now and the future.
i really want to continue my study in UK, i really do not want to study in UBD because i have pride and because the UBD only provide us limited course. thus the output, jobs are not looking for us but us looking desperately and pathetically looking for jobs in the future. that is why i don’t want to be in UBD.nowadays, government and even private sectors look for oversea graduates because overseas have a lot of courses which could help Brunei’s economy and status. UBD? akhir akhir jadi teacher saja. buang masa and i really don’t want to be a teacher.my face went ugly and red when i went to UBD to buy the damn forms. i really don’t want to be in it. but my mum said we just have to fill it in case, IN CASE, i don’t have a scholarship. yes i am applying for scholarship. my course? communication or law or social psychology. AMIN tah aku dapat scholarship. malu banar ku belajar di ubd ah. MALU.lau aku inda dapat, rasa kan bunuh diri wah.
January 30, 2008
All I can say is that, the moment students stop complaining, is the moment UBD/MOE stop failing.
Whenever I hear arguments about the UBD education system, the best comeback they can come up with is “you’re getting the Education for free”
People gotta stop using that as an excuse.
Does that mean, because our education is free, UBD is allowed to land us a dead end job with no other choices? I dont think so.
Free education is not JUST in Brunei anymore. It has became standard to most of the major countries. So this “free education” is nothing special or unique, and it shouldnt be used anymore as an excuse for UBD or the MOE or the Government to suck.
If UBD is so good, why do Governments choose over seas students? 
I don’t argue for UBD, but I do understand that it’s always underprioitized, underfunded and underencouraged by the MOE which is dominated by school teachers and clerks.
I can’t blame UBD for doing ‘dead ends’- no one high up in MOE graduated from there, so the excuse is ‘asal ada’. Just ask any local lecturer, you’ll get a list of what they can’t do- which is precisely what they should do to improve UBD.
It’s MIB, I tell you. It’s turned UBD into a standard student factory, all for ‘national goals’.
Comment by PhantomS February 12, 2008 @ 12:16 pmA great insight on this issue . Your voice is neutral and analytical. As is PhantomS’s reply.
I don’t argue for anyone or any institution either. Rather than focussing on the girl, we should focus on what DearBrunei has enlightened us with.
The forest is not seen for the trees that make it.
Comment by shai February 13, 2008 @ 3:53 amits funny to read the comments on the girl’s blog really. i know exactly what shes saying, lol but shes saying it with so much insults and dissing that every UBD students focus more on the insults rather that subject shes trying to convey.
Comment by guy February 13, 2008 @ 5:11 ami truly agree with the MOE staff not working but only having parties. coz everytime i go to MOE i find very delicious food smell. its like they concentrate on the food more than the work.
once i went there, i was lookin for a particular department. after going from dis building n dat building, i decided to ask one of the person where there was written the the name of the department i was looking for.
dis person was siitin and having his meal n chattin with a lady(probably one of his collegues)… i asked him regarding my problem thinking that it was the rite department. but the person told me that i should go to the next building with the same department name wen i didnt even finish my talk..
i was shocked with his answer because how many departments would MOE have with the same name n different functions..
anyway i went to the building, but huess wat… the person in the next building told me dat it was not thier duty, it was in the next building(the one i went at the first place)
i felt really angry..n felt embaraced too, coz people wer lookin at me passing from dis building to dis building again n again.
well, after reaching the first building again..i met the same person again.. at this tym he said, “ok it must be our duty then”
then the worst part wass that he said “minta maaf tuan, pegawai kmi nda ada, ia kluar kn membawa anaknya khospital skajap, mun nda besuk kta jumpa ia”
i was really pissed off, and without saying anything else, i went back… n since dat they forgot abt the matter i was to discuss there..
