The 6th Asean Skills Competition in Brunei

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM – The venue of the 6th ASEAN Skills Competition last September was in Brunei, an independent state at the edge of Sarawak, Malaysia, facing the South China Sea. Negara Brunei Darussalam, or "The Abode of Peace," is a tiny peaceful kingdom made up of sandy beaches with thick green flora and fauna. Its population of 375,800 resides in Brunei’s four districts: Brunei-Muara, Turong, Belait and Temburong, which has a vast tract of virgin, uninhabited rainforest.

The main capital city is at the Brunei-Muara district along the Brunei River where "Kampong Ayer," the largest water village in the world, lies. Known as the "Venice of the East," it was first visited by the great explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the 16th century. Kampong Ayer has 42 villages with a population of more than 30,000 living in traditionally made stilt houses that are connected by a maze of wooden walkways. Visitors can ride the many water taxis that transport villagers to and from the shore.

Brunei Government Invests $2.5m For Skills Training Program

The Brunei Royal Government has invested US$2.5 million in furnishing their skills training program to make sure everyone is employed. They have realized that although their educational system is patterned after the British system, a majority of their people cannot go to senior high school after finishing junior high. The primary focus of the vocational schools is to train young people for employment, including apprenticeship employment training. 

"Human resource development is indeed one of the keys to the sustainable development of any nation and we in Brunei Darussalam are certainly well aware of the impact it will have on our current and future plans for economic diversification," Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office said during the official opening of the 6th ASEAN Skills Competition.

The Crown Prince added that as part of the nation-building process, they "must now make strides in filling some of the gaps in our skilled manpower requirements." The initiative by ASEAN labor ministers to promote skilled manpower development through the ASEAN Skills Competition is commendable and it will benefit ASEAN, particularly at the grassroots level.

Meeting My Unesco Brunei Counterpart

Since the Muslim senior culinary student of OB Montessori College, Haya Sacar, was a participant and I was requested to attend as one of the experts, I took the opportunity to call on my UNESCO counterpart. Brunei recently became a UNESCO member state during the 33rd General Conference in Paris.

I called on Dato Paduka Sheikh Haji Adnan bin Sheikh Mohamad, Permanent Secretary of the Brunei Ministry of Education in charge of UNESCO matters, to familiarize him with the Philippine bid to be the UNESCO Asia Pacific Lifelong Learning Center for Sustainable Development for Asia Pacific.

Great Show Of Skills At The Competition

The 6th ASEAN Skills Competition kicked off in three venues involving 400 competitors, experts, heads of delegations, officials and observers. The International Convention Center, the largest venue, was the skills area for automobile technology, commercial wiring, computer aided drawing and design (CADD), electronics application, information technology, ladies dressmaking, plumbing and restaurant service. Meantime, the skills competition in cabinet making, welding, and bricklaying were held at the Indoor Stadium and at the Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College.

Cookery: The 13 young chefs from Brunei, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam demonstrated their cooking skills. The Philippine representative from St. Anne College of Lucena City, Elizer Oates, received the Diploma of Excellence award.

Welding: The 13 competitors from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were given 18 hours to complete four tasks: production of test plates and pipes, pressure vessels, stainless steels and aluminum structures. The only female welder competitor, Jennifer Evangelists from Batangas TESDA RTC, received a Diploma of Excellence award.

Cabinet-making: Thirteen participants from Brunei, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam were required to build a telephone table within a one-hour time frame.

Information technology: The 12 competitors from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam had to compete in spreadsheet and graphic presentation, document processing and data base.

Computer-aided Drawing and Design (CADD): Competitors from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam had to produce drawings from physical models, assembly drawing and detailed drawing.

Commercial wiring: Eleven competitors from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam had to complete four modules, which included wiring and control installation, installation testing and equipment setup.

Electronic applications: The 10 participants from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam competed in assembly and function of project, rework exercise, fault finding, test-equipment use, prototype design and reverse engineering.

Reinforcing Professional Ethics

About 136 contestants from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand had three days of tough challenges. They were observed and monitored as they completed every task on the skills list. Thailand got a total of 22 medals (five gold, one silver, three bronze and 13 diplomas), Vietnam got 19 medals (six gold, two silver, five bronze and six diplomas), Malaysia got 15 medals (two gold, six bronze and seven diplomas), Indonesia got 12 medals (six gold, two silver, two bronze and two diplomas), Brunei got two medals (one gold and one silver), and the Philippines had four diplomas.

To reinforce professional ethics, a neutral board of judges from prestigious hotels should be hired instead of using the personal coaches of each country. This would remove the temptation to give tips to the coaches’ candidates. The competition coordinator must be fluent in English since he gives the preparatory guideline before the contest starts. Finally, rules and guidelines sent a month ahead to each competing country should be adhered to.