Hello welcome to SMARTER Brunei website. Thank you for stopping by and checking our website.

Please visit our facebook account: 

http://www.facebook.com/SmarterBruneiDarussalam

SMARTER Brunei GUARANTEES that all Individuals With Autism (IWAs) will get the E.D.G.E. (Educate, Develop, Grow, Empower) they need for their SKILLS to get the BEST P.A.T.H.S. ( Practical, Affordable, Timely, Holistic, Sustainable) of L.I.F.E. (Learning/Loving/Loyal, Inquisitive/Innovative, Fun/Friendly/Focused, Educating/Enthusiastic) in a seamless journey from childhood to old age. 

James Kon

"Citibank movie outing with SMARTER"

Article from Borneo Bulletin Sunday. Published on Sunday Apr, 29 2012 

Citibank Brunei yesterday put a smile on the faces of some 100 children diagnosed with Autism from SMARTER Brunei as they were treated to the screening of the blockbuster movie 'Avengers' at the Empire Cinema.

In celebrating Citibank's 200th year, they made a difference by bringing cheers and smiles to the children of SMARTER Brunei for a movie outing. The event, which was also part of the Citibank Global Community Day, saw the children receiving goodie bags upon arrival at the cinema.

Present as guest of honour at the event was Datin Paduka Hjh Adina binti Othman, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Acting Citibank Country Officer Pg Hj Mohd Yussof bin Pg Hj Bahar in his welcoming remarks said, "This year, we are celebrating the 200th year of Citibank's formation. We were first formed in New York on June 16, 1812 and as part of this celebration we are here today to celebrate them in Brunei Darussalam. Our presence here in Brunei started in 1972 and we have been here for 40 years now."

In Brunei, he said, "we celebrate them by bringing cheers and smiles as well as laughter to the wonderful children of SMARTER and their families in Brunei, with the hope of developing life skills and strategies for greater community involvement. One of the skills sets that SMARTER works towards is blending the kids into the social environment. It is our hope that the kids and families will be able to blend and be acceptable to the community."

He also conveyed his gratitude to 'Citibankers' in Brunei for the commitment in promoting the Citibank Worldwide values of "making our communities a better place to be in".

Meanwhile the guest of honour, Datin Paduka Hjh Adina in her remarks thanked Citibank and said that any assistance from the private sector in helping the government in increasing the quality of life for special needs children is welcomed.

"Brunei Darussalam has already signed the convention of rights for people with special needs. However, we have not ratified it because we have to make sure that the right of people with special needs is being cared for in terms of access to education, employment and in today's case, leisure and entertainment. This event gives the special needs students the opportunity to watch a movie in the cinema as a social activity," she said.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of a a mock cheque of B$3,000 by the Acting Citibank Country Officer, Pg Hj Mohd Yussof to Datin Paduka Hjh Adina, who in turn handed over the cheque to Awg Hj Roslan bin Hj Yahya, the Treasurer of SMARTER Brunei.

Speaking as a representative of the President of SMARTER Brunei and executive committee members, Awg Hj Roslan in his speech described the outing experience for autistic children.

"Going out to watch movies would be an effortless activity for some of us, the so-called more abled individuals. But for individuals with autism, it is quite a daunting task and is not easy as it looks. These kinds of activity is being prepared step by step and go through a number of manageable small activities such as queuing up to buy tickets, paying for tickets and going into the cinema," he said.

"These activities are prepared by SMARTER Brunei's community adaptation programme. In addition, individuals with autism have to be well-prepared because of particular sensory issues as (there are) many cinema speakers and quite a few resist being in the dark.

"However, I understand that the Empire Cinema has arranged bearable conditions for the children so that they can enjoy the movie as much as the others. With that, SMARTER Brunei appreciates Empire Cinema for allowing the children to enjoy the movie," he added.

WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY 2012 has been a success! The symbolic lighting of a prominent building in the city was held at Rizqun International Hotel last April 1,2012 around 6pm to 9pm with the participation of members of SMARTER BRUNEI, UPK, Director of Arts from UBD, and Prismworks Event Management and other invited guests

THEME FOR 2012:

GOAL (Generating Opportunities for Adult Life) for Adults with Autism

Azaraimy HH

Symbolic lighting in celebration of 5th World Autism Awareness Day

Article from Borneo Bulletin. Published on Monday Apr, 02 2012

 SMARTER Brunei celebrated the 5th World Autism Awareness Day slightly differently this time around, doing so by lighting up a Brunei landmark in the shade of blue - the colour of autism for this year.

The event was witnessed last night outside The Rizqun International Hotel in the presence of Minister of Development cum guest of honour Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Suyoi bin Hj Osman.

The event marked the start of many upcoming activities organised by SMARTER Brunei to commemorate the 5th World Autism Awareness Day celebrated globally every April 2.

 'Generating Opportunities for Adult Life' is the theme chosen by SMARTER Brunei this year.

 The event saw a charity dinner to raise money for the SMARTER Fund, with a portion of the donations to be contributed to a fund for victims of a typhoon in Mindanao, The Philippines.

 In his speech, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Suyoi congratulated SMARTER Brunei, a NGO, for continuing its unrelenting dynamism throughout its 10 years of existence.

 He said, SMARTER Brunei should be proud of its strong effort in supporting the government in helping autistic children in the country.

 The minister also lauded SMARTER Brunei's passionate drive towards its challenging journey to provide a quality institution that helps autistic children in the country, which is seeing an increase in number.

 Quoting a recent article in the Bulletin, the minister said, in the US, the number of children potentially at risk of autism has increased to one in every 80 children, compared to one in every 150 births.

 "From this, it is suffice to say that this phenomenon will continue to pose a challenge," he added.

 With the attention given by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, through government agencies, the minister believes efforts to help this situation will continue to strengthen.

 In line with the chosen theme, Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Suyoi also highlighted SMARTER Brunei's initiative to increase efforts by introducing a 'Competency Based Training Programme' for autistic adults, where at the end of course, they will receive a vocational certification of their skills for them to use in their independent adult life.

 Meanwhile, according to SMARTER Brunei President Malai Abdullah, SMARTER Brunei has so far a total of 104 individuals with autism actively receiving Intervention Programme, Continuous Education Programme and Adult Programme at the three centres.

 "This evening is the beginning of a month-long awareness programme. At the same time, we also want to contribute by donating to the Mindanao fund as part of our social responsibility," he said.

 "The theme for last year was 'Act 4 Autism Now.' So our theme this year is our action, which is 'GOAL 4 Adult With Autism.' It stands for 'Generating Opportunities for Adult Life'.

 "Thus our activities are to generate and create opportunities not only for adults with autism and their families, but also opportunities for the private and public sectors, as well as the community as a whole.

 "We hope this light-up will highlight and spotlight awareness on autism to a higher level of real action, not just merely talking. We also hope SMARTER becomes a lighthouse, a beacon of hope, pointing all families with autism in their journey in this dangerous and treacherous ocean of real world, where there are dangers lurking everywhere.

 "SMARTER Brunei will initiate the generating of opportunities by giving our adults with autism the opportunity to get vocational certification of specific skill through our CBT training programme which we will launch tomorrow (today)," he added.

 "For this month, we will be conducting roadshows at all secondary schools willing to have us conduct awareness programme by showing the film 'Wretchers and Jabberers' - the journey of two adults with autism around the world. If the response is good, we will continue until the end of the year.

 "Another big initiative of generating opportunities for adult life is that we have started weekly classes on photography, fine art, music and movement, drama and poetry and we hope to hold our first photo exhibition this June to view the world from their perspective and lenses.

 "We hope our initiatives will become a catalyst for other agencies to generate, create, open, facilitate and provide appropriate and relevant opportunities for adults with autism to explore, experience and enjoy life with their peers," he added.

                                                               

  

Malai Hj Abdullah bin Malai Hj Othman

President of Smarter Brunei with his son