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Brudirect.com: Shell Rewards Employees (*Bribes and scandal in Brunei?)

By Azaraimy HH
Revised: February 17, 2008.

Shell Rewards Employees
By Azaraimy HH

Bandar Seri Begawan – Together with Danau, Bubut will play a significant role in supplying gas for LNG in the future and is planned to be developed into a third offshore gas hub, supplementing production at Champion and Ampa. This is an important discovery for Brunei Darussalam”, said Brunei Shell Petroleum Managing Director, Dr Grahaeme Henderson in his welcoming speech at the Brunei Shell Joint Venture Companies’ Emblem Night last night at the Rizqun International Hotel, Gadong.

Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), Brunei LNG (BLNG), Brunei Shell Tankers (BST) and Brunei Shell Marketing (BSM) presented long service emblems to their employees for their outstanding contributions to the company.

The night was graced by Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awang Hj Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s office and Chairman of the Board of Directors as the guest of honour.

Also in attendance was Pehin Dato Seri Setia Awg Hj Abdul Rahman bin Hj Ibrahim, Minister of Finance II.

In his welcoming speech, Dr Henderson, Managing Director of BSP, lauded the companies’ achievements in surpassing their safety performance last year.

“On safety, Brunei Shell Petroleum, for the third year in a row, surpassed its safety target and continues to maintain one of the best safety performances in the Shell Exploration and Production group of companies worldwide.

This achievement should not he underestimated as there are more than 10,000 of our people out there: 3,000 from BSP and 7,000 contractor employees, working up a colossal 25 million man-hours in complex, inherently high-risk activities,” he said.

The Managing Director added, “Brunei LNG achieved 12 million man-hours and the Refinery 24 years without a lost time injury.

Brunei Shell Marketing reached an impressive six straight years without a lost time injury, while Brunei Shell Tanker posted its best every safety performance with only one lost time injury in 2007. To be able to deliver this level of safety performance is truly magnificent and something which we should be immensely proud of. Well done all”

A total of 274 recipients were awarded the emblems for their service of 35 years, 30 years and 25 years.

Dr Henderson presented the Long Service Emblems for 25 years to BSP employees while Mr Fred Smeenk, Managing Director of Brunei LNG, awarded the Long Service Emblems for 25 years to BSM employees. — Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Brudirect.com News

http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Feb08/170208/nite14.htm

*Headline information in brackets added by John Donovan – see related articles

brunei-online.com: Brunei Shell contributes $500,000 for royal wedding ceremonies: “no amount of contributions can justly reflect the importance of preserving the country’s traditional monarchy rule”: *Contribution or bribe to buy favour? (ShellNews.net)

*Comment added by Shell.News.net webmaster

By Lyna Mohamad

September 2004

Pehin Dato Paduka Awang Hj Adanan, left, receiving the mock cheque from Hj Zainal Abidin.

Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP), Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd (BLNG), Brunei Shell Tankers Sdn Bhd (BST) and Brunei Shell Marketing Co Sdn Bhd (BSM) have committed $0.5 million for the upcoming ceremonies planned for the royal wedding.

The four joint-venture companies yesterday handed over the contribution for the royal wedding between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah and Yang Mulia Dayangku Sarah Pengiran Haji Salleh Ab Rahaman during a special ceremony held at the Centrepoint Hotel in Gadong.

On hand to present the $500,000 mock cheque to Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Pehin Dato Paduka Awg Hj Adanan Pehin Dato Seri Setia Hj Mohd Yusof – in his capacity as Chairman of the Cultural Performance Committee for the Royal Wedding – was Acting Managing Director of BSP Co Sdn Bhd, Awg Hj Zainal Abidin Hj Mohd Ali.

In his speech, Awg Hj Zainal said that the staff and management of the four joint-venture companies were honoured that they could make direct contributions to the royal wedding plans, which would be an important moment in the history of the Sultanate.

He added that no amount of contributions can justly reflect the importance of preserving the country’s traditional monarchy rule and that the royal wedding serves as an inspiration for them (BSP, BLNG, BST & BSM) and the people of Brunei Darussalam in giving undivided loyalty and support.

He also disclosed that the contribution from BSP, BLNG, BST and BSM would add to the total amount of spending for fireworks display and neon signages for Bandar Seri Begawan, including a royal banquet to commemorate the wedding.

RELATED ARTICLE

The New York Times: Asia’s Elite Jet in for ‘Subdued’ Brunei Wedding: “new mood of thrift in a palace once tainted by financial scandal.”: “Now, corporate sponsors are funding a big part of the total cost of celebrations, estimated at around $5 million.”: “Oil and gas firms Brunei Shell and Brunei LNG” (ShellNews.net)

By REUTERS
September 8, 2004

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (Reuters) – A glittering guest list of Asian leaders and Middle East royalty began jetting into the oil-rich sultanate of Brunei on Wednesday for a royal wedding being billed as low-key by local standards.

The leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines will mix with Saudi and Bahrain royalty at Thursday’s celebrations, the climax of weeks of traditional nuptials between the heir to the Brunei throne and his teenaged bride.

But the celebrations, which will include a procession by the royal couple around the streets of the capital, will be a less flashy affair than other royal Brunei extravaganzas, in tune with a new mood of thrift in a palace once tainted by financial scandal.

