LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – 25/11/2018 – Last weekend, from the 23rd to 25th November, the Brunei Religious Officer Students Association (BruROSA) successfully held a 3 days 2 nights religious camp called “Kem Ibadah 11” with its theme being “Journey to Qalbun Saleem” in Brunei Hall, London, United Kingdom where 64 students participated in this event. BruROSA would like to express our gratitude to Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd, Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd, DST, and AR-RIJ Enterprise for their massive kindness in sponsoring the event. Qalbun Saleem which translates to “A Sound Heart” is the main theme as well as the ultimate goal for this year’s rendition of Kem Ibadah. Qalbun Saleem is a heart that is pure and unaffected by the moral ills that afflict others in which the heart is free from bad characteristics such as arrogance, riya’ and prejudice. The opening ceremony on Friday, 24th November was graced by the presence of Her Excellency, Pengiran Hajah Rooslina Weti binti Pengiran Haji Kamaludin, the Acting High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland as the Guest of Honour. Also in attendance were officers from Brunei Students’ Unit (UPP) and The Brunei Students’ Union council. The ceremony started with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, followed by Surah Asy-Syuara, verse 84-111 by Mohammad Harith Syafiq bin Mohammad Halim from University of Nottingham with its translation read by Muhammad Amirul Husni bin Haji Haji from University of Manchester. The Chairman, Muhammad Aqil bin Awang, in his speech, reminded the participants the importance of having a sound heart in spite of having stressful university lives. In addition, Her Excellency, in her speech, advised the students to acquire an equal balance of knowledge and skills for both the dunya as well as the akhirah in terms of intellectual, spiritual, moral, and behavior. On Sunday, 25th November, the Director of Studies of UPP, Cikgu Pengiran Ali Shafie bin Pengiran Haji Abas, attended the Closing Ceremony as the Guest of Honour along with the Religious Officer of UPP, Ustaz Isham Ismail, as the Advisor of the event. “This event is not specifically for a devoted or pious Muslim but rather, for those who want to seek for knowledge in general,” said Awangku Muhammad Aqil bin Pengiran Jaya, the Male Camp Commandant in his speech for the Closing Ceremony. This is in line with what Cikgu Pengiran Ali Shafie said on his speech - he encouraged the attendees to gain as much knowledge as possible. The event was blessed with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, followed by Surah At-Taghabun verse 10-13 by Abdul Halim bin Anuar from Loughborough University with its translation read by Abdul Qawie Iman Abidin from University of Leicester. The event continued with the announcement of group winners for the activities as well as singing the main theme song together. The winners for the activities are Team Selurut for male participants and Team Seri Muka for female participants where each Team consists of 6 participants. Through various means such as indoor activities like ice-breaking activities, Jawi Aerobics, Blindfolded Game and Bell Challenge Quiz and outdoor activities at Hyde Park where there were 4 activities checkpoints, tadabbur (the act of pondering and reflecting upon the Holy Quran) sessions, talks and forum, this programme aims to highlight upon ways to achieve this state of the heart and ways on how to find peace and calamity. The forum panelists also discussed about issues relating to mental health. There was also Malam Sketsa where participants in groups were required to perform a short act relating to the any one of five virtues of Qalbun Saleem - remembrance, patience, devotion, humility, and honesty. What makes the 11th Kem Ibadah more special than the previous ones is when all participants and organising commitees are surprised as they received individual letters specially written by their parents for them. “Coming here, for all the activities and talks, the 8 hours journey from Glasgow is all worth it. The games, forum, and talks, they are all insightful. For me, the talk is custom-made to our age group so it is easily relatable. The talks really touch my heart. Being with other Bruneians, this camp is also a way to reduce my homesickness,” as shared by one of the female participants, Ida Wendy Nurfarzana Batrisyia binti Haji Kamarul Zaman. The chairpersons for this year’s Kem Ibadah are Muhammad Aqil bin Awang from Cardiff University and Dayang Siti Maisarah Zaliqah binti Haji Awang Ramli from University of Exeter. The camp commandants who are incharge of the camp are Awangku Muhammad Aqil bin Pengiran Jaya from Imperial College London for male participants and Syifa Syaheerah binti Abu Hanifah from University of York for the female participants.
0 Comments
The Brunei Religious Officer Student Association (BruROSA) held its first Annual General Meeting for the academic year 2018/2019 last Sunday, on the 4th of November 2018, at Bilik Insyirah, Brunei Hall, London.
The opening ceremony was graced by the presence of Ustaz Isham Islam, UPP Religious Officer as the Guest of Honour. About 20 students who were also in attendance were mainly the religious officers from different Bruneian societies in the U.K. The event was blessed by the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah by the President of BruROSA, Muhammad Aqil bin Awang followed by a short recitation of Surah Ali Imran Verse 103 by Ak Mohd Amirrul Syafiq Bin Pg Kasmirhan, a member of BruROSA Media Team. The event started with a welcoming remarks as well as a short presentation of BruROSA by the President. The Heads of Departments, Ak Muhd Fauzi Syahmi bin Pg Hj Salim, Mohd Azharuddin bin Hj Yakub, and Kamalia@Norjannah binti Kamalrulzaman for Media, Writing, and Entrepreneur Teams respectively had the opportunity to introduce their responsibilities to the Association. The rest of the presentation was led by both the President and Vice President, Dyg Siti Maisarah Zaliqah binti Hj Awg Ramli. Question and answer session that follows immediately after the presentation allows the attendees to bring up questions as well as suggestions on how to improve BruROSA. This includes a discussion on which Society should be hosting the Regional Khatam Al-Quran in correspondence with next year’s Brunei National Day, suggestions for possible Religious Officers trainings which include program Ta’ziz Ilmi in Brunei during summer break before the new academic year starts, and ideas on how societies can conduct Maulud Nabi as it is the next event coming up. As the last agenda of the meeting, Ustaz Isham made a short tazkirah on the issue of spreading viral content whereby Ustaz shared his thoughts and stories from the generation of Prophet Muhammad SAW and how He (Peace Be Upon Him) handled sensitive situations. The event concluded by a closing remarks by the President and recitation of Surah Al-Asr followed by a group photo session. The Brunei Religious Officer Student Association (BruROSA) conducted its annual charity drive initiative called Unsung Heroes last weekend on the 8th September 2018 as part of its summer project where this year marks its third consecutive rendition. Unsung Heroes aims to show appreciation towards construction workers who have contributed to building our nation. In total, over 200 lunch packs were distributed to various constructions sites around Bandar Seri Begawan with the help of 36 volunteers.
The food and drinks were funded from the donations of the public where the company Sehat also donated 96 bottles of water. BruROSA is an association comprising of religious officers from across the UK and Eire that deals with the religious welfare of all Bruneian students studying in the UK and Eire. It was established on the 1st February 2015. Other than Unsung Heroes, BruROSA also organises other events such as Kem Ibadah and Umrah Tour which will be held in winter and easter seasons respectively. |