting to take me to Leicester. I thanked him and bade him farewell.
There were over 140 other students arriving at Heathrow on that morning, all bound for Leicester! And the next 3 hours were spent waiting for all groups to arrive. During the wait, friendships were made and numbers exchanged.
My new friend Susanna from Germany enjoying a sandwich during the pitstop
