Bandar Seri Begawan - Youth are urged to be competitive and faced up to the challenges of development so that they won`t be left behind. Youth are also urged to preserve their national and cultural identity and never to lose sight of their values.
This was the call made by Dayang Hajah Norlah binti Haji Yaakob, Acting Director of the Youth and Sports Department, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, who was the guest of honour at the certificate presentation and closing ceremony of the 17th Overseas Youth Programme yesterday.
The 12-day programme saw 63 participants (32 students from Brunei Darussalam and 31 from the Republic of Singapore) aged between 15 and 17 years.
Participants from Brunei Darussalam comprised army cadets, police cadets, fire and rescue cadets, girl guides, scouts and Red Crescent while those from Singapore were from National Cadet Corps and National Police Cadet Corps.
Dayang Hajah Norlah said, "The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports through OBBD (Outward Bound Brunei Darussalam) will continue to formulate suitable enriching programmes especially for the youth with emphasis on self-development to make them strong and resilient and could successfully contribute towards nation building."
The Overseas Youth Programme was established in 1999 and was introduced and run by OBBD Centre with the cooperation of Outward Bound Singapore and the Co-curriculum Education Department, Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam.
The programme were held at OBBD Batang Duri Camp, Bukit Patoi Recreational Forest, Serasa, the capital and Youth Development Centre.
The programme was in the form of personal challenge course with three phases namely Challenge and Exploration Phase, Community Work Phase and Cultural Visits Phase.
Source: www.brudirect.com (19 Desember 2007)