Bringing Brunei To the World

Hats off to our local adventurer, Norhayati Abu Bakar as she and her husband begin stage two of their grand adventure. Her daily updates on stage one of the adventure provided fascinating reading and I expect the same of this stage. Stage two will take the couple to 25 countries, Austria (Klagenfurt) – Slovenia – Croatia – Bosnia-Herzegovina – Italy (ferry crossing) – Greece (ferry crossing) – Turkey – Syria – Jordan – Saudi Arabia – Yemen / Aden – Oman – Dubai (ferry crossing) – Iran – Pakistan – India – Nepal – Bhutan – Myanmar – Thailand – Laos – Vietnam – Cambodia – Thailand – Malaysia (ferry crossing) – Malaysia (Kuching, Sarawak).

They barely had time to celebrate New Year in Harun’s hometown of Klagenfurt in far-away snowy Austria, before climbing into their trusty Toyota Land Cruiser for a planned five-month journey through 25 European and Asian countries – believed to be the first time a Muslim couple have attempted such a solo venture. If everything goes according to plan – and on such an expedition, that can never be guaranteed – we can hope to welcome them back in May this year.

“Bringing Brunei to the World” is a very appropriate name for this new Expedition. Because very few people in the 25 countries to be visited will know much about Brunei Darussalam. Most would probably be unable to identify it on a world map – they may even confuse the country with similar-sounding nations, Bahrain and Bhutan. Norhayati will quite literally be flying the flag for Brunei as she shares her pride in being a Bruneian with the thousands of people she meets en route.

That is the main aim of this latest venture, hopefully enabling people in those countries to increase their knowledge and awareness about Brunei Darussalam.

Brunei Tourism’s Chief Executive, Sheikh Jamaluddin, led a large group of friends, supporters and sponsors in formally providing a fitting farewell to the couple at Brunei International Airport last week. He acknowledged the important role being played by Norhayati and Harun to support the work of Brunei Tourism. “We concentrate our resources on our major target markets in North America, Western Europe, East Asia and Australia. So, I am grateful that this Expedition will reach out to other countries from which we are also keen to attract visitors.”

The Expedition also hopes that Brunei’s position as an Eco-Tourism destination for tourists from European, Middle East and Asean countries can also be promoted.

And Norhayati is hopeful that this adventure will succeed in sharing the importance of extreme sports as a motivation for Brunei’s young people and will inspire them to love a challenge as a base for success in their lives.

But, the less advantaged are not forgotten in this Expedition. Pusat Ehsan and SMARTER have particularly been identified as charities which will benefit from a campaign during the next few months when viewers of RTB’s “Rampai Pagi” will be encouraged to offer their financial support to these two worthy organisations.

For now, Norhayati and Harun are concentrating their minds and their energies on the commencement of their epic five-month journey. To say that it will not be like a leisurely drive along the highway is an understatement.

Many of the roads along which they travel will be similar to the roughest of rough jungle tracks. And the peaceful environment of Brunei Darussalam will not be typical of many of the countries to be visited. Some of the world’s “political hot-spots” feature in the list of 25 countries which they plan to visit. Pakistan, Myanmar and Iran stand out as being potentially difficult. Even Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey, Syria and Thailand are often referred to in international TV news reports for their social unrest.

Sheikh Jamaluddin’s final words to the couple at the Airport will remain in their minds over the coming months, “We look forward to hearing about your progress and your adventures, but mostly, we look forward to your safe return to Brunei in the middle of May.”

Norhayati and Harun have already made good progress. Having left Klagenfurt on New Year’s Day, after a quiet New Year’s Eve celebration, they have already overcome the snow and ice of Austria, traversed Slovenia and moved through Croatia, heading towards Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Bruneians can keep in touch with the progress made by Norhayati and Harun throughout the next five months in the “Weekend” issue of this newspaper each Saturday. RTB TV viewers can watch “Rampai Pagi” every Sunday morning to view the latest pictures and hear Norhayati’s live update over satellite phone. Radio listeners are not forgotten as PilihanFM 95.9 will broadcast a report each Monday lunchtime during “Morning Buzz”. And, for those preferring the Internet as a source of news, www.overthehorizon.net will provide regular updates. Or you can check this site as I will be providing updates as well.