it was really a tiring work to go round and round from one building to another, n the worst part– they dont even noe wat thier duties are…
Comment by puma February 13, 2008 @ 5:04 pmregarding the contents of the piece from another blog, will ya stop dissing ubd? i mean, really. “ahir ahir jadi teacher jua” havent you noticed? even in a prestigous government school in brunei, more than 50% of the teachers studied overseas. so ubd, overseas, same thing. you end up the same way. and i find you really ungrateful by looking down on teachers. you are really hoping to get a scholarship and if you do, do you think you are naturally smart? from the start of kidnergarden, we have been taught by teachers. up til now, we are who we are because of our teachers. we are where we are because of our teachers. and how would you nkow government chooses overseas students? who the hell cares if you studied in ubd when you have the certificate? and major countries? free education? really? may i know where? i would reaaaally like to know!
do you even know how many people are struggling to get into ubd? hundreds can’t make the cut and then where the hell are they supposed to go? be grateful for what you have would you and pls don’t be too proud. dissing ubd won’t get you anywhere. if you don’t get a scholarship, hell i bet you’d go straight to ubd.
are you saying the government sucks? Do you even know how much the government have done for us citizens? we don’t even have to pay tax goddamnit. do you know in some countries people get really poor trying to pay ther taxes off!? if you think the government sucks so much why dont you leave this country? i bet your folks work for the govt anyway. do you think without the government, you’d be who you are now?
oh after reading this you’d probably hate me and start to mouth off crap, dissing this comment. but if you think about it from another side from yours, i’m sure you’ll start to realize. if not, oh well your loss. cheers.
Comment by dayang February 14, 2008 @ 12:13 pm[...] Posts UBD EducationBrunei Darussalam National DayRumour : rapist backgroundTeaching Practicebrudirect did it [...]
Pingback by More comments « Dear Brunei February 15, 2008 @ 1:44 ami know what your problem is. you are blaming urself actually. maybe u just finished ‘a’ level and ur results are lame and u just cant bear the fact that u might not get a scholarship. oh yes, ive been there.
so what? i ended up in UBD and im enjoying it. where the hell u hear stuff about all UBD graduates will only become teachers? u are a screw-head and u need to tighten up ur screws.
not all of UBD-ans ended up in teaching as u thought u heard. some went to non-teaching careers in the government, holding well respected position in the ministries. its all up to ur achievement when u graduate. dont expect any kind of special treatment for overseas graduates, they might need an excellent achievement in order to find a job also in this country. if ur poor in ur progress, UBDans or overseas, u might as well end up in the ditch unemployed. it doesnt matter where u study.
and again, i want to emphasis a fact about top government officials not from UBD, as u mentioned. again, ur egotiscally wrong!. most of the top government officials had either worked in UBD or held top jobs here especially in the Academy of Brunei Studies. where the hell u get all those ideas about insulting UBD? this is the only highest education institute that we have and u put a mockery of an insult to UBD, to all of ur family and especially and unneccessarily, to me.
and in the end, if u failed to get the oversea scholarship, of which in fact u might want that scholarship just so u can have fun oversea and ignoring ur studies that will not be any easier as u think, i dont think u deserve to be in UBD after all.
i can recommend to u some good universities such as in Miri, aaa.. Sabah.. hahaha… but definitely dont dare come to UBD.
Comment by marhaban February 15, 2008 @ 7:29 amMarhaban, personal attacks really render arguments based around it unsound.
After that post, people don’t have to say anything after finding out the vendetta is emotionally driven because it reads like a book.
Comment by shai February 16, 2008 @ 3:25 am1. ive never said UBD students or graduates are unsuccessful or low graded graduates.
2. ive made it clear it’s the government that decides to select graduates from overseas rather than UBD graduates. so dont attack me for pointing that out
3. I know for sure that the MIB lecturers are UBD graduates as they are my father’s ex-students, but for other courses from the Science Faculty, they’re either imported from oversea countries or the lecturers are graduates from oversea. even ITB’s IT departments, all their lecturers are oversea graduates.
