Ahoy there!

So last night we attended a reception dinner on board Pakistan Navy Ship ‘Saif’. It was great fun – although a little nervy at the start.

We arrived up at Muara port with time to spare before the 7pm start – given that we had never been into the docks before to board a ship in Muara! We had to park the car outside the first gate entrance to the docks and then proceed on foot to the ship – a task that would have been avoided had we been privileged enough to have diplomatic plates!

We were not the first guests to board the ship but there were not many when we arrived. The guard at the bottom of the ‘ramp’ (with rifle) saluted us before we walked up to be greeted by the captain, Deputy High Commissioner (that I had met earlier in the week to arrange details of the walkathon) and the commander, Asad Ali (who we later had a lengthy conversation with, more to follow). Two of the sailors then escorted us to rear of the ship (presumably where the helicopter normally sits) where there was a tent covering and the table was set up for a buffet dinner (you can make this area out in the picture shown).

PNS Saif 253

This was the most awkward part of the evening. We first met the High Commissioner and his wife. We chatted more with his wife and she was interested to know we had lived in Murree, where her and her husband were from! It was awkward as diplomat after diplomat arrived on board and were were not always certain of who to chat to and the ettiquette required!

Eventually when there were probably around 150 – 200 on board, the ceremony began as the captain introduced the purpose of the evening. The ship has recently been aquired by the Pakistan Navy having been manufactured in Shanghai, China. The first port of call for the new ship was Muara, Brunei. The ship arrived on Friday morning and departs on Sunday night or Monday morning. The ship will then make it’s way back to Karachi, Pakistan, calling at Thailand, Indonesia and The Maldives along the way. It is due to arrive in Karachi in a months time, on 4 November.

A cake was cut by one of the high up defence personnel from the Brunei Armed Forces and the High Commissioner of Pakistan. Then we all tucked in to the wonderful array of Pakistani food on offer which included; channa curry, chicken korma, biryani, lamb, fried chicken, salad, paratha, raita and various other odds and ends! All very delicious.

As the evening went on we chatted with the sailors who were keen to ask questions about where we were from and why we are in Brunei. They also seemed to appreciate the interest we showed in their ‘mission’ and taking the boat back to Pakistan. Naturally we regularly discussed the fact we had both lived in Pakistan. The crew were also impressed and excited at my ability to talk Urdu (almost a party trick really)!

Commander Asad Ali was one of those who was delighted to talk about out time in Pakistan, esspecially since he had been educated at Lawrence College – a nearby local private school to MCS where we were! We used to play football and basketball against them.

We were very impressed with the friendliness and hospitality shown by the crew and had a most enjoyable evening. Even when the rain started we were kept fairly dry and at the end of the evening a minibus was provided to shuttle us back to the entrance where we had parked earlier that evening.

Today we attended the Walkathon, discussed in my previous blog, run by the Pakistani High Commission to help raise awarness, and funds, for the flood victims in Pakistan. It was nice to see some of the sailors we had met the previous evening and again they were most friendly in coming up and saying ‘hi’ while thanking us for attending the evening before. Of course, we considered the pleasure to be ours as we really had enjoyed the evening after the initial awkwardness of feeling slightly out of place!

Have you ever attended a fancy ‘do’ where you have felt out of place? What about attending a reception on a ship? Do comment and let me know!

PlaneSimple

Pakistan Update

A quick update / comment on the ongoing crisis in Pakistan. It is good to see that a reasonable amount of focus remains on the country with updates regularly on the news.

Yesterday the UN launched their largest ever natural disaster appeal – seeking over 2 billion US dollars. There appears to be more and more acknowledgement that funding commitments need to be for the long term not the immediate crisis. The $2 billion target will be spent over the next 12 months and is more than 4 times the initial request of $460 million.

In my last blog post I highlighted a number of facts and figures to try and give some sort of illustration of how huge a disaster the flooding is. This increase in the appeal amount from the UN – again I highlight that this is more than any other UN appeal – shows the severity of the impact these floods have had in Pakistan.

Although news outlets continuing to keep Pakistan in the headlines and helping to raise the profile of what is happening is encouraging, it is not always done in the correct tone. Just as I started writing this post this morning, BBC World News listed what features were on today’s programme. I quote:

Later in the programme we will be continuing our journey down the river Indus…

It was said in an ‘adventure TV show’ tone and it is important to remember viewers are not watching a TV show, this is real life. Admittedly, it is nearly impossible to imagine the scale of 20 million people being directly affected by the flooding. However, is important to guard against getting sucked in to watching the news reports from Pakistan as entertainment.

The school I work at raised B$1000 (Brunei dollars) from a non-uniform day and have kindly agreed to add this to funds I am raising through hosting a Pakistani dinner evening. Interest has been quite high and I hope to have about 35 people for dinner next Friday. A local Pakistani restaurant we frequent here in Brunei will be catering. So far we are a little short of raising B$1000 from the evening. The student council at school are also organising an event – a quiz night – from which the proceeds will also be added to the schools donation. I am confident that the B$2000+ will make a difference to the people of Pakistan who have had their lives torn apart.

The Pakistani High Commission here in Brunei are also keen to organise fund raising events and have asked the school for their participation. They plan to hold a ‘walkathon’ at the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah National Satium. I am hopeful that some of our students can participate in the event to help raise awareness of the plight of the Pakistani people. It is good to see the High Commission here organising something.

During my research for this blog I thought I would read up about the National Stadium. It opened in 1983, the date for the opening event was to coincide with His Majesties father’s 70th birthday. A UK league football team was invited over to play the Brunei National football team for the opening event. That team was…. Sheffield United! What are the chances of that?! Being a lifelong Blades fan I was of course both amazed and delighted! Naturally, I must let you know the score of that game, Blades went on to win 1-0. Apparently the first team returned to Brunei in 1993 and won 4-1. Perhaps they need another visit here for pre-season trianing in the hot and humid conditions, given their current form!

Evidence of the first ever match at the National Stadium with the Blades and the Sultan (who I met last weekend) in attendance!

A further comment on the UN’s ambition to raise over $2 billion to finish with. I still think there is a reluctance to donate money to Pakistan’s flood victims due to the fear of corruption. In many ways this is understandable. One must only look across the border to Afghanistan to see how easily corrupt practices are allowed to go on. Still, I remain confident that through the right channels it is possible to give so that it positively impacts the floods victims.

Have you done anything to try and help? What are your thoughts about the UN’s appeal? Can an ordinary person like you or me make a difference to a flood victim in Pakistan? Please let em know your thoughts and comments!

PlaneSimple