Pre-Campus Thoughts

Akmal and I were privileged to be selected to represent Brunei in the final phase of the ASEAN Campus Journalist/Leaders Exchange Programme, which will be held from 12th to 18th June in Brunei, and 18th to 24th June in Indonesia.

A few days ago we were called in for a briefing by the Information Department, Prime Minister's Office, where the secretariat gave us the details of the programme and also showed us the photos of the other participants from ASEAN countries (except Singapore and Myanmar). Suffice to say, we were quite excited to be joining the Campus and meeting new people.

We were informed that we would be staying at SEAMEO-VOCTECH throughout the programme. Neither of us have had experience of staying at the place, so it would be something new for us, even if the programme was conducted in our own country. We would be staying with 14 other participants, and based on the itinerary we were provided, the committee would be taking us through various modules related to journalism and magazine publication, as well as field trips and cultural demonstrations.

Opening Ceremony tomorrow; our parents are invited!

Whilst the programme in itself focuses on journalism, which neither Akmal nor I have any academic background on, it does cover a module on the power of social media, which I think a lot of us would be able to relate to. It would be a very good exposure for us to be able to explore an area that we are not accustomed to (namely professional writing), which should be quite beneficial for us in the long run.

We were also asked to write several articles as part of the programme, and personally I hope I would be able to write on an area that I feel strongly about, but have never had the drive to carry out. As Brunei is our home country, we would not be required to write on Brunei, but instead save our creative juices for after we move on to Jakarta and Bandung.

The expectations are always the same before I take on any leadership programme: the excitement of meeting new people, the thirst to learn new things, that feeling you get when you see new places. Hopefully we would not disappoint the organisers and be able to produce quality writing by the end of the programme.