4. Where in any of the written materials posted on this website that mentions top government officials are NOT from UBD?
Now please understand, I am not SAYING or even IMPLYING that UBD graduates, are less qualified than overseas graduate. Ive never said that. I just pointed out that it is known that majority of Government deparments would prioritise graduates from Overseas rather than UBD. Personally, I applause UBD graduates for completing their courses, because I know studying in UBD is much tougher than studying in UK’s university, and not forgetting the extra 1 year that UBDian has to go through. I can understand why UBDians are offended by what is written by that girl, because it’s not easy to get into university, and it’s not easy for UBDIans to complete their courses in UBD. But she’s a young girl fueled with angst, just as we were when we were younger, rebellious personality, teenage angst, angry music, it’s part of growing up. She just expressed herself in the worst possible manner, but doesnt make her less of a human being, and doesnt mean she doesnt deserve a scholarship to follow her dream. Theres no need to retaliate or curse her, but advise, guide and aid her instead, shed some light upon her and convince her (in a nice politeful manner) that studying in UBD is not so bad.
Im not here to pick sides, rather to comment on the “UBD’s learning system” that she and I both agree on. It’s just opinion based. Im standing on a neutral ground, but perhaps, due to the chosen topics of my writings, it may seem like I’m against the system.
Once again I apologize if readers misunderstood with the message I am trying to convey. I am merely pointing out my frustration on the flaws in the governmental system that most of us choose to neglect.
Comment by guy February 16, 2008 @ 6:22 ami dont really care about that girl’s blog and whatever she thinks.to those saying the govnt prefers employing oversea grads. do you actually have a researched statistic of that? are u saying being a teacher is equivalent to being unemployed? of course many of em end up as a teacher .. thats the career they chose from the beginning. in fact the biggest faculty in UBD is the sultan’s institute of education.
Comment by jay February 22, 2008 @ 9:55 amFirst of all, from my opinion, UBD is among the best education centre besides UK and Australia. Second, I do agree some people said that there’s no statistic to be shown that most graduates are being taken for jobs. Third, students are considered as lucky, education of Brunei offers free education with alot of talented graduates both in Gov and Private sector. Just imagine, w/out ubdians, there will be no education. No education, meaning no teacher will be teaching. No teacher, no student will get a better education as we deserve now. Fifth, you have to consider & observe the course that you want to undertake is available & highly to be employed in your future. Finally, all on God’s will my dear.
Comment by Hantu February 24, 2008 @ 9:15 amtell me about it. Went to MOE to send my scholarship form with a friend of mine.. Told her to wear tudong but she said that she didnt want so we settle to just wearing baju kurungs.
When we arrived at the counter we were totally ignored. Those people behind the counter were not even doing anything. except for this one lady who was layan-ing this other girl..then when this guy saw us he took our form and looked at it.. then the first thing which he said to us was “OOOH URANG MLAYU KAH KOOO??”… then he proceed to ask me alot of questions and totally ignored my friend whos a chinese. and maybe because i look like a chinese (mixed) so he ignored us both in the first place.
its just so sad that these people actually do things like this..i think they’re missing out on alot of things.. being a racist doesnt let you win anything you know. *sad*
Comment by Me June 6, 2008 @ 2:56 pmHow many alumni members from UBD are CEOs of Fortune 500 companies? 0.
Comment by EwwBeeDee August 27, 2008 @ 5:07 pmHow many faculty lecturers from UBD are Nobel Laureates or Pulitzer holders? 0.
How many graduates from UBD are holding out for no-frills govt job? 0?
this is present, we r looking for jobs, not other ways my dear. If you keep on blaming others, you WILL NEVER progress (or should i say lil success?), hope u get it. Your future is in your mind. Whatever u think will be your future. god bless you.
