| Azlan Othman & James Kon |
HER Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of the Kingdom of Thailand inspected the guard of honour and witnessed a demonstration at the officer cadets’ obstacle during a visit to the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) Defence Academy in Kampong Tanah Jambu yesterday.
Her Royal Highness is leading a group of 35 fourth-year cadets from Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy of Thailand on a two-day visit to Brunei Darussalam that started on Wednesday.
Commander of the RBAF, Major General Pengiran Dato Paduka Seri Aminan bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud; Permanent Secretaries at the Ministry of Defence (MinDef), Service Commanders, Deputy Permanent Secretaries at the MinDef and the Acting Commandant of RBAF Defence Academy received Her Royal Highness on arrival at the Defence Academy.
Her Royal Highness was presented with the royal salute at the royal dais, followed by an inspection of the guard of honour comprising 107 personnel from the Royal Brunei Land Force led by Major Pengiran Haji Mohd Razif bin Pengiran Haji Idros.
Her Royal Highness was introduced to the RBAF Service Commanders, as well as, the civilian and military directors of the Ministry of Defence.
Her Royal Highness then proceeded to the Officer Cadet School and was received by Acting Commandant of the RBAF Defence Academy Lieutenant Colonel Hajah Suriyati binti Haji Junaidi. The Acting Commandant later briefed on the Defence Academy.
Her Royal Highness then visited the accommodation quarters and facilities of the officer cadets. The officer cadets at the Defence Academy also mingled with Her Royal Highness. Soon after, Her Royal Highness viewed a demonstration at the officer cadets’ obstacle course before proceeding to the Ceremonial Hall.
At the Ceremonial Hall, Her Royal Highness signed a commemorative plaque and parchment followed by the presentation of a pesambah and group photo before departing the RBAF Defence Academy.
Her Royal Highness then visited the rice plantation farm at Wasan Agricultural Development Area in Mukim Pengkalan Batu.
Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism, Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Apong greeted Her Royal Highness on arrival at the exhibition camp.
Briefings were made by EcoAgriculturist at the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) Khairunnisa binti Haji Omar Ali; Chairman of Setia Kawan Cooperative (KOSEKA) Berhad Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd) Haji Mohd Shahlan bin Hidup; Head of Paddy Plantation Project of Mukim Pengkalan Batu Consultative Council Haji Yakub bin Haji Othman; and Head of School for Agro-Technology and Applied Sciences of the Institute of Brunei Technical Education’s Agro-Technology Campus Hajah Zaitunah binti Haji Kurus.
Her Royal Highness signed a commemorative plaque before receiving a pesambah from the MPRT.
Her Royal Highness had a photo session and interacted with paddy entrepreneurs. Her Royal Highness then witnessed the planting of high yielding hybrid paddy varieties, Sembada 188, using a paddy transplanter machine.
Her Royal Highness was also briefed on another hybrid rice variety called Titih which is the product of a varietal development project under the collaboration between Brunei’s Department of Agriculture and AgriFood and Sunland Agri-Tech Pte Ltd of Singapore.
Present during the visit were Permanent Secretary at the MPRT, Deputy Permanent Secretaries at the MPRT, senior officers of the MPRT, Department of Agriculture and Agrifood as well as paddy farmers in Wasan Agricultural Development Area.