CABARAN LARIAN 17 BUKIT

ANJURAN SMARTER 2013

PADA 03.02.2013

TAMAN RIADAH TASIK SARUBING

MORE than 500 participants, including the guest of honour for the opening ceremony, YAM Pengiran Muda Abdul Mu’min, joined the long-awaited SMARTER Charity 17-Hills Challenge 2013 organised by SMARTER Brunei yesterday.

The challenging event which saw participants run or walk up hills in the Brunei-Muara District began with a mass recitation of doa selamat followed by an opening remark from the President of SMARTER, Malai Haji Abdullah bin Malai Haji Othman

Malai Haji Abdullah expressed his gratitude and appreciation on behalf of “citizens” of SMARTER Brunei as well as parents of the children with autism to the participants of the hill challenge.

“The 11 hills in Bukit Shahbandar represent the struggle that we have gone through for the past 11 years and the other six hills are considered as a symbol of our strategies in the next six years,” he said.

He said the challenge has encouraged the “citizens” of SMARTER Brunei to practise the concept of “3B” (Berjarih, Berkarih and Beroleh) in which he defines as facing the difficulties and challenges and striving to overcome them.

The challenge officially kicked off at 7am at Bukit Shahbandar, followed by the hills at Bukit Mentiri, Bukit Serdang, Bukit Pemancaran TV, Tasek Lama, Bukit Karamunting, Bukit Markucing and finally Tasek Sarubing.

The event was conducted to raise funds for SMARTER Brunei which requires more than $45,000 per month to run its three facilities. The facilities in Sengkurong and Kuala Belait focus on early intervention, while the third one is the Brunei Autism Centre for Adults (BACA) located in Kampong Jangsak.

In the afternoon, a closing ceremony was held at the event’s final destination, Taman Tasek Serubing.

Souvenirs and certificates of appreciation were handed over by the guest of honour for the closing ceremony, Awang Haji Mohd Jais bin Haji Mohd Salleh, Kampong Subok Village Head.

The ceremony ended with lucky draws for the participants.

The hills challenge was supported by the Fire and Rescue Department, Royal Brunei Police Force, paramedics from RIPAS Hospital and villagers who assisted SMARTER Brunei during the event in Subok and Belimbing.