Comment by nurse September 10, 2008 @ 3:56 pmI totally agree with the girl. What Brunei really needs are successful graduates from overseas. UBD isn’t exactly in the 50 top university rankings. The only thing that is keeping Brunei tax-free is its oil reserves. Once it runs out, what happens next? Countries like Singapore Indonesia and Japan aren’t exactly rich in oil, but they have graduates that have degrees from overseas and MOST of them are living in private estates, huge houses, private villas, etc. And you have to admit, Governments would immediately pick Cambridge or Harvard graduates over UBD without batting an eyelash.
Comment by Yunyun September 11, 2008 @ 3:20 pmI’ve noticed that most of the comments here say that we should be grateful of free education. Then let me ask you, what is the point of having free education if the quality isn’t good? Brunei prides itself for having a lot of teachers, but honestly, which is better, quality or quantity? Quality is always the answer. For example, if you give a piece of homework that has 10000 words and the quality isn’t good, the teacher will immediately throw it in the thrash bin. The same thing applies in Brunei. The oil-rich country has many teachers, but their teaching skills are NOT of excellent quality. I mean, how many Brunei students are currently studying in Cambridge or Harvard? 0 to 3. Why? Because the quality education in government schools are poor. Countries such as Singapore and Indonesia aren’t exactly oil rich, but look at their graduates. They live in private villas, have their own multi-million companies, become high-ranking government officials, etc. And tell me, how many students from UBD actually exceed their successes? If any of you can name one person, then I’ll be surprised.
Comment by Wisdom September 12, 2008 @ 5:52 amOh, and these three students who study in Cambridge and Harvard are either from Jerudong International School, International School of Brunei or Makhtab Sains.
Comment by Wisdom September 12, 2008 @ 5:54 amThough there is a 80% chance that my last comment might be wrong.
Comment by Wisdom September 12, 2008 @ 5:56 amish…what is the use of free education lah…nada quality la??.. kamu ne mcm2 eh…
Ku Besyukur pada mu ya ALLAH~~~
eermm…
Comment by unknown September 27, 2008 @ 8:59 ami’m sure u noticed but a lot of the ppl who works in the office regardless it being in the MOE or anywhere else (i suppose most esp govt sectors) happily dont really do their jobs as they should be. to me, this is just the Bruneian culture in the works. I mean sure we can complain all the way but heck it’s not gonna change anytime soon in the future so what to DO. it’s sad really. but as they say ‘mana ingan ingan-nya saja la’.
frankly, there’s nothing wrong with UBD – it’s just the ppl who actually makes things work yg bermasalah. MOE, ppl yg pick graduates kaja, etc etc. Thankfully, this year it seems with the new VC and restructured programmes and the works, everything will improve for the better.
i suppose what UBD has to work on training the students to think outside of the Brunei mindset and let the students immerse themselves in another environment altogether. when i read the paper about the changes they’e making for UBD this year, i was quite happy for the future students (and for the ppl like my sibs) i know are there and going to be there. I love the idea that students are given the chance in the 3rd year to be outside of the country to another for a semester to experience and live outside of Brunei – though really i think it’s much better for them to actually be outside of the country for at least a year (to immerse themselves in the culture and ppl well). I really dont agree with sending batches (20s? wth?) of Brunei students together (perhaps maybe in threes?) into the same university outside of the country because in the end these students will still spend time together and not mingle with the local people and other international students.
ah~ scholarships. dont talk to me about it because whoever is responsible for accepting them and the works really irritate and piss the living daylights out of me. some ppl who does qualify technically dapat? ooooohhhhh. freaking piss me off. but then again like i say WHAT TO DO, Brunei culture ler~ sapa ada connection dapat la sapa nada mana chan kan dapat.. walaupun qualify pebaik tia.
but i agree with nurse’s previous post – since this is the present and really obviously everyone knows how to complain (complaining in my opinion is just stress relieving thing for everyone ^-^), might as well think of the future, to hell with how the BRunei or education system works and make things work in your favour. i know a lot of UBD students that get jobs so really, it all depends on u being picky or not ^-^.
