Brunei celebration event a huge success at UWIC 

A SPECIAL event hosted by the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) to celebrate the tradition and culture of Brunei has been hailed a great success.

The Eighth Annual Cultural Gathering was a joint event between UWIC’s International Office who acted as hosts and co-ordinators, and the Brunei Darussalam Students Society of Wales (BDSSW) who managed the organisation of the day.

Muhammad Isa, President of BDSSW said: “As this year's event revolved around the theme of "Salam Brunei" it was aimed to create awareness and promote the tradition and culture of our great nation. Showcasing performances involving traditional dances, songs, and acting in order to put forward the unique Brunei lifestyle, I believe the BDSSW members have successfully helped achieve this. I would like to give many thanks for everyone who was involved in the event.”

This annual event is becoming more successful each year, with last year’s BDSSW's event theme "Seri Brunei" portraying a Bruneian traditional wedding experience also showcasing traditional dances, songs and acting. Following on from that, this year illustrated a different, more modern aspect of Brunei culture. Salam Brunei revolved around the idea of experiencing life in two Islamic months, Ramadhan and Syawal, also known as the fasting month, and Eid Mubarak.

Guests of Honour included Cikgu Abdullah Bin Haji Ahad, Brunei Students Unit (BSU) Director of Studies and Dr. Mohamed Loutfi, UWIC Dean of International Development and approximately 200 guests who travelled across the UK to attend the event.

“I would like to greatly show my deepest appreciation towards the Guests of Honour, as well as all other guests for attending the event,” added Muhammad Isa. “Overall, even though at times it seemed like the painstaking rehearsals and organisations of the event were never-ending, the comedic, yet colourful performances never failed to put a smile on my face. Moreover, receiving the audiences’ positive feedback and kind appreciations, this goes to show how everything we as a society had gone through, Salam Brunei was simply worth it.”

Muhammad Isa also expressed his thanks to the International Office at UWIC and in particular the Welfare Team who have offered support and assistance to the members of BDSSW for many years to help them make this annual event such a success. The International Office will continue to offer a very high level of support to all international students throughout their studies at UWIC and is very proud to have received recognition for the work they do in the recent International Student Barometer survey where the students ranked UWIC top of all UK universities for general services and support provided by UWIC’s International Office. (Autumn 2010).