TANAH JAMBU, Tuesday, 30 November 2021
– Six officers from Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) received the
OBOE Endeavour Academic Excellence Award in a ceremony held virtually for the first time today.
Present as the guest of honour was Major General (U) Dato Seri Pahlawan Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sahat, Commander of the RBAF. Also present were Her Excellency Tiffany Anne McDonald, Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, Services Commanders, Joint Force Commander, Deputy Permanent Secretaries of Ministry of Defence and Australian Defence Adviser to Brunei Darussalam, as well as senior RBAF officers.
The award recipients were 782 Major Pg Baharuddin bin Pg Haji Ali, 808 Major Haji Mohammad bin Haji Ahmad, 821 Major (U) Wan Muhammad Azem bin Haji Md Aminuddin, 824 Major Ahmad Bohare bin Mansor, 830 Major (U) Arif Shamirul bin Salleh and 862 Major Khairul Faizin bin Haji Abdul Gapar.
The ceremony started with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah and was followed by the welcoming remarks by Lieutenant Colonel (U) Azmie Iskandar bin Ariffin, Acting Commandant of the Defence Academy RBAF, and a speech by Her Excellency Tiffany McDonald, Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam. In her remarks, Her Excellency congratulated all of the award recipients and emphasised the importance of defence relationship as one of the key pillars of bilateral engagement, where Australia and Brunei Darussalam share a strong bond and excellent cooperation in a variety of areas, including defence. In addition to that, she also praised Brunei Darussalam’s Ministry of Defence and members of the RBAF for their crucial role in supporting the whole of government response to COVID19.
The OBOE Endeavour Award is an academic excellence programme from the Australian Government, awarded to Command and Staff Course participants who have achieved outstanding results during the course. These officers will be invited to Australia to meet with key leaders of the Australian Defence Force, tour Australian military bases, participate in educational and cultural activities, and engage in dialogues and discussions.
The program aimed to impart knowledge to the officers about Australia and its Defence Force, share commonalities on the region’s security and interest, as well as to foster the relationship between the armed forces and enhance the bilateral defence relations between Brunei Darussalam and Australia. This event is the fourth in the series since it first started in 2018.
The name ‘OBOE Endeavour Award’ was chosen to commemorate the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the successful liberation of Borneo from the Japanese occupation during Operation OBOE in World War II, which marked the beginning of Brunei Darussalam and Australia’s defence relationship.
