Brunei Darussalam marks Royal Birthday

It was purely to celebrate the auspicious occasion and therefore for the guests to fully enjoy the occasion relishing the nice food and beverage as well as the pleasant company.

Befitting the ambience, there were no speeches or any other formalities other than the request for the guests to join the cake-cutting and a group photo session with the host.

On the large sign on the wall behind the rostrum were congratulatory remarks for HM Sultan. It read: “Long Live His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam: The 67th Royal Birthday Celebration of His Majesty the Suban and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darssalam!”

Naturally, the guests had a lot more time to enjoy the food and company.

Also conspicuously different from other National Day and other diplomatic functions were the absence of some people who were often seen at other diplomatic receptions where they made distinction from other guests in terms of guest manner and behavior.

Such familiar faces, who used to take the liberty of joining the photos with important guests where they did not belong, were absent. Also missing from the party were some people who used to bring Korean-language publications of questionable reputation and status (some not even registered with the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism as an official periodical), and try to take picture with ambassadors and/or Korean VIP guests with a squad of other people they had brought (presumably without a formal invitation).

However, the biggest distinction from other parties was the warm regard for the guests the host obviously had, which was clearly exemplified in the gift given to each of the guests when they left the banquet from after the party was over.

It was a nicely gift-wrapped set of three teaspoons and three fruit folks of good quality. Some Korean guests confided in The Korea Post, “In all my life, I have never received such a wonderful gift from diplomatic functions.” They were fully justified with the fitting remarks.
Attending the luncheon were many Korean and international guests as well as the ambassadors and other members of the SDC.

Among them were Ambassadors Hocine Sahraoui of Algeria, Md. Enamul Kabir of Bangladesh, Khalil Al-Mosawi of Iraq, Koro Bessho of Japan, Jad El Hassan of Lebanon, U Nyunt hlaing of Myanmar, Shaukat Ali Mukadam of Pakistan, Luis T. Cruz of the Philippines, Slobodan Marinkovic of Serbia, Peter Tan Hai Chuan of Singapore, Tajeldeen Elhadi Eltahir of Sudan and Kittiphong Na Ranong of Thailand. k