“Of course, there are lots of people coming. There’ll be a wedding banquet. There’ll be some fireworks and all that. But there’ll be no Michael Jackson concert or anything like that,” said journalist Ignatius Stephen who runs a local news Web site.

“They are not going overboard this time. It will be very, very subdued, really sober.”

In 1996, entertainer Michael Jackson was flown in to perform free for the people of Brunei to mark the sultan’s 50th birthday. Now, corporate sponsors are funding a big part of the total cost of celebrations, estimated at around $5 million.

Oil and gas firms Brunei Shell and Brunei LNG and local car distributor Goh Hock Kee are among sponsors for the wedding between Prince Billah Bolkiah, 30, and 17-year-old Sarah Pengiran Salleh, in her final year of high school.

Brunei has felt the winds of change since the Asian financial crisis singed its previously fire-proof economy in the late 1990s. Around that time, the royal palace was also rocked by a financial scandal arising from collapse of a business empire run by the sultan’s brother, Prince Jefri.

Prince Jefri, a former finance minister, was dismissed as head of Brunei’s investment agency and the collapse of his Amedeo business empire left debts of around $16 billion.

Only last July, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who has ruled since 1967, said he would reopen Brunei’s parliament, suspended at independence 20 years earlier. But Brunei remains technically under a state of emergency, under a 1962 decree invoked after a rejection of demands to end the monarchy led to an armed revolt.

Thursday’s celebrations follow a series of traditional wedding ceremonies that led to the couple’s actual marriage in Brunei’s state mosque last Saturday, where only the groom was present for the confirmation of wedding vows under Islamic law.

The couple met through a mutual friend. The bride’s mother is Swiss and the father comes from a titled Brunei family.

Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito left Japan on Wednesday to attend the wedding, leaving behind Princess Masako, who has been suffering from a stress-related mental disorder.

RELATED ARTICLE

The Independent: The $5m royal wedding: “sponsored by local companies, including the oil and gas firms Brunei Shell”:

Extract: “the royal family itself was hit by a major financial scandal surrounding the Sultan’s brother, Prince Jefri”

Three weeks of celebrations, a guest list that included princes and world leaders, and a 21-gun salute. Jonathan Este reports on the marriage of the Crown Prince of Brunei

10 September 2004

The future king of Brunei married his teenage bride yesterday following two weeks of pre-nuptial celebrations. The lavish ceremonials are scheduled to last for a further three days and reportedly cost the royal family $5m (£2.8m), but this is considered remarkably restrained by the opulent standards of celebrations in the oil-rich Sultanate.

A tropical downpour failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowds who turned out to see the wedding motorcade pass. Crown Prince Al-Mukhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, the son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and his bride, Sarah Salleh, 17, were transported in a customised Rolls-Royce.

Guests at the marriage ceremony included members of Asian royal families and political leaders, including Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito; Gloria Arroyo, President of the Philippines; Lee Hsien Loong, the new Prime Minister of Singapore; and President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, who was forced to leave early following the terrorist attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Britain was represented by the Duke of Gloucester. Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia was also among the guests, who were greeted with a 21-gun salute.

Domestically, the wedding was billed as the tiny nation’s biggest and most extravagant event since the Sultan’s own wedding, 30 years ago, but an official spokesman was quick to point out that it was relatively restrained compared with other celebrations held in the oil-rich sultanate. In 1996, to mark the Sultan’s 50th birthday, the entire country was invited to join a party at which Michael Jackson, who had been flown in specially, performed.

“It’s not about how much it costs,” said Bujan Masu’ut. “You have to consider how many people showed up in the rain to greet the royal family. What is important is the love shown by Brunei to the Sultan and his family.”

On this occasion, there has been a fortnight of celebrations including concerts, cultural shows and karaoke – but the event has reportedly been sponsored by local companies, including the oil and gas firms Brunei Shell and Brunei LNG and the local car distributor Goh Hock Kee.

Brunei, while still wealthy by regional standards, has felt the effects of the Asian financial crises of the late 1990s and the royal family itself was hit by a major financial scandal surrounding the Sultan’s brother, Prince Jefri, who resigned as head of Brunei’s investment agency after his own company collapsed with debts of $7bn.

There was no visible sign of any corporate sponsorship as the ceremony proceeded with appropriate pomp and circumstance in the 1,788-room palace. The wedding, which was held in the Throne Chamber, began with the lighting of the traditional dian empat, a ceremonial candle. The bride emerged from a state room an hour behind schedule, wearing an embroidered blue costume and a diamond tiara. The Prince wore ceremonial dress including a gold crown and kris, or dagger, tucked into his sash. Muslim prayers were recited before the newly-weds bowed and kissed the hands of the Sultan and the Queen and other members of the royal family. They then set out on a five-mile motorcade to greet the people of Brunei. “I’m excited to come out and see this because he will be my new king,” one man told local television. “He seems smart and sophisticated, even though I’ve never heard or seen him before.”

The Oxford-educated Prince Billah met his bride, who is half Swiss and whose father is a manager at the public works department, through a mutual friend. According to an official wedding booklet handed out to guests and media, the new princess is “known among her teachers and friends for her grace, intelligence and positive attitude”.

http://www.shell2004.com/2004%20Documents/independent/independent10sept04.htm

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

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