oh, btw, dont expect UBD to be Nobel Laureates or Pulitzer holders or the works. for one, the uni is too young and two, money is always the issue – facilities and such are always lacking or just not there and three, as we all know, the smarter of the students in Bru, the govt whisks them away on scholarships to other countries like say… surprise surprise maybe the UK *gasp*. irritate the heck out of me. again, what to do~
and the one posted by Me. again, Brunei culture, u cant really do anything about it with these kind of ppl. it’s hands down painful.
in conclusion, like i said there’s nothing wrong with UBD. i know lots who gets work some as teachers some as office workers some even more ‘glamour’ punya job and some getting their Masters outside of the country (from UBD qualifications), countries like Japan, Finland, UK, Oz, etc. The one thing they have in common is that they worked hard, studied hard, berusaha mencari kerja hard, never give up (complain ada la tapi u know that’s normal and again a stress reliever ^-^) and berdoa. Moronic system or not, in the end, it all comes down to you (regardless your current O or A level results suck big time ^-^). Remember, there’s always another path – jgn pikirkan if it’s a long pathway and u ketinggalan dpd orang lain. if you think like that, sampai bila2 masa pun you will not succeed. I also knw some ppl like this, one of them very close to me. All the best to everyone, regardless of u being a local Brunei student be it vokasional, ITB or UBD or u being an international uni student in the future. And all the best to graduates in their search of jobs be it in Brunei or outside.
Comment by Unistudent January 29, 2009 @ 3:27 amdammit. i irritate myself. i meant ’some ppl who does not qualify technically dapat?’ – piss me off.
p.s. do ppl that matters (like the higher ups in the said system) actually read stuff like this??
opinions of the public rrreeaaalllyy matters ya know. walaupun bunyinya macam complain saja~
Comment by Unistudent January 29, 2009 @ 3:32 amOh, get a life!! i am a teacher n loving it, i studied in UBD n graduated with 2nd class upper n some of my friends studied overseas…bawa balik apa??? nada..n some of them, even registered di UBD after that, talking about meludah ke langit,why malu? n kalau inda dapat scholarship ke luar negeri kan bunuh diri??? WOW…Luckily u r not aiming to be a teacher, kesian the next generation….
Comment by Miss Cupcake March 12, 2009 @ 7:51 amWith the certificate gained from UBD, it’s hardly recognized world-widely.
Comment by Ugh June 29, 2009 @ 1:28 pmWhich is why, lots of students prefer studying overseas.
In addition, there are more courses which are being provided overseas rather than in Brunei.
Also, even if you graduated from Brunei with a top degree and all, it’s not easy finding a job.
Especially if it’s not that much of a demand in Brunei Darussalam.
After graduating from UBD, a lot would migrate overseas to find a job. Thus, why not just attend an overseas university rather than UBD?
For foreigners, it’s even difficult.
We know that what the government is looking for is ‘locals’ and then only does it comes to permanent recidents.
It’s just pretty much unfair.
Look at Singapore!
They don’t care who you are, as long as you’ve got the knowledge, the job is yours!
But on the other hand, look at Brunei Darussalam.
Yes, we have free education, free medical facilities, and are considered very lucky.
That is because of the lack of locals.
This is done for the aid to help locals, and in return for them to be the pillars of Brunei Darussalam.
But look at us now, we can’t even compare ourselves with Malaysia, yet being such a rich country.
Lots of us, are just plain lazy.
We’re taking for granted what is given to us.
There’s no challenge at all, no motivation.
We lack motivation.
Just because your living in a rich country doesn’t mean everything will be smooth sailing.
We have more and more locals studying overseas, and once they’ve graduated, they would work there. We will be losing some very highly skilled students who would be able to contribute to Brunei.
Something must be done.
Time doesn’t wait.
It’s time for Brunei to